Original name
Vilaggio Matteotti [Mateotti Village]
Other denominations
Quartiere Mateotti [Mateotti new neighbourhood]
Original use
Housing/housing ensemble
Current use
Housing/housing ensemble
Architects
Giancarlo di Carlo, Fausto Colombo (colaborator), Valeria Fossati Bellani (collaborator)
Engineers
Vittorio Korach
Others
Domenico De Masi (sociologist)
Concrete by reinforcement
Concrete is a relatively brittle material that is strong in compression but less so in tension.
To increase its overall strength, steel rods, wires, mesh or cables may be embedded in concrete before it sets. This reinforcement, often known as rebar, resists tensile forces. By forming a strong bond, the two materials are able to resist a variety of applied forces, effectively acting as a single structural element .
Construction method
In this case, the concrete can be made by mixing the components directly on site, or it may be transported from a production plant in concrete-mixer trucks.
This method has the disadvantage of leaving the concrete exposed to the elements while it is setting. Whereas, with other methods, the environmental conditions can be controlled during setting, providing greater control over the outcome, with cast-in-place concrete a series of tests and protocols are necessary to verify its final strength.
Architectural concrete
- textured walls
- wooden formwork finish
- stamped concrete
- exposed aggregate concrete, colored concrete, etc.
Structural types
Beams are the horizontal load-bearing elements of the frame. Columns are the vertical elements of the frame and act as the building’s primary load-bearing element. They transmit the beam loads down to the foundations.
State of Conservation
Description
This social housing neighbourhood is one of the first examples of participatory urban design in Italy. The design, by Giancarlo de Carlo, was based on an infrastructural base, which resolved issues of services and circulations, along with a spatial grid capable of accommodating different types of modular housing. The participatory process, which included several stages and involved the assistance of a sociologist, ultimately offered residents a choice from a wide catalogue of flats with up to 45 typological alternatives.
Of the total 840 planned dwellings, however, only the first phase was built, with a total of 250 units. The fact that the project was interrupted compromised its insertion and urban connectivity, leading to a certain isolation, compounded by the formal and functional autonomy of the complex in relation to its urban surroundings.
The ensemble is characterised by the pervasive presence of exposed concrete (in both the housing blocks and the public spaces, with which they form an inseparable whole), the segregation of circulations, and the imposing layout in parallel strips. Its formal and constructive unity means that the scale of the functional units is subsidiary to a single, continuous building.
The spatial quality of the whole is achieved by paying special attention to the design of public spaces and pedestrian traffic, as well as to the spaces that relate the private sphere to the public spaces, through the terraces and gardens present in all the housing units.
Italy
Via Irma Bandiera 28
Umbria TR 05100 Terni
Commission
1969
Completion
1975