“Climate change and the housing crisis are two well-known issues, but how can architecture really provide innovative and sustainable responses?”

 “Off-site Construction to Simplify the Energy Transition in Social Housing” is a project by Fondazione per l’architettura / Torino and Stowarzyszenie Laboratory for Urban Research & Education LURE, funded by the European Union within the framework of the Vocational Training Partnership KA210-VET (Erasmus⁺).

The contemporary era is characterised by an increasing scarcity of resources in all forms, prompting a profound reflection on the way in which we live.
In light of the increasing necessity to reduce the environmental impact of the construction industry, European legislation is requiring the implementation of new environmentally-friendly technologies and approaches to reduce the energy consumption and environmental impact of the building stock.
Furthermore, the progressive impoverishment of families and the scarce supply of affordable housing on the market have led to a real social emergency and crisis of living that is affecting numerous countries across Europe and beyond.
These phenomena are significantly influencing the construction sector, as the majority of European buildings must be renovated in the near future, particularly social housing due to its pervasive energy poverty.
The twofold reflection on the future of living and the ecological transition is encountered along this path, through a research project that analyses the potential of off-site architecture for collective housing retrofit and new construction.
The project proposes a turnaround to innovate the construction sector by establishing new professions, skills and roles to cope with a constant scarcity of resources and demographic issues such as the ageing population and the increasing life expectancy.

The project aims to train young architects and adapt their job profiles to the changing skills required by contemporary societal needs and the renovation wave in Europe. The development of off-site knowledge among architects will support its use in the partner countries Italy and Poland, contributing to a faster green transition in the social housing sector, where decarbonisation and energy efficiency are more urgent due to higher building obsolescence.
Based on the analysis of different good practices and case studies, the project will identify and design new transnational training content and professional tools to empower architects in off-site design for social housing. In this way, their work will contribute to the environmental and social challenges of the social housing context, combining digital and collaborative technologies with innovative and high-performance materials.

Following these statements, the project aims to build a community of professionals who will:
- Exchange good practices on off-site architecture for social housing as a first step towards its wider adoption;
- Promote the use of off-site construction among European architects;
- Increase the digitalisation of the construction process thanks to a better use of digital tools (BIM, 3D printing, drones and robots) in off-site practices for social housing;
- Support the digital and green transition in the construction sector by promoting off-site construction as a sustainable and inclusive approach to the construction and the retrofit of social housing projects.

OFF-SITE CONSTRUCTION Project website at Fondazione per l'architettura / Torino

PARTICIPANTS OF THE INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMME

Through an Open-Call procedure we have selected in Italy and then Poland 10 architects-professionalists with office experience from each country.
The overall group of 20 people plus staff of the organizers will take part in lectures, presentations, sitevisits and workshops related to the main project theme - Off-site Construction.

18th-19th October 2024 | Turin  (Departure end of 17th on Thursday and return end of 19th on Sunday)
21st -22nd February 2025 | Warsaw

The aim of the project is to engage a group of 20 architects from Italy and Poland to stimulate debate, deepen their knowledge and come up with innovative project ideas for off-site construction to facilitate the energy transition in social housing.

The architects will improve their professional practices and pave the way for a widespread greening and digitalisation of their work, comparing and learning from the experiences of Poland and Italy within the framework of best practices in the European context.

Site and company visits will allow participants to discuss with policy makers, contractors and professionals the off-site solutions used in the renovation and new construction of social housing and their strategic contribution to achieving inclusiveness, aesthetics and sustainability.

The full programme consists of 4 days of training with conferences, workshops and site visits organised between the cities of Turin and Warsaw.

Programme for the ITALIAN workshop 18-19.10.2024

Plan for day 1
 

Lectures and Presentations in Turin by:

Ingrid Paoletti is Associate Professor of Architectural Technology at the Politecnico di Milano and former researcher at MIT. She is founder of the Material Balance research group, where she works on innovative technologies and materials;

Piero Pelizzaro is responsible for the workshop for the regeneration of public property, which designs and coordinates an open innovation network for the research and development of initiatives that connect the public good, the city and the citizen;

Chiara Rizzica , architect PhD, is a senior consultant on social housing, housing policies and service design in the field of social innovation and urban regeneration. She currently works as general coordinator at Milano Abitare;

Thomas Miorin is CEO and founder of Edera, an innovation centre for decarbonisation and regeneration of the built environment on a large scale, which coordinates the Energiesprong initiative at national level;

Guido Callegari is a PhD architect and Associate Professor of Architectural Technology and coordinator of the Off Site Construction Course at the Polytechnic University of Turin.

Giovanni de Niederhäusern is senior vice president business unit architecture at Pininfarina, a role through which he is dedicated to fusing innovation with design and the world of construction.

Elisa Montevirno is an architect and works with Homers srl, a Turin-based company specialising in the development and support of shared and participatory housing solutions.

Plan  for day 2

Visit to a hybrid multi-storey office building (concrete-wood) under construction in Cuneo, Italy.
Scenario/strategy workshop in Turin with Adjunct Proffesor of Politecnico di Torino Paolo Simeone on how to implement off-site practices in Italy and Poland.
 

Programme for the POLISH workshop 21-22.02.2025
 

Presentations, lectures and panel discussions to take place in Warsaw, Poland

Guest list of speakers and panelists - TO BE ANNOUNCED

Workshops -  TO BE ANNOUNCED

Partner Organisations in Poland
 

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