Page 77 - Between light and shade

Light, transparency and reflection

High Speed Train station on the Rome-Reggio
di Calabria line, with a hall beneath an ultra
light and flexible parabolic cylinder framework,
made from an ultra high-strength steel structure
covered with an ETFE film, with record light
transmission of 88%! [01/552, Fig. 74].

The entire structure is so light that wind
forces take precedence over the region’s signi-
ficant seismic forces. The ventilation here is
natural to guarantee a comfortable interior space
and “glazed cooling tanks” complete the system
locally.

This was followed, in 2009, by the N’Gozi
Cultural Centre project in Burundi [01/567,
Fig. 75], which is particularly close to my
heart, as it forms part of a cooperation project
with Belgium. The country’s material poverty
contrasts starkly with the lively and refined
culture of its people, which is expressed, among
other things, in their sumptuous textiles and
basketwork and their expertise in building
shelters from leaves and twigs 83. This is why I
propose using only para-aramid or HPPE rope,
supplied on reels, and then knotted by the villa-
gers to create enormous nets hung from the euca-

83 It is time to stop plundering the eucalyptus forests, which
abound with local furnaces producing the mediocre bricks that
are used to build poor quality Western style buildings, which
bear no relation to either the country’s nature and climate, or
culture.
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