The non aggressive new as Alvaro Siza and COR arquitectos project for Gallarate.
“...architects don’t invent anything, they transform reality”. This statement by Siza represents the theoretical basis of the project in Gallarate elaborated with COR arquitectos. In fact, the designers show an interest in seeking an indispensable continuity in the urban fabric, confirming a method based on reading of the existing as the starting point of the project. The variations of the courtyard aggregation system are present in Siza’s initial reflections which evoke the aggregation system typical of these places and propose a form of interaction between the interior of the courtyards and the external space, with a public route that crosses the area connecting two urban routes. Even the building types used, multi-family houses with double facing, and the materials chosen for the finishes, consistently recall the character of housing without renouncing to express the condition of “Italianness”, projected into the present, without renouncing to the necessary updating. The search for the “new” for Siza and COR arquitectos does not aim to spend themselves towards a parasitic and oppositional “creativity”, but is seen as a concrete idea that must be projected experimentally towards the beyond by relating to history “because (says Siza) what is new must not be an aggression”.
Keywords: A. Siza, COR arquitectos, Gallarate, urban continuity, F. Tavora.
