Catalogo Pedrali 2017

50  PEDRALI A visual pattern formed by a combination of vertical and oblique lines like gigantic “blades of grass” that give rhythm, scale and measure to the blind and unarticulated surface of the facades, rethinking the concept of environmental insertion in an innovative way Un pattern visivo formato da una combinazione di linee verticali ed oblique, quasi dei giganteschi “fili d’erba” che ritmano e danno misura alla superficie delle facciate, ripensando in modo innovativo e propositivo il concetto di mitigazione ambientale 51 Two rhetorical figures constantly reappear in the architecture of the firstmachine age: the exposed structural frame’s one and the curtain wall’s one. However, thewall that protects Pedrali’s newautomatedwarehouse designed by CZA inMornico al Serio does not aimto be the representation of its inner content - a perfect mechanism, where the path for the robot carts cuts through the shelving structures like a canyon - but rather to be a visual screen that responds to the diverse conditions of the surrounding landscape. Over time, Pedrali’s success as a business and its awareness in the field of production cycle sustainability has generated a building complex of great environmental quality, within a landscape where the agricultural matrices are still strongly present. Themass of the newautomated warehouse, whose height and volume are totally determined by its inner technical devices, completes the southern side of the complex and flanks the path of the ancient Via Francesca. The architectural response of the newwarehouse reacts to the abstract theme of “wrapping” the machines it contains with a specific response that is strongly related to the context, to solar orientation and to the industrial complex it belongs to. Its primary solidmass is articulated by two volumetric projections. The first, in its south- west corner, concludes the visitors’ path inside the complex and picks up the direction of the canal that forms thewestern boundary of the perimeter. The second projects out fromthe north-east corner with a daring cantilever, stripping back a part of thewarehousewall to reveal its inner mechanisms through a large glass plate, giving formto themissing side of the large loading yard and providing a visual target point fromthe entrance to the offices on the northernmargin. A lower body connects the newwarehouse to the existing ones, and hosts the long green ribbon of the suspended visitors’ path. All four sides of the newwarehouse are faced by panels in natural aluminumcolour. On these, a series of simple elementsmadewith extruded aluminumprofiles generates a visual pattern formed by a combination of vertical and oblique lines, like gigantic “blades of grass” that give rhythm, scale andmeasure to the blind and unarticulated surface of the facades, especially the large surface to the south. These elements have been left in their natural aluminumcolour on the side oriented to the east, looking towards the urban core of Mornico, while thewestern side, which faces the fields and the artificial canal, has been enameled in three different shades of green. The interplay of the length, direction and intensity of the shadows of these “blades” over the course of the day, combinedwith themix of their colour and the diversity of point of view they can be seen from, generates a true “optical spectacle” of great beauty. The reflection of the tones of the coloured sides on the opposite ones left in natural aluminumcolour generates a very peculiar iridescent effect - similar to the one of thewings of a butterfly or the elytra of a beetle - for those travelling on the road fromeast towest. The dull and uniformvolume of newwarehouse is thus transformed into a visual phenomenon rich in variations, a kind of natural “amplifier” of the time of the day and the seasons. In certain moments it dissolves into themisty sky, reflecting its grey-blue tones, and in others it becomes imbuedwith the bright green of the agricultural fields in spring. The architectural design of the warehouse and its related spaces goes beyond the concept of pure “environmental mitigation” applied tomany industrial facilities. Instead, it becomes an important signal of the roots of Pedrali and the peoplewhowork there in their specific territory, as well as testifies their ability to dialoguewith the increasingly globalized businesses andmarkets. Cino Zucchi