Francesca Benetti Genolini

After studying ancient cultures and philosophies in Milan, Francesca moved to the UK where, beside graduating in Architecture, she grew a strong interest in the relationship between Aesthetics and Philosophy, and the way they are part of our everyday life.

Being particularly passionate about art, and particularly in the way it is expressed and communicated to the public, Francesca was attracted by the museum's environment since she was young, and further explored its dynamics during a short course in Arts and Heritage Management at Bocconi University.

Francesca’s architectural experience has been split between London and Milan. After graduating from University of Westminster she worked one year for an award winning practice in London where she had the opportunity to follow a variety of exciting projects, from international competitions to complex interventions to listed buildings.

During her master degree at Royal College of Arts Francesca had the chance to engage with the sustainability issues of the creative environment and joined the Fashion and Sustainability course at UAL.

This allowed her to reflect further on the critical role of architects, designers and artists in relation to the social and environmental impact of our practice.

PALCO APERTO. STAGE OF THE EVERYDAY

How can one imagine a museum of the everyday when the everyday has become so uncertain and ephemeral?

Could the permanence of architecture and the certainties of modern projects be reconsidered in light of the process itself, and the possibility of blurring the relation between actors and audience, institution and visitor, architecture and human beings?

Palco Aperto is a Centro Sociale of the XXIst century, one where the political dynamics of everyday life are addressed through fiction, performance, and communal awareness.

Palco Aperto is a laboratory of performative production in response to the work of Collettivo ZAM, an antifascist squat community that aims at fighting the difficult dynamics of Milan’s suburban areas by developing creative initiatives of various kinds.

Palco aperto aims at questioning the permanence of architecture by reconsidering the potential of the unfinished, its political dynamics and, above all, the opportunity to understand the potential of the building process rather than that of the final outcome.

As society becomes ever more privatized and profit-driven, Palco Aperto wants to suggest an alternative approach to design; one which understands and activates spatial potential through alternative usage patterns, collective ideals, urban diversity and difference.

The project is imagined as the result of a collaborative ambition of the theatre company and local community, a place to resist the chaotic dynamics of the city through the old ritual of theatre.

The discussion around incompiuto is explored through an idea of temporary intervention so that if the activity of the Theatre were to cease, the site could be transformed and adapted to new functions.

Departing from the study of Podium as archetype, my thesis wants to investigate a form which is not resolved at the design stage, but one that develops with and within the inhabiting community, between needs, cultural differences and social knowledge.

MOCA museum - perspective section

The research starts from the investigation of Podium as an archetype, focusing on the specific study of MOCA Museum designed by Arata Isozaki in 1986, Los Angeles.

Both the progressive urbanization of the area at the time and the architect’s metabolist background translated into forms and designs that challenged the local urban fabric, above all the sunken podium that most galleries face.

This perspective section was used as a tool to reflect on the performative character of the Podium in relation to the specific ritual that I have explored and reinterpret the design of MOCA Museum according to a completely different audience and community.

Formally, Palco Aperto consists in a semi-conservative intervention on the ex Magazzino Molini Certosa, an abandoned warehouse area South of Milan that dates back to the 20’s and lies between the typical courtyard houses of the area.

The design is composed of three key moments: The existing Building, The Podium and the Skenè. These elements are made up of a collection of performative and exhibition spaces as well as an open-air theatre and props workshop, each inviting and allowing visitors to participate as both actors and spectators.

The ground features a series of terraced levels of podia which naturally lead to the skenè and outdoor auditorium; the depression between ground floor and this sunken podium in this sense acts also as a balcony for the surrounding buildings.

While the ground is treated as a definitive gesture, its relationship with the existing building allows for a variety of activities to take place, from small cultural events to wider gathering of young generations, allowing the intervention to adapt and engage with the changing nature of the local community.

The podium in this sense is a reflection on the dual nature of public space, as a space of private relationships but also a stage of knowledge exchange and everyday performance.

The interior strategy aims at treating the existing skeleton like a covered-courtyard -the engine of the museum - which connects the courtyard space with the more enclosed, private activities.

A series of podia follow the outdoor depression of the ground and lead to the skenè, each podia allowing temporary activities to happen, these include a black box theatre, as well as conference and lecture spaces.

In parallel with the public activities for the community, Palco Aperto hosts a more private Residency occupied by members of Theatre Company Brigata Brighella, this unfolds as a semi-private space on the first floor which is accessible through a separate tower north of the building.

The semi-conservative approach aims at enhancing the features of the the aesthetic and technical qualities of the existing architecture of ex Magazzini Certosa through the “power of emptiness”.

In ancient Greece the skenè used to be the building behind the playing area, the negative space of the podium where the play was performed.

The skenè here becomes not only the background of outdoor activities but the real machine of participatory performance, the space where knowledge is produced and shared.

The structure features a series of interlinked spaces to accommodate theatre workshops, props workshops and related activities.

The structure breaks into the existing building connecting the courtyards with the interior balcony and becomes the ultimate space to blur the boundary between outside and inside, between private and public.

Palco Aperto wants to investigate a "form" which is not resolved at the design stage, but one that develops with and within the inhabiting community, between needs, cultural differences and social knowledge.

In this sense the design remains suspended in a status of “in-between” where the podium becomes an initial gesture, rather than an ambition to define entirely the final purpose of the space.

Through the open-ended nature of this intervention and its bottom-up use my goal was to open the discussion around the possibility of imagining the building together as an act of resistance and societal enrichment.

The process, with its unexpected and changing nature, completes the meaning of the initial gesture by bringing people together and adapting to their everyday life.

Francesca Benetti Genolini

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