Page 71 - AIT1220_E-Paper

Entwurf • Design SCEG Architetti, IT-Turin
Bauherr • Client LGPA | Avvocati, IT-Turin
Standort • Location Corso Re Umberto 45, IT-Turin
Nutzfläche • Floor space 120 m 2
Fotos • Photos Barbara Corsico, IT-Turin
Mehr Infos auf Seite • More info on page 134

AGORA LAW FIRM

IN TURIN

The law firm of Luca Geninatti Saté with premises in a
Gründerzeit-style city palace on Corso Re Umberto in
Turin was given a contemporary look. The design by
Stefano Carera and Eirini Giannakopoulou, partners in
the architectural office SCEG, takes up stylistic vocabu-
lary of bygone days and recalls the surrealist composi-
tions of the painter Giorgio de Chirico.

M etaphysical, a bit dreamlike. The deserted arcades and ideal -
architecture that Giorgio de Chirico created in his proto-sur re

alist cityscapes were inspired by Nietzsche's description of deserted
squares in Turin. Here an archway, there a column, rarely a human
being. The mood, colour scheme, composition and symmetry of
these painting have now influenced the architects at SCEG when
design ing the interior of a Turin-based law firm. In the former living
quarters of a nineteenth century palazzo, the historical has been
given a con temporary twist; the character of the old building is
combined with stylistic quotations from more recent periods: a little
bit Art Deco, a little more Memphis. Both movements have in com-
mon the rhyth mic repetition of archetypal shapes, which is evident
here in the furni ture designs and surface compositions. Zig-zag and
arch shapes contour platforms and seating accommodations made
of grey polyurethane. The black-and-white patterned tops of the
tables and sideboards — abstractions of digital interference images —
also reflect the present age. A darkly stained wooden floor empha -
sises sovereignty and, on top of that, improves the room acoustics in
Grundriss • Floor plan the central meeting room, which was the inspiration for the project
title Agorà. All around, the other rooms are connected by the light-
ning blue of the continuously cast epoxy resin floor. On the dark
wall and ceiling surfaces, filigree metal profiles in the contrasting
colour pink are used as composition lines. In some places they trace
stylised architectural forms: bridge, column, church tower? Even the
luminaires — Italian designs, of course — are geometric statements
throughout. The reception area has an elegant gym atmosphere: this
is what prestigious rooms can look like at a time when sneakers
are suitable as business wear. With their homage to the imaginative
and playful designs of the early 1980s and the surreal scenes of Gior-
gio de Chirico, the architects Stefano Carera and Eirini Giannakopou-
lou from SCEG Architetti created a contemporary, casual and confi-
Schnitt • Section dent office atmosphere.

AIT 12.2020 • 071