Mario Cucinella
More With Less

The Italian Mario Cucinella has always based his architectural process on a rigorous approach on themes linked to balancing natural resources. The interview he granted us at the University of Milan in April at the Interni Design Energies exhibition sheds light in his thought process, his choices and hi projects linked with sustainable development.

A former collaborator of Renzo Piano, Mario Cucinella (1960) founded his own agency in Paris in 1992, then in Bologna seven years later.  His major urban projects and his many completed projects across Italy and the world all share the same basic factor: their low environmental impact. Chief among these are the Regional Agency for the Protection of the Environment in Ferrara, the headquarters of iGuzzini Illuminazione in Recanati, SIEEB in Beijing ( a Sino-Italian centre for training and research for the protection of the environment and energy conservation. There is also obviously the “Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies” in Ningbo, China – a prizewinning project at MIPIM 2009 in the Ecological Construction category. The building envelope plays an essential role in Mario Cucinella’s environmental strategies to obtain an internal environment capable of minimising energy consumption. His research is very advanced in terms of technology and aesthetics. His credo “More with less” puts forward the idea of greater comfort with less energy, less waste and less pollution.

How do you define your architecture?
It’s difficult to say whether we’re talking about ecological architecture or architecture linked with sustainable development. It is, of course, a bit of both, but we’re also talking about striving for high-quality architecture. Beauty is combined with energy performance and sustainable development. From a historical point of view, architecture has always had close links with the climate, culture, materials and aesthetics. We have clearly lost this attitude – a way of thinking that has lasted for thousands of years. I don’t like the definition of a purely ecological architecture, because that risks confining us to a particular sector – as if architecture was made up of several different architectures. Good quality architecture can only be unique. And in new architecture, I believe the theme of sustainable development must be part of its DNA.

What is your involvement in sustainable development?
I have always been interested in this. I started working alone in Paris in 1992, and for many years I only worked on international competitions. My first job was for the United Nations, producing a social accommodation in developing countries (Egypt, to be precise). It was inconceivable to imagine that architects couldn’t supply a creative answer to social accommodation – something capable of moving away from the tradition corrugated iron shacks. Is that what we have as an example of extreme creativity in poor countries? It’s absurd. We now have much greater technological, linguistic and material expertise. We simply provided an answer with deep-rooted links to Egypt and to the history of the country. We believe considerations towards the environment, energy and the serious application of architecture began there. To my mind, it has always been like that. I come from a school of thought – that of Renzo Piano for whom I worked – where we weren’t just thinking about architectural quality, but also about the qualities of light and space. It was with him that I learnt these values. And what is more, I am a product of an Italian culture with a long tradition of both technical and environmental architecture.

What have been your major professional influences?
It’s difficult to say what influenced me the most. The time I spent with Renzo Piano was certainly very significant, because during the technology boom in which he played a part, he instituted changes that leant towards the organic – with closer links to the materials. I admired his ability not to limit himself to a single language – to be capable of interpreting… I’m still influenced by landscape drawings and by vernacular architecture.

What is the common factor between the Bologna City Hall and the SIEB in Beijing?
Both buildings are ultimately about the same things: in both Bologna and Beijing, the main factor isn’t so much environmental aspects, but moreso the ability to generate a public space. In Bologna, people immediately embraced this space as being their own. In Beijing, the same thing happened. Our overriding concern was to create an open building you could walk through, with a garden, water – all the things that make a building part of the fabric of a city. Successful architecture produces an echo. It generates quality in public spaces. You also have to think about the shape of the building in relation to technology. I found the idea of the intelligent integration of solar cells in a building very attractive. In this case, these were protruding balconies. Bologna proved to be the more difficult of the two, as it was important to create a very dense urban construction and to visually “break up” the image of all the office blocks.

The Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies in Ningbo, China, received an award at MIPIM 2009. In your opinion, what set it above the other nominated projects? Put another way, what did the jury find particularly attractive about your building?
The difference, in relation to the other projects, which were also of the highest standard – might be found in the idea that ecological architecture isn’t just about producing a sustainable building with no excessive thirst for energy, but also in revelling in its beauty.

Is China seeking high-quality environmental architecture?
Yes, but it is a difficult country. If a country is undergoing rapid expansion, as is the case with China, it is possible to get “distracted” because you are moving too fast. However, China has tremendous technological skill thanks to its scientists, professors and students who are all fully aware of the fact that the future is closely linked to energy and environmental factors. China represents very fertile ground, but it is also true that these are markets pushed forward by the momentum of enormous speculation. Environmental concerns are difficult to spread, but we have always felt that we have a lot of common feeling.

How do you see the future of architecture in Europe?
In relation to other countries across the world, Europe has always been at the forefront in terms of culture and diversity. This is also the card we have to play in China, in South America and in Africa. We European architects can be compared to family doctors – giving out good advice, bringing our own DNA to the construction of towns and cities.

Images
1. Mario Cucinella
2. iGuzzini Headquarters, Recanato 1997
Solar protection and natural ventilation thanks to a light covering of slats ensuring maximum environmental comfort and minimising energy consumption.  This is the guiding light that shone through the design for this four-level building. The use of continuous façades and shade screens features strongly in this building. A central atrium allows light to filter through and opens out onto a garden, which helps change the image of the place (an industrial environment) and to underscore the connection between architecture and nature.
3. SIEB - Sino Italian Ecological Building, Beijing 2003-2006
Born out of a close collaboration between the architect and Italian researchers and engineers, this building, located on the campus of Tsinghua University, uses a complex system of single or double skin glass façades and solar panels. The optimal shape of the building envelope, the extreme transparency of the façade, the sunlight control and the concentration of seeking light and brightness were fundamental to ensuring that this ecological building gains maximum heat in winter and a dispersal of heat in summer.
4. New Bologna City Hall 2003-2008
This project groups together previously dispersed offices in a single complex. A huge maze of aluminium tubes contrasting with dark glass on buildings linked into three blocks of 12, 10 and 8 floors reveals itself as a huge ladder of geometric glass shapes. The covering acts as a shade screen sheltering the building from the sun, giving a certain cohesion to the complex. The more exposed façades were produced with slightly inclined silkscreen glass. Inside, radiant-heating floors maintain a constant temperature without radiators or a heating system.
5. Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies, Ningbo, China 2006-2008
This project shows off the research arising from international collaboration for sustainability. Inspired in its design by Chinese lantern and traditional wooden screens, the building is conceived as a sustainable beacon whose 22 m high twisting tower will be visible from all around the campus, creating many different façades diversifying its appearance from day to night. It is covered by a double-skin of glass, playing a key role in environmental control strategies. The structure is completely closed off on the northern side, and partially open on the three other sides in order to provide sufficient daylight in order to supply a transversal ventilation system. A large rooftop opening brings natural light to all floors of the building, simultaneously creating a flue effect to promote efficient natural ventilation. 
6. Una casa per sognare
Presented at the Interni Design Energies exhibition in Milan, the “A house to dream” project – a 100m² house priced at 100,000 euros with zero CO2 emissions – represents the new link between architecture and energy consumption. The concept includes solar panels, solar collectors, good air circulation and other passive environmental strategies that make for a bioclimatic residence. The low cost comes from light, modular prefabricated construction systems and removable partitions for internal separations.

http://www.mcarchitectsgate.it