AM3 ARCHITETTI
INTERVIEW WITH AM3 architetti associati
AM3 Architetti Associati is a design firm based in Palermo, Italy. Founded in 2011, the firm has been expanding their portfolio with projects from all scales, varying from private to public programs. AM3 has won a few architectural competitions, which keep them inspired and able to explore their design philosophy.
For this interview, AM3 talks about a few of their projects and the way their practice works. They also explain the difference between working on a competition versus a client-based project.
About: In a few words, please describe a little bit about the studio and your work.
AM3 Architetti Associati was founded in 2011 by the architects Marco Alesi, Cristina Cali, and Alberto Cusumano. The Firm operates in Palermo and works on projects both in the private and in the public sphere, expanding the theme of urban redevelopment through the design and construction of elements set in high-value historical, archaeological, and landscape contexts.
What would you identify as your design philosophy? What do you want to achieve through your work?
In the project planning a great value is given to a careful analysis of the specific context in which each work is placed. This critical reading of the specific areas aims to identify the characteristics and peculiarities of all the fragments that make up each site. At first, the various aspects are isolated analytically, then they are reassembled and recreated in a new and coherent way. In the projects developed so far, the architects have taken care to establish precise spatial relationships between structure and context, both on a large scale and on a very small scale. From the design point of view, the Firm analyses the many tensions that intersect the areas of the project, trying to find adequate solutions that are able to meet the diverse needs arising from the site itself.
What is your design process like for your competition work? How does it differ from client-base projects?
Competitions are one of the main activities of the firm. The process starts with the reformulation of the request of the tender notice and with a careful analysis of the peculiarities of the site. Through a redesign and the creation of models, we start to explore how the functional program fits in a specific context, elaborating at the same time concepts that are even radically different from each other in order to explore many different solutions. In the same way, we approach a project for a specific client using the same methodology that starts with a dialogue with the client.
Could you tell us a little bit about the design of one of your projects? How do you find inspiration?
The idea behind the project proposal for the requalification of the S. Calogero’s cavea, located at the foot of the Rocca di Cefalù, arises from a particular fusion between the location and the city, between the human aspects and the greatness of the history and landscape. The area mentioned above consists of a round field, identifying the old limestone’s quarry. It resembles a natural theater engraved in the rock, surrounded by rough marbled wings with sparse flora. All this together gives a remarkable perceptive result. Considering this background, the project establishes structural elements that allow the shapes of a semi cycle, with three flights of stairs on the opposite site of the rocky cavea to integrate with the natural elements. In addition to that, the project also focuses on the rescue of the remaining limestone and of the pedestrian area to access to the theater. The project involves the construction of a theater with a semi-circular structure at the flat level and a circular stage intended for plays, concerts, debates and other performances. The cavea is defined at the top level by a path accessible by stairs next to the entrance. This panoramic viewpoint continues beyond the mountain that surrounds the area and creates a real “mirador” facing the shore and the sea. The semi-circular volume in which the semi cycle design of the theater is allocated has a semi-transparent structure due to the presence of thin oak’s layers arranged a part from each other. This solution allows a perfect installation within the area with an aesthetic result due to the lightness, the geometry and the color of the oak’s layers.
Does your design process vary depending on the scale of the project? For instance, how was the design process for the CG Apartment different from the School in Bozen?
The project for an apartment is totally different and hardly comparable to an intervention like the new boarding school in Malles. The first, being an interior project, develops only a domestic dimension that moves from arrangement to detail. The project for the boarding school instead, finds, in the relationship with the very particular context, the ways to define itself. The new boarding school establishes precise space relationships with the context, and to a larger scale, it opens onto the landscape towards Mount Stelvio and the Müstair Valley. A horizontal volume stands against the retaining wall along the North East boundary and it contains the level drop between the uncultivated land on the mountainside and the ground level of the lot. Transversally the lot is occupied by a "U" shaped volume, whose position is gauged in order to determine immediate and simple connections with the South East boundary lots. The construction of the new building generates three types of outdoor spaces: a public space to the South which is intended to be a park in direct relationship both with the residual agricultural land and with the school positioned to the North East; a private courtyard with a garden which all the common facilities overlook; a service area to the North which is dedicated to parking lots, facility premises, and to the loading and unloading area of the kitchen.
You’re and architecture office based in Palermo, Italy, and most of your work is located in the area. What do you think is something unique from Palermo and how do you translate that into your architecture?
Sicily is a unique place to practice our profession. A place that, thanks to its beautiful cities and its potential, broadens more and more debate and knowledge that are the basis of our work. But it is also a complex land where everyday life is complicated, where every day you struggle to get "the obvious". Therefore, we live in this continuous dichotomy. We certainly try to make the first aspect come to our firm, but it is not always possible. Of course, there is a feature of Sicilian in our works. It is natural that we remain influenced by the place where we live, but we must also look outward and then return with critical eyes on what surrounds us. In fact, we are aware that contamination is the essence of our work, so we always look for new collaborations and exchanges even in different areas. The experience of the Italian Pavilion at 16th Architecture Venice Biennale was wonderful: an interdisciplinary collective which is based on exchanges and interactions.
“We must also look outward and then return with critical eyes on what surrounds us. ”
I am very interested in the way people represent their work graphically - that could be through a physical model, a realistic rendering, 2D drawings, a sketch… What do you believe to be the most effective way to explain your work to a client? Does the graphic style change depending on who you’re showing the project to or is it purely influenced by the project?
We believe that the most effective way to dialogue with a client is through the creation of physical models at different scales of representation depending on the type of project. We design models as if they were drawings, syntactic models, which isolate and represent only the elements useful for defining design choices. In addition, we use photorealistic visualization to show the light and materials. Each project needs an “ad hoc” representation, we tend to adapt the drawing to the project and not vice versa.
What kind of projects are you currently working on?
We are going to start the construction of a new church in Sicily that is part of an existing parish complex near the Valley of the Temples of Agrigento. We are engaged in various design competitions and in the realization of private residences.
What advice would you give to young designers?
Be patient.
Pay attention to what’s important to you, learn who you are, not who you want to be.
Develop your unique skills and abilities.
Never stop learning.
“Never stop learning.”
AM3, thank you for taking the time to interview with Arch-Vizz and talk about your design firm and your process.
You can find more about AM3's work on their website am3studio.it and their instagram @am3architetti.
Interview & Images Courtesy: AM3 Architetti Associati
Interviewer: Stefani Fachini