Cambiano (TO), Italy
Realized by Pininfarina Architecture in partnership with Indexlab, Eco 2 Zone, Exgineering, and Nieder, the Urban Lounge is a temporary installation conceived as a responsive public space that takes advantage of the specific local climate and the surrounding environment to maximize user comfort and implements active microclimate mitigation strategies, curated by Rossana Orlandi within the cloisters of the Leonardo Da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology in Milano.
The Urban Lounge structure has been awarded a 2022 Green GOOD DESIGN Sustainability Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
Exploring how urban outdoors can be managed to brake climate change, the installation improves outdoor comfort by introducing passive and active strategies that are tailored to local climate conditions.
The entire structure is made through the use of recycled and recyclable plastics.
The goal is to demonstrate that plastic materials do not generate negative externalities as such, but instead can be extraordinary resources for a more sustainable future.
The main culprit of pollution is not the plastic itself, but its misuse and abuse. The exhibition aims to educate on no-waste behavior and to overturn the general opinion about plastic using design to transform waste into pure emotions.
The cladding, the substructure, and the integrated furnishings of the installation will be realized through design for manufacturing methodology and digital fabrication.
A recycled plastic fiber will be 3D printed to shape the fluid lines of the structure embedding them in the natural environment.
The main components of the installation are arranged around a magnificent tree to contribute, in a connection between link nature and technology, to improve the quality of the surrounding environment through an urban air purifier, a water nebulizer, and a circadian lighting system.
The urban air purifier contributes to air renewal while absorbing toxic substances; the water nebulization system keeps the environment humid, favoring the growth of plants while lowering the perceived temperature.
The audio system emits sounds and images aimed at educating visitors to a more conscious use and plastic consumption.
Project: Urban Lounge—a Climate-Responsive Eurocooling Architectural Structure
Designers: Pininfarina Architecture, Pininfarina SpA.
Collaborating Designers: Indexlab, Eco 2 Zone, Exgineering, and Design Differente
Client: Rossana Orland
