The project will create senior social housing within the “Villa Mater – Riccardo De Angeli” complex in Rivoli (Turin).
Turin, 7 February 2024. The International Design Competition for the recovery and repurposing of the “Villa Mater – Riccardo De Angeli” compendium in Rivoli (Turin), intended to create a “collaborative residence for longevity”, experimenting with new ways of living to mitigate the vulnerability, loneliness and exclusion associated with advancing age, concludes today with the unveiling of the winning project.
Launched by Fondazione Ufficio Pio together with Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo and Fondazione per l’architettura / Turin, under the patronage of the City of Rivoli, the competition started in June 2023 and was hosted on the Concorrimi platform of the Order of Architects of Milan. 34 proposals were submitted, from which the Committee identified five projects admitted to the final selection.
The R3architetti grouping was announced as the winner of the “Abitare Villa Mater” Competition. Its proposal stood out for its ability to best meet the design requirements and for the quality of the architectural and landscape composition, which focused on recovering the existing structure, enhancing the historical identity of Villa Mater, the relationship of the compendium with the context, the functional aspects and the environmental well-being factors.
The Committee underlines how the proposed solution is a perfect balance between recovering the original features of the garden and buildings and including innovative and aesthetically valuable architectural elements.
The Competition Selection Committee, chaired by architect Massimo Alvisi, founder of the Alvisi Kirimoto firm, consisted of Sophie Agata Ambroise, architect and landscaper, founder of Officina del Paesaggio; Giordana Ferri, architect, Executive Director of Fondazione Housing Sociale; Franca Maino, Chair of Fondazione Ufficio Pio; Marco Sisti, former Chair of Fondazione Ufficio Pio.
At the meeting held on 6 February 2024, the Committee ranked the five finalists, identified by alphanumeric codes, with which the names of the designers were associated in the public session.
“The competition for the redevelopment of the “Villa Mater – Riccardo De Angeli” real estate complex revealed an extraordinary cross-section of today’s architectural culture, touching deeply on the themes of urban regeneration, inter-generationality, the relationship between innovation and tradition, contemporary language and conservative recovery, and finally the social value that the transformation of places must preserve by increasing their public dimension, particularly by integrating nature with architecture. Not only the finalists’ projects, but all 34 proposals were carefully examined and each one contained elements of reflection and insight. The final proposals, despite their diversity, all fully realize the idea of encapsulating the universality at the centre of the call in a single project. The chosen project is a paradigm for the future transformation of the consolidated city” says the Committee Chair Massimo Alvisi.
A new vision for Villa Mater
With an investment of over 4 million euros – which may be boosted by a contribution from Compagnia di San Paolo to adjust the budget to the increase in the cost of materials – Fondazione Ufficio Pio has set out to transform the real estate complex, within the next two years, into a community structure dedicated to active longevity, with the aim of experimenting with an innovative housing solution for the over-60s and to take up a social and cultural challenge arising from the demographic evolution of our society.
Villa Mater will therefore be returned to the community with a contemporary makeover, on the Senior Social Housing model. The complex will consist of several different areas, including self-contained housing units for rent to self-sufficient people over 60, both single people and couples; spaces and services to encourage socialising between residents; a park and public open spaces to promote social interaction on a neighbourhood scale, as well as commercial activities such as catering, a cafeteria, a guest house, plus social and cultural entertainment.
“Villa Mater will be a “collaborative residence for longevity”, a new housing model that mitigates the vulnerability, loneliness and risk of social exclusion associated with advancing age – explains Franca Maino, Chair of Fondazione Ufficio Pio. The facility will be intended primarily for “future seniors”, people or couples over 60 united by the desire not to feel alone and by shared values in their decision to live in a housing context that is more appropriate to their needs and to those of advancing age, while being stimulated by new opportunities to use their time. To this end, the next important stage of the project will soon be launched to search for the future residents, particularly among people who express an interest in carrying out cultural, social and community engagement activities”.
“In a context in which already today, and even more so in the near future, major demographic changes will see an ever-increasing number of older adults in our society, for Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, too, the issue of active ageing is both a challenge and an opportunity to which we are paying great attention. Hence our commitment to the themes of social and collaborative housing and urban regeneration, with the intention of improving the quality of life of people at risk of frailty, including by supporting the role of communities and proximity networks in countering isolation and relational poverty. Together with Fondazione Ufficio Pio, Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo is therefore participating in the project to repurpose the Villa Mater real estate complex, which will be a model that we can share with other institutions and can be replicated in other contexts to help encourage socialising, personal activation, and caring for shared spaces, improving the well-being of the over-60s who will reside there”, says Alberto Anfossi, Secretary General of Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo.
All the finalist and Competition documentation is available at www.abitarevillamater.concorrimi.it.
For information:
Fondazione Ufficio Pio
Communication Department 3667755779
marco.lardino@ufficiopio.it