Page 55 - Between light and shade

Light, transparency and reflection

louvre slats
A deciduous tree is the most natural and efficient
way of providing protective shade in the summer,
while allowing the sun’s rays to penetrate deep
into a building, via the window, in the winter.
Where this is not possible, roller blinds, vertical
blinds and shutters have always been used to
provide protection in extremely sunny weather.
To be effective, these systems need to be placed
on the outside and, in this case, they represent
a key constructive element in the rhythm of the
facade elements.

Generally shunned for almost half a century
in our landscapes because of their cost (not just
supply and installation, but also maintenance
and upkeep), they are regaining their economic
credibility in the light of current energy concerns.

This is why I proposed them, for the first time
on a large scale, when working on the renova-
tion of the ENI Headquarters in Rome in 1998 48
[01/375, Fig. 49 and 50], with its two East and West
facing facades. Designed in 1959 by the architects
Bacigalupo, Finzi, Nova and Ratti, this building,
which was completed in 1962, is a real solar fur-
nace and its enormous cooling units are unable
to guarantee even the most basic level of comfort

48 The “Palazzo Mattei”, named after the President of Ente Nazio-
nale Idrocarburi who disappeared in circumstances that are
still a mystery today. The project was abandoned when ENI
decided to sell off its property assets.

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