The first appointment of the INFOPROGETTO WORKSHOPS a cycle of seminars organised by Action Group, editor of such review as “AL” or “ELEMENTI”, investigated lighting and furnishing, with specific attention paid to office environments and contract.The day was divided into two sessions: the first covered new technical lighting technologies and light design with speeches by the protagonists and the main production companies of the industry. Lighting remains ever more key to central, topical subjects such as energy saving and environmental protection. The afternoon session covered office furnishings and interior design for contract solutions. The cladding and furnishing of the office become functional to the new organisation of work, also thanks to an ever more current design.Flexibility of time, relations and spaces go modular. To improve the mental and physical well-being of the workers, to stimulate creativity and increase yield, the internal environment often reflects the natural external environment: plants, light, heat, colours, perfumes, panoramas and tactile sensations.During the course of the day, two round tables alternated for each session, involving segment protagonists, partner businesses and institutional characters in the various debates.Some case histories have been presented as well as studies of current legislation, also with the possibility for the public of expressing its opinions and comparing notes directly with other professionals and leading businesses.A windows was also opened on on the subject of the Expo, for a constant update on the state-of-the-art and work opportunities for all Lombardy designers.
Arch. Giovanna Longhi has presented Lighting of the open areas of the new Milan-based headquarters of the Region of Lombardy
The development of Palazzo Lombardia, the new offices of the Region a work of Caputo Partnership and the New York studio PeiCobbFreed&Partners (with Franco Giorgetta for the landscape design), has also involved a complete overhaul of a large public space: the street headquarters of Via Restelli.The important urban road has been reconfigured, privileging pedestrian areas, cycle paths and green zones. In the large pedestrian “Promenade”, green hills alternate with oval pools of water, a symbolic reminder of the mountains and lakes of Lombardy, whilst nine large masses distributed over the ground in beola (flagstone) represent the Region’s most important geological formations.The public lighting was designed together with Performance in Lighting as an essential element of the architectonic composition and, at the same time, as a fundamental functional complement. Lighting bodies on nine- and four-metre-high poles run alongside the road bed and cycle paths and brighten up the pedestrian areas. Good lighting is assured in the latter, also considering the shadowed areas produced by the shapes of the hills and woods covering them, which, however, are not invasive with respect to the complexity of the natural, architectonic and furnishing elements.LED accented lighting instead underlines the great masses, whilst built-in lamps mark a line along the ground of the elliptical benches and the median line of the tanks of water.In the open spaces on the flat roofs of the low bodies of the Palazzo, where terraced green areas have been arranged, and a path reserved to the authorities connecting the Tower and the helisurface. Lighting consists of different height bollards and elements built-into the wooden flooring that optimise the green and fulfil the twofold role of safety for users and spectacular effect.
