In your opinion, what should the role of designer be when drawing up plans for a hotel (although in this case, of course, we’re talking about a renovation)? 

The designer’s input must above all aim to be totally in tune with its location; this can be achieved only through careful analysis of the context of the design.  Hotels are places where you have to be able to breathe and where light therefore plays a hugely important role.  At the same time, they have to meet the needs of what is often a diverse clientele, not necessarily just the elite.  From this point of view, they can’t be pretentious; they have be as comfortable as the ‘cocoon’ that is home: somewhere with a familiar feel to it where you can relax.  As far as I’m concerned, I much prefer a pragmatic approach with any design, one that always lets me give rein to my creativity.  I always try to marry beauty and practicality to give as many people as possible a pleasurable experience, sometimes even a magical one.  

In your view, what different levels of interaction should a hotel be able to offer its guests?

A hotel is chiefly a transit area.  The best hotels are those that manage to make their guests instantly feel they belong there, making them immediately feel at home.   So the designer has to adopt an anthropocentric approach.  The human being becomes the only subject to work around; the welcome, the service, the style, the courtesy and the culture of the place revolve entirely and exclusively around the guest.  The quality of a hotel is judged by the sum total of the details that make it what it is, just like a product on sale.  It’s the same with anything:  the difference is always in the detail! 

What importance do you attach to the involvement of local businesses in a design and, thinking in more general terms, to an approach based on sustainable development?

A hotel, or generally any building, is nothing more than an extension of its geographical position.  This is especially the case with urban environments.  Getting the design to integrate with the fabric of the city is very important to me.  Actually, to my mind it’s essential that local people and local businesses are involved in the design phase.  In my opinion, only if there’s a synergy with the resources of a given area can you weave in the local skills and culture necessary for the design to fit the existing context.  The concept of sustainable development has pretty much become part of our collective consciousness; it’s in my mind at every stage of the creative process, from the choice of materials to their processing and use.  I often consult the HQE (High Quality Environmental standard) experts in order to get as much as possible out of the research that my colleagues and I carry out into materials, lighting, choice of heating and ventilation systems, etc.  I strongly believe, however, that sustainable development is, above all, a way of living and something that calls for radical change in our society.   

What made you decide on ceramic tiling, and in particular Lea Ceramiche’s Masterplan range, used extensively in your design for the hotel?

I was looking for a contemporary mineral material, a neutral finish with a welcoming feel but at the same time discreet, one that was monochrome but didn’t fade into the background, that still had a strong presence. The Masterplan porcelain stoneware adapts perfectly to any area, giving a warm, contemporary touch, a welcoming and reassuring finish that you might not otherwise expect.  With Masterplan, Lea Ceramiche have managed to transform the cold quality generally associated with mineral materials into a magical and convivial design ingredient.  

What do you see as being the added value in Hotel Sofitel di Lione? 

It’s a hotel whose heart beats in rhythm with the city, an extremely friendly and welcoming place, like the management.  The Manager is a public figure in the true sense of the word; he resolved to make the hotel a genuine meeting place, one that is truly alive. Hotels are meeting places and market places par excellence, but not all of them manage to fit the mould of their surroundings as Sofitel, Lyon does. 

[Anna Bernagozzi, 'Slow, but with pizzazz, within 'S-Tiles, la ceramica taliana verso la sostenibilita'/ Italian tiles toward sustainability', II edition, 2009]

How did the project get off the ground?  

The genesis of the project was rather long and complicated.  Following a series of unexpected hurdles and problems, I’m afraid we have only been able, at least thus far, to construct this one building, the first of what was originally a much more long-term and far-reaching programme.  The then company Chairman was not only a great boss, but he was also mad about modern art.  It was his goal, after acquiring the site, to create a new Silicon Valley, complete with a master plan to set out the aesthetic and functional guidelines for other companies that would be attracted here.  This never happened, or at least it only happened in part, since another major computer sales company moved into the area and occupied most of the existing buildings. Then came the economic meltdown, and all we can say today is that we’re having to play it by ear, without the sort of structured programme we once had.  Recently the company has commissioned another project from us, so a new building will soon be going up in the area, with similar features to this one, to house a crèche, a canteen, a gym and other things.

How much did the goal of maximum sustainability count for?  

The goal was to construct a “soft” building, high-tech but not aggressively so, which does house technology, but doesn’t make a show of it; a building that also has a sense of humour. In addition to economic sustainability, the client requested environmental sustainability.

How did you manage to reconcile the aesthetic and environmental aspects of the design, and what role did the location of the Cable building play?

During the planning phase the only route open to us, by virtue of the regulations, was to create a building following a horizontal line and anyway, I rather liked this idea. I had a lovely image in my mind: as you travel down the road past the building, you get the feeling that, for a time, you are being accompanied by a train, speeding through the heart of the Tuscan countryside.

And the functionality of the place? For example, the concept of the interior space, its flexibility?

The place was so gorgeous that I wanted to make the people inside the building able to see it, out of the windows.  To put it more clearly. It’s such a beautiful, wide-open place, so green, so un-built-up, that you perceive it physically very well from outside, but, from inside, you see it through the windows, which are natural picture frames, and also sometimes from the terrace.  I’m not really a lover of transparent buildings: “inside is inside” it is artificial, another place altogether that must keep some surprises up its sleeve.  So – the windows: they are all identical and evenly spaced as they progress along the façade.  They represent the only motif that, as you change staircase, defines the architectural element.  Where the motif breaks up, it defines the entrances.  Recomposed, it becomes part of the interior decor.

On the subject of environmental sustainability, where and in what ways do you consider this goal has been most satisfactorily achieved?

For example, the fact that we have produced such a clean shell, showing no trace of the building’s functional mechanics because these are all incorporated; and then, the solar power makes it almost energy self-sufficient. But perhaps the greatest and most satisfying achievement is that the people working inside the building are so happy with it that they want to show their families around, definitely not a minor detail.

How important was the choice of materials?

The use of prefabricated units for the façade and structural elements meant that we could come up with an imaginative design at reasonable cost, and maybe, one day, if the building is no longer needed, we will be able to think about dismantling it and recycling materials like the aluminium used for the roof and for the end sections.

There’s a strong presence of colour, a particular way of diffusing this.  What is your philosophy of colour?

Colour is design for the soul: it’s good for you when it’s around!  In the past we often used it in brush strokes. Today’s new materials allow us to use it more fluidly.  However, this is a black and white design in which the light, interacting with coloured glass, as it does in cathedrals, becomes something rather special.

How did your partnership with Cabel come about?

Our partnership with Cabel, that has now lasted nearly 15 years and involved other projects, has developed over time; these days, designers still get a lot of respect. The image that Cabel Industry want to project is: sleek, modern, creative. This means that their architecture must be something special too. 

[Alessandra Quaglia, Solar spaceship, within 'S-Tiles, la ceramica taliana verso la sostenibilita'/ Italian tiles toward sustainability', II edition, 2009]

It is quite natural for Botta to be asked frequently to explain how the statements he makes apply to the context of a specific project, as does for example, Alessandra Coppa on the subject of the redevelopment of the ex-Campari site.

How do you relate your design to the memory of the place? 

In urban societies such as Sesto, through which a swathe has can been cut by globalisation and the late 20th Century flight from industrialisation, the quest for their own identity inevitably passes by way of the sense of belonging to their own territory, of recognising their own past. (...) For Sesto, it was important to retain the outline of the old factory and to restore its value as a monument, because architecture does not manifest its expressive value by means of the functions it is required to perform or the aesthetic code to which it refers, but rather it achieves this by means of the spatial and emotional relationships it is able to create with its own context. (...) Where the old, by then obsolete Campari factory lay abandoned, an entirely new complex has been designed (...) the entire complex, with such a long history behind it, has now become part of a new urban fabric.  It sends a powerful signal, just as the old Campari factory has, in becoming the new Campari head offices. 

Indeed the façades are extremely iconic. 

There are two façades, one consisting of the part below the old Campari building, that above becomes a great bridge linking the offices and the L-shaped building on Via Sacchetti which contains most of the offices.  I chose the cladding of terracotta tiles  for the façade, set at 45 degrees and sometimes installed flat for a brise soleil effect.  This terracotta cladding creates a new surface and image for the urban landscape.

[Alessandra Coppa, Fabbrica Campari, interview with Mario Botta, 24 June 2009, source: www.archinfo.it]

Quoted from www.pavillon-arsenal.com/en/videosenligne/collection-9-128.php

“Ecodesign and sustainable architecture still function as a prostheses. Architects and engineers work to add technologies and solutions to improve performance, but this transforms neither the mentality, nor the ways of living, nor the architecture.  We are not yet at a stage of transformation of architecture, which could and should from the very outset of a project be inherently different to today’s attitude. In other words, it ought to place more attention on relationships in terms of landscape and environment, because a building is not autonomous and isolated, but is related to the social, economic and environmental context.
....
Architecture can no longer be a definition in itself, but must be defined according to what separates it from the environment... The defining element of what architecture is today is the context.”

Where did that highly original look for CreM Modena come from?

“The first thing we asked ourselves was what face we wanted to give new technology.” Architect Michele Zini tells Anna Ferri: “The client probably expected something quite mechanical looking, in the style of Chaplin’s Modern Times, but we gave it more the look of an i-pod.  One of the distinctive traits of our design is to give technology a contemporary image.” 

And so, a new “skin”...

“We got the idea thinking about what goes on inside”, continues Zini, “and a friend, Alessandro Sarti, who works on tissue morphogenesis, gave us this formula that we then put into a program and hey presto, – the building’s new skin.”

But surely it’s not just all about look?

“We worked together on a project that does not use traditional systems which involve no dialogue between the container and the contents,” add Mattia Parmiggiani and Claudia Zoboli, “The façade shows what is within; it becomes a continuous flow that necessarily changes the architecture.  The container now tells us what is happening inside.”

[A. Ferri, Cronaca di Modena, 16 November 2008, Scienza e Architettura, La nascita del centro “Stefano Ferrari” raccontato dai sui ideatori, La medicina rigenerativa diventa arte; http://linformazione.e-tv.it/archivio/20081116/12_MO1611.pdf]

There were no precedents for the Regenerative Medicine Centre, so it had to be conceived as something highly experimental... 

“The design had to allow for technical factors, some extremely heavy constraints, and the architects tell us that even in the construction phase, changes had to be made for technical reasons, so the structural form had to demonstrate a certain flexibility. (...)The mottled skin that envelops the CReM building is in empathy with the work going on within its walls, but it also provides the solution to the need for the building to be flexible and adaptable, in that the basic framework can equally well house a window, a grille or a blind panel.”

As for the interiors...

“The interior is schizophrenic.” Comments Zini. “On two levels, the style is somewhat submarine.  A labyrinth with enormous white and beige spaces, providing some 1500 square metres of sterile space: no other building has so many sterile rooms.” 

[ www.cmr.unimore.it/on-line/Home/architettura.html]

Abstract from an ‘Interview with Dominique Perrault’ by Rachele Michinelli (CER Magazine Int.Fall/Winter 2008)

R.M. On the subject of materials, the external cladding of two towers which are nearing completion in Milan will consist of glass paste and black porcelain tile. Why did you choose this type of facade?

D.P. The two-tower project brings to mind the image of large, compact black monoliths. The choice of this facade material allowed me to create the effect of a black mirror with a very deep colour similar to flint.
The design of the façade is linked to a more general consideration concerning the entire project. The plan for the area featured two hotels opposite Milan’s exhibition centre in Rho-Pero. While this was a standard programme with a limited budget, I was asked how in these conditions it might be possible to create an architecture with a strong identity and a pleasing image. I didn’t want the hotel guests to forget the place where they had slept. The idea I worked on was very simple: to create two towers, one for the three-star hotel and the other for the four-star hotel, and to use industrially-produced elements to create the architecture.
I gave the two volumes a slight inclination to create the sensation of a dialogue between the two buildings and between the towers and the surroundings.
For the external shell, besides using porcelain tile and glass paste I decided to compose the facade in such a way as to alternate one large window with two small windows for the rooms. Using these low-cost elements it was possible to create high-quality architecture.
 

Nature must be part of architecture just as architecture must be part of Nature; the terms are mutually complementary.  Architecture describes human design, the organisation of living spaces and it is therefore an act of reason, of thought, of work.  This is precisely why it is always in dialogue with, and stands in comparison to Nature.”
(Mario Botta)      

“The past as a friend”: this is the significant phrase, from Louis I. Kahn, one of Botta’s mentors, that provided the starting point for his conference address, Mario Botta: Architecture and Memory, in 2007 at Cersaie no. 25.  He continued:  “Rather than something to be remembered with nostalgia, the past provides roots, structure and an identity that is capable of conveying values, the framework for all human activity,”. In this context, Botta believes that memory is “the condition of the modern in architecture, if we see architecture not merely as an expression of the present but as the result of a dialogue with our roots and an integral part of our vision”.

A concept that Botta has been expressing for some time: "I believe that today creating architecture is a way of resisting the loss of identity, of resisting the trivialisation and cultural flattening out brought about by the consumerism so rife in modern society. In this sense, architecture is more an ethical than an aesthetic issue." [Stuart Wrede, Mario Botta, exhibition catalogue, p. 67, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1986]

“Rather than an object simply placed within a context, architecture should be seen as an entity that is rooted in a place that is always unique. For this reason the setting is an integral part of the design and never a mere accessory.”

“Human beings do not only have technical and functional needs: there are symbolic and metaphorical aspects of history that are perhaps more important than the ease with which we can obtain a service. In the contest between the global and the local the latter undoubtedly wins out, but this should not make us fall prey to nostalgia, since memory ensures that we are not alone.” [source: www.italiatiles.it]

“... I’m designing sculptures, things like the lockheed lounge, there’s a whole
lot of limited edition pieces that I designed that are being sold at auctions, and
things like that... now that’s my fantasy, that’s my pure... emotion just running
wild.”
MARC NEWSON, 2007

Solange Brauer: what is the best moment of the day?
Marc Newson: ...ummmmmm.... siesta time. I suppose. (ha) after lunch. you
know when you start to fall asleep. you know (makes snoring noise)...

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Jean-Michel Wilmotte is an architect, town planner and interior designer as well as a museum expert with a passion for detail, and a designer.  He is also the founder of Fondation d’entreprise Wilmotte, dedicated to raising the younger generation’s awareness of the links between heritage and contemporary architecture.  The concept of ‘interior design for towns’ was also his brainchild, with the aim of bringing road surfacing, street furniture, street lighting, parks and transport together under one design umbrella.   

Restoration and conversion projects are closest to Wilmotte’s heart, from museums and cultural centres (such as the Louvre, where he restored the Salle des Secessions, or the Ullens Foundation - the UCCA – in Beijing) to the tramways in large cities such as Lyons, Valenciennes and Paris.  A strong advocate of light as a determining factor for quality of life, where natural sources are lacking, Wilmotte designs low environmental impact lighting systems, such as the one he recently produced for Italian technical and architectural lighting specialists iGuzzini. 

A healthy respect for heritage together with an acute perception of proportion are the ingredients that go into his designs for new buildings that fit their surroundings, and these ingredients permeate Wilmotte’s work in his constant pursuit of quality to be shared, designed and built for everyone.         

So what does the André Malraux Médiathèque represent for its designer?

(…) Wilmotte commented:  “above all, it’s a meeting place, a crossroads, a cultural and interactive hub open to everyone.  It’s where memories are stored; it’s the heart of knowledge and of all the cultural activities that it has to offer……. What we wanted to do in Béziers was create a building with a unifying role, to suit the wide diversity of its users and their particular needs and desires.  (…..)  This library is a place to come together and, at the same time, a place for private study; the different areas therefore have to meet the requirements of the apparent paradoxes in the plan, but not at the cost of unity of function.”  

Compared to the pre-existing urban fabric, the building has an air of authority and is yet at the same time restrained.

“We wanted to enhance people’s perceptions.  As day becomes night, the building takes on a different persona.  At night, the focus is drawn to the back-lit central structures, using a translucent material made of a thin slab of stone overlaid on glass.  During the day, the building is shown to its full advantage by the brilliance of the light stone used on the façade and on the ground.  Both day and night, the desired effect was to add something to the square, to enliven it, to send out a signal within the urban fabric.”         

What’s new in this particular design from the aesthetic, technical and environmental point of view is the translucent material, which satisfies, most importantly, the demanding environmental specifications laid down by the client. 

 “Our main aim was to limit the use of air-conditioning, without sacrificing the light-flooded areas we wanted.  It was Louis Kahn who said:  ‘A man with a book goes to the light. A library begins that way.’  We did a lot of research before coming up with a material that would let the light through while at the same time screen the sun’s rays.”

A double-skin façade, a Provence (or Canadian) well, the use of terracotta for the external walls (with ‘Monomuro’ bricks) all combine to make this building a sterling example of sustainable architecture for the benefit of all, or - to quote Wilmotte – “a design process that flies the flag for the health and comfort of end users, the quality of life for local residents and the good of the environment, keeping the use of natural resources and energy consistently to an absolute minimum.

[La médiathèque André Malraux, BBF- the Bulletin des bibliothécaires de France- 2007, n° 1, p. 78-81, interview by Thérèse Le Roy]

For Botta, the importance of materials is not up for discussion...

“There are materials that do justice to the light, making it possible to survive, to vibrate, to signal the passage of the sun, to describe the arc of the seasons, by means of the physical properties that belong uniquely to each material. Materials are therefore, in themselves the instruments that allow the light to live. From this point of view, in architecture, all materials are “good”.  The concept of materials that are valuable and others that are less so does not exist. 

However each material must have its own expressive power. Thinking, for example of Carlo Scarpa; he seems, of all the architects of the past, the one who knew best how to make every material speak for itself. 

From this standpoint, material is “plurality”.  The multifaceted nature of materials is a source of wealth for contemporary architecture, at times too much, since it can degenerate into a market-led choice, no longer linked to design imperatives. The range of materials new technologies have provided is ever greater, offering amazing opportunities to restore a little feeling and joie de vivre to human existence.”
[Mario Botta, Incontri Millennium Italcementi, Aula Rogers, Prima Facoltà di Architettura del Politecnico di Milano, 15 November 2002]

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