Case Study Trabeated Systems: Renzo Piano's Workshop in Otranto, Italy

The goal of this workshop was to rehabilitate the historic center of Otranto, Italy. The Workshop was sponsored by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1979 and was executed from a single prefabricated unit which was transported into the "heart of the city's historic center."

"The program was divided into four parts, analysis and diagnosis, information and education, open project, and work and construction"

"Local residents were crucial to the project in providing artisan skills and extensive knowledge about the history of the community."

RPBW official website of Renzo Piano
http://rpbw.r.ui-pro.com/
All Projects/Italy/Otranto Urban Regeneration
For more information (and for better images) on Renzo Piano's Otranto Urban Regeneration Workshop please see his official website.


This project's architectural/structural language is very similar to Piano's project in the port of Genoa, Italy as both projects share the same stretched fabric and canopy-like effect. However the most interesting and most relevant aspect of this Workshop is its spirit of the project and the involvement of the community in the regeneration and renovation process of their city.

The Renzo Workshop in Otranto achieved the same residential involvement that we are hoping to encourage during our studio project in Pendleton, SC.








The children of the city were also involved in the success of the Workshop. Like the Otranto Workshop, we hope to reach out to the community--especially the children--throughout the semester. Our ideas for youth involvement have ranged from educational sessions hosted either during or after school, to History Harvest events that both educate and entertain. Regardless of the format, the goal is to raise awareness of one's built environment. We hope that this will garner a stronger appreciation for our ultimate intervention on the Pendleton site.

One of the goals of Piano's Workshop was community involvement: the Workshop became a significant point of interest for the residents.

For more information regarding Renzo Piano's involvement in UNESCO Activities please click here.

a not so clean slate...

When developing a design project a fierce and natural sense of protectiveness and pride will most likely result, as it will from any sort of significant investment of time, anxiety, and sacrifice. In regards to the Clemson and Pendleton project, I believe engaging the community will encourage a sense of communal and personal ownership that will determine the success (immediate and lasting) of the project. If the citizens actively participate in the progress of the project, if they thoughtfully contribute to the design and then sweat over the construction, then the project becomes their own: what was once students designing in a community becomes students designing with a community.

Because both of the projects potentially involve the "telling of a story", I see the community actively participating in both the harvesting and expressing of these stories. Perhaps the collecting of stories becomes an event of the community, perhaps the final construction push becomes a communal celebration similar to a traditional "barn-raising." The nature of the projects is very dynamic in that it is a design exercise and a learning experience for us as students, but it is also a service that we are doing for (and with) the community and a chance to experience collaboration between the community and the University.

The most difficult aspect of these projects is already being experienced in the differences of opinions and in different interpretations of the sites, particularly in the Pendleton site. The Pendleton project is effectively a continuation of a previous studio, it deals with history and emotions and memories...the site also has a strong sense of spirit. Our studio debate is currently whether the Kesse Barn would be most effectively memorialized by a hands-off observe-only approach, or if the most effective way to honor what was is to create a place that encourages a sort of social activity that was (and still can be) the essence of this place. I believe it is the job of an architect to set aside personal ego and to react in a sensitive and yet intuitive manner. This will also be a point of dissention among our (and any) studio in a collaborative setting because each of us, obviously, has very strong opinions. The challenge will be to be "avant garde" and responsible at the same time.

For me the memories and the spirit of the Pendleton site are the most meaningful aspects that will be brought forward through this project. Though I acknowledge the struggles that we will encounter in this more weighty and sensitive site, I am also excited to see how our studio resolves the expression of the memories as well as the re-engendering of the social spirit.

sarah e. wade . . . STEWARDSHIP SOUTH