#rethinking the industrial architecture: A sustainable approach with human being and landscape at its core

17 Aug 2022

Founded in 1999, GEZA Architettura is the multi-disciplinary architecture studio of Stefano Gri and Piero Zucchi, whose projects have been internationally recognized with awards for their exquisite design solutions and strategic thinking.

Furla Progetto Italia, Tavarnelle Val di Pesa (FI), 2021. Headquarters and Production Complex immersed in the Chianti landscape. The buildings are developed at different altitudes and are a striking mark visible from the high way. Photo credit: Fernando Guerra | FG+SG fotografia de arquitectura

Founded in 1999, GEZA Architettura is the multi-disciplinary architecture studio of Stefano Gri and Piero Zucchi, whose projects have been internationally recognized with awards for their exquisite design solutions and strategic thinking.

Synthesis of Ideas, Beauty, and Functionality 

According to GEZA, the project implies designing the Space (Architecture) within its Environment (light and landscape) through the seasons of Time. Their architecture strives for new meanings, while creating new identities, and is designed based on a unique point of view and sensibility in regards to the context, the materiality of the details, and the human-centred solutions, always towards a poetic dimension.

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#rethinking the industrial architecture: A sustainable approach with human being and landscape at its core
Faber Headquarters, Cividale del Friuli (UD), 2013. Faber Headquarters are borderline located
between the industrial area and the farmland, hence belonging to both the industrial and the natural scenario.
Photo credit: Massimo Crivellari

GEZA rethinks the workspaces, taking advantage of all the variables and constraints - productive flow, working dynamics, efficiency goals, location features - and creating new environments where the landscape and the individual’s well-being are at the core of the project.

The relationship between architecture and nature

The industrial architecture project is a great opportunity to rethink the connection between architecture-nature, bringing the individual back into focus. GEZA’s projects merge aspects of engineering and economics in researching formal abstraction while combining different logics. The landscape and its features define the project choices, celebrating the elegance of the timeless architecture and the sustainability of the internal workspaces.

Reading the territory and the internal space

The studio simultaneously deals with the production processes and the relationships between artifice and nature, foreground and background, working environments, and outdoor spaces. Each project is designed to become one with the landscape, reinforcing its presence within its surroundings.

Zoom lens – shape and matter

Architecture must balance different reading scales, from the overview to the most minute details. GEZA bases its projects on this approach, changing perspective from the outside to the inside, switching zoom lenses from the big scale to the singular element in order to guarantee the quality of their work. In this way, the architecture doubles its function to bring new identities to both the territory and the human beings’ everyday life.

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#rethinking the industrial architecture: A sustainable approach with human being and landscape at its core
Pratic 1.0, Fagagna (UD), 2011. Headquarters and Production Complex immersed in the agricultural landscape
and framed by the Friuli mountains. The so-called ‘floating shade’ hosts the main offices: the continuity
between indoor spaces and the natural surrounding elements guarantees the sustainability of these workspaces.
Photo credit: Fernando Guerra | FG+SG fotografia de arquitectura

Rigorous essentiality of forms

Industrial architecture is physically very impactful in regard to the territory and the landscape - as are infrastructures - and thus must be responsibly designed to merge with the environment in a gentle and timeless manner.

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The definition of simple acts guarantees a measurable relationship with the territory: horizontal and vertical, repetition and rhythm, light and shadow, straight and curved lines, coloured and neutral marks, black and white.

Monochromic and materiality

Monochromic, pure colours and materials allow for the exploration of different surfaces, depths, thoughts, gradients, tactile sensations, and light interactions. Black and white are harsh, neutral colours, yet they merge harmoniously with the natural elements. They are, in fact, a means to highlight two things: the landscape, green hues painted, and the human being, made of dynamic colours himself that blur into nature when in action.

Human-centred design and sustainability

GEZA personalizes the concept of sustainability (intended as conceptual, almost poetic), a current theme that goes beyond environmental best practices. In relation to the pandemic, individuals have discovered themselves in a new condition, juggling between health (physical and mental), smart work, and the company's needs. In these circumstances, people's well-being has inevitably become the number-one priority, even in industrial architecture projects: the studio designs human-centred workspaces, featuring flexible layouts, green areas (indoor and outdoor), optimal natural lighting conditions, and cosy environments.

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For GEZA, sustainability relates to the quality of life, particularly within working environments where people spend most of their days, sustaining, indeed, their labour. Sustainability is beauty, as it’s undeniable that a pleasant environment sets the parameters for best performances: design, light, space, nature, and meeting areas all contribute to the overall mental and physical well-being of the employees.

Beyond Architecture

Great architecture is the result of a complex process that merges different logic, the client’s needs, a variety of professionals and skills, constraints, timing, issues, and design. It requires continuous and rigorous control.

The architect - the only one to hold a clear overview of the final outcome - plays a pivotal role in coordinating the professionals, the details, and the compliances at different levels, from day one right through to the end. Accordingly, GEZA Architettura’s projects are the synthesis of ideas, beauty, and functionality.

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