The Polo della Memoria Design and Implementation of a University building for Environmental Health and Social Inclusion
- Submitting institution
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University of Portsmouth
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- 26323430
- Type
- K - Design
- Open access status
- -
- Month
- -
- Year
- 2020
- URL
-
-
- Supplementary information
-
-
- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
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-
- Proposed double-weighted
- Yes
- Double-weighted statement
- The building was underpinned by 13 years of research and practice, including in-depth research and analysis of the soil structural consistency to inform the implementation of geothermal system in such sensitive historic context. In collaboration with geologists and engineers, it developed a mathematical equation to assess efficiency of geothermal system and used piezometric probes to control the pressure of underground water. The project is informed by 2-year research on environmental technologies, 1-year archaeological survey and research of listed historic area regulations, 3-year remediation of soil and 3-year realisation. Collaborative workshops with a local committee supported the garden and installations’ design.
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- The Polo della Memoria San Rossore SR 1938, University of Pisa in Italy, is an academic building built on a decontaminated former industrial site in the centre of the city. It is dedicated to the memory of the victims of Fascism and the Shoah following the anti-Semitic Defence of the Race laws that were signed by the king at his residence of San Rossore in Pisa in 1938. The new building was opened in February 2020. The project, designed and led by Alessandro Melis, is submitted as a single item supported by contextual information.
The building incorporates two commemorative public art commissions and a memorial garden, on which Melis worked with representatives of the Jewish community and the families of victims, and with the artists, Cambridge-based Elena Cologni and the Palestinian Dana Hamdan. The Tree of Memory spans the principal exterior corner of the building, while a memorial garden in the public roofed courtyard has an installation of stepping stones engraved with the names of victims of Fascism and the Shoah from the Pisa community.
Polo della Memoria is at the cutting edge of sustainable and accessible design and upholds many of the principles of multifunctionality or ‘exaptation’ developed by Melis through his theory and practice, in pursuit of urban resilience and social inclusiveness. Flexibility of use, comfort, carbon neutrality and accessibility are addressed through such devices as geothermal wells and probes to provide ‘off-grid’ heating and cooling, lighting regulated by sensors according to natural levels, rainwater collection for both irrigation and sanitation, and integrated systems catering to the needs of disabled users, including the visually and hearing impaired.
The university and the city council have used the building as a best practice model and a precedent to inform the University building policy in line with UN Sustainable Development Goals.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -