Resourceful Intelligence Installation

Resourceful Intelligence is set in the context of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, curated by arch. Carlo Ratti and dedicated to the theme Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective. The installation, developed by Park Associati in collaboration with the data-native design studio Accurat and a research group from the Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano, addresses the problem related to the sustainability of material consumption in the construction industry, for which the latter is the largest culprit on a global scale, and promotes a circular philosophy starting with architectural design.

Fitting into the broader research framework that Park is devoting to exploring sustainable models, Resourceful Intelligence proposes a design approach based on the transformation of materials, as opposed to their extraction. The installation thus consists of a video that flanks two large vertical panels, corresponding to as many examples of selective deconstruction and reuse of materials in which Park is currently engaged: the renovation of Palazzo Missori, a 1930s building that stands in the Milanese square of the same name, and the deconstruction and reconstruction of the former Hotel Michelangelo, near the Central Station.

The first element of the installation, related to the redevelopment project of Palazzo Missori curated by Park in Milan, consists of a panel covered with glass panes obtained through the regeneration of windows and doors from the historic building. The new decorated panes were made from panels salvaged from the building, which no longer met current efficiency standards, through a casting process on 6:AM textured steel molds. The installation thus allows a close appreciation of the great technical and aesthetic potential of a material obtained through a virtuous recycling operation.

The second panel features a facade of clinker tiles from the controlled dismantling process of the Hotel Michelangelo, implemented by Park in collaboration with Buromilan: an intervention that saw the complete deconstruction of the building by means of a modular machine that, among other things, made it possible to remove the cladding and make it available for new use. Completing the installation is a video that, through a digital map, illustrates a research project on the existing building stock in Milan, highlighting the potential of cities as reserves of material resources.