Case Popolari di Sorgane
In the twentieth century, Florence’s population tripled with the majority of its citizens working in industries such as tourism, trade, and financial services. Sorgane was conceived as a housing project in response to this increasing population. This project is considered one of the most important achievements of twentieth century architecture in Florence. The primary focus of the housing project was to create a highly structured urban system and a more unitary alternative to the suburbs and traditional neighborhoods of Florence.
La Nave is located between Via Livenza and Via Tagliamento. Attached to La Torre, La Nave shares the ‘L’ plate that La Torre is located on top of. The ‘rectangular ship’ is highly developed longitudinally, with a compact five floors. The east and west facades feature long, horizontal, continuous strips of concrete balconies set on ricalate beams which jut out of the facade. The north and south sides are blind, marked by the presence of nine modular faces of concrete jutting beams. The entire exterior facade is concrete, while the interior and exterior details are constructed out of wood and metal. The stairwells and balconies are paved with terracotta tiles. The east front is populated by a set of gardens.
La Torre is located between Via Livenza and Via Tagliamento and is connected to La Nave. The large vertical volume for which La Torre, or The Tower, gets its name, is constructed on top of a large L-shaped plate one level above the ground. The lower level beneath the plate is occupied by garages, cellars, and commercial spaces. The nine levels that raise up above the platform are a stacked set of perfectly square floor plates. The faces are characterized by the alternation of large concrete balconies seamlessly surrounding each apartment. The roof is a slightly overhanging public roof terrace. The facades are constructed of cement and plaster, and the interior is made of wood and aluminum.
Edifici
Edificio A
Edificio B
Edificio C1/C2
Edificio E
Edificio F
Edificio G
La Torre
La Nave
La Citta Ideale
Sorgane Team
Original Design
In 1957 what is now Sorgane was chosen as the site for the housing project.Giovanni Michelucci, a Florentine architect and urban planner, organized eight groups to work on the design for the housing project. By the time the project actually began only three groups, led by Leonardo Ricci, Leonardo Savioli, and Ferdinando Poggi, worked on the project. Ricci and Savioli held more stake in the project.
Giovanni Michelucci
Leonardo Ricci
Leonardo Savioli
Coordinator
La Torre
La Nave
Edificio A
Edificio B
Edificio C1/C2
Edificio D
Edificio E
Edificio F
Edificio G
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Urbanism
In 1943, Savioli completed a series of drawings for a project titled “La Citta Ideale”. Savioli’s background as a painter, graphic artist, and architect lend themselves to his ideas about urban planning and the way in which he represented these ideas. Savioli believed that the city should not be bound to a fixed image, and he created these highly expressive drawings to convey this idea. The expression results from arranging serial elements with freedom so that they might be tailored to the natural evolution of the needs of social life.
The city is situated between Florence and Bagno a Ripoli south of the Arno River. Its location between city and nature is part of its central driving idea. The entire neighborhood of Sorgane, which includes other newer building additions as well, is part of Florence’s District 3: Gavinana-Galluzzo and now has a population of approximately 40,907. Its location in Florence, where residents would have access to amenities of the city but also nature was important to the design team. Savioli’s designs are site-specific and relate to the hills. We see this in the way that some of the buildings slope from south to north, seeming like a natural offshoot of the topography of the Tuscan hills. The neighborhood includes two schools and a sports complex. Each building has a system of tree-lined gardens as well as interior courtyards.
The original plan for Sorgane called for two parts to be called “la citta bassa”, in the plains, and “la citta alta”, located in the hills, which would serve more so for utilities. These would be separated by a green belt but still connected to each other. The plan called for both access to the natural elements of the Tuscan hills for inhabitants and to roads and services of Florence. Half of the surface area was to be “organico”. The square area in the plains was to act as a second Piazzale Michelangelo and connected to the original piazzale by an extension of Viale dei Colli. There was controversy surrounding the proposed location east of the city. This would oppose the development proposal set forth by the 1951 Master Plan, created by the Piano Regolatore Generale Comunale. Many feared that an urban intervention could jeopardize the integrity of the hilly landscape. However, the plan was finally approved in 1962. The original plan was ultimately reduced so that there would be no intervention on the hill. As the project exists, the buildings maintain a more visual connection. The proposed number of inhabitants was reduced from 12000 inhabitants to 4500 and only three groups would lead the design (Savioli, Ricci, Poggi).
Ricci's Designs
Located between avenue Benedetto Croce and Via Isonzo, Edificio A is designed with a rectangular plan, each of the five floors partially offset and arranged parallel to the front street. On the east front, Avenue Benedetto Croce, the ground and first floors give way to a stairway, providing access to the main street. The four piloti that face the street taper at the top and widen at the base, a recognizably Sorgane feature across many of the edifici. There is also available parking located on the ground floor beneath the cantilevered overhang. The three floors above the entrance support a terrace roof which protrudes off the front of the building. The south facade is characterized by three towers which contain external stairwells. The fourth floor residences project out from the main form and create a recessed balcony loggia on the top floor. The north side exhibits a dynamic play of balconies, parallel and perpendicular to the front, and maintains the vertical traces of three internal stairwells. The west end reflects the east’s cantilevered street access. The external surfaces are concrete and the stairs and community spaces are paved with terracotta. The pedestrian routes on the ground floor are paved in concrete and asphalt. The windows, internal and external, are wooden with PVC detailing.
Located between Avenue Benedetto Croce and Soca Avenue, Edificio B is characterized by its stepped volume with sections that reach to two, three, four, and five levels above ground. The volumetric treatment is differentiated so that the building, although formally homogenous, is divided into three different entities. The stepped levels slope upward towards the hill to the south of Sorgane. The first section, the furthest north, climbs two levels to 4 levels. The center core, to the south of the first, has a constant height of five floors above the ground and is crossed longitudinally by a pedestrian path on the ground floor leading to the stairwells and cellars. The third group, located on the south end, is constructed up to four then five floors above ground. The third section combines the horizontal emphasis of the balconies in the first section with vertical masonry bodies of the second section, stylistically connecting the full exterior structure of Edificio B. The outer surface is made of concrete with partially plastered detailing and the internal pedestrian path on the ground floor is covered with slabs of sandstone. The window frames are metal, the blinds PVC, and the indoor fixtures are constructed out of wood.
Edifici C1 and C2 are located between Avenue Benedetto Croce and Via Tagliamento. Constructed as a pair, Edifici C1 and C2 were intended to be residences for craftsmen; the ground floor program is comprised of a series of workshops. The three compact volumes of each were developed on three levels and are connected by the gallery on the lower level. The front facades are characterized by three protruding volumes which give way to retracted window surfaces framing the volumes. The exterior surfaces are concrete with some plaster paneling. The exterior and interior window frames are constructed out of wood, and the balcony floor and the staircase is paved with terracotta tiles.
Situated on the hillside, Edificio D is located on the Piazza Carso. The edificio is constructed over five floors, the first two of which are set back behind a set of two story piloti. The set back ground floors are occupied by the garage. The roof level is a public space accessible to the residents by a central access stair. The external surfaces are constructed out of concrete. The internal and external fixtures are wood with PVC details.
Edificio D
Located between the avenue Benedetto Croce and Via Isonzo, Edificio E is constructed as a series of three room apartments for a total of fifty rooms. The facade is characterized by articulated protruding balconies and framed windows. The four apartments per floor are connected by a central walkway, each walkway has stair access to the street on the south side. The ground floor acts as a garage. The outer surface is constructed of concrete with some plaster detailing, the internal and external fixtures are constructed of wood and PVC.
Situated on Via Isonzo, Edificio F contains five floors, which land partially on piers and are partly occupied by the garage. The rhythmic texture of the modular windows, sometimes framed and protruding from the bodies of the balconies on ricalate beams; are freely distributed to the various floors. The stairwell is given a different treatment of the fixtures in the facade, characterized by a geometric grid of parallel wooden modules. The exterior surface is concrete with plaster details, while the interior is made of wood, outdoor wood, and metal, with some PVC detailing.
Located between Avenue Benedetto Croce and Via Isonzo, Edificio G has a short, compact volume, articulated on five and three floors above ground. The ground floor, articulated around four bodies of the tower stairwell, alternates between retail spaces, punctuated by piloti, and the full volume of the garage. The upper floors are characterized, on the north and south sides, by the alternation of bands of concrete and window strips The east and south facades feature discontinuous balconies alternating with windows framed by cornices. The roof terracing is somewhat similar to the profile of Edificio A. Edificio E also contains an interior courtyard. The exterior surface is constructed of concrete, with interior and exterior window frames in wood with PVC detailing. The ground floor pedestrian routes are gravel with stone, the upper floor walkways are paved with terracotta tiles.
Savioli and Ricci believed in the idea of the “macrostruttura”, a building that could be both part of the city but also in scale with it. In this way, they were reimagining traditional segregated flats. The buildings responded to the desire to maintain an integrated social fabric and was critical of separation that may lead to ghettoization. The buildings feature complex systems of paths to facilitate meetings between tenants. Savioli and Ricci focused on behavioral dynamics that could also relate to not only the specific complex, but the district as a whole. They believed that people inhabiting the complex should know each other.
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Savioli’s buildings are characterized by the use of landings and are all positioned orthogonalyl to the road network. They are designed in a similar language with nine key elements that include balconies that jut out, reinforced concrete roof terraces, strong protrusions with an uneven profile, protruding drains, windows framed by concrete with and without sill and roof jutting, concrete and prefabricated elements, and beton brut.
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Ricci’s volume treatment is very homogeneous and compact. He articulates verticality through stairwells and horizontality through the balcony bands. He uses curtain wall as part of the hidden interior volume of La Torre.
Architecture
Critical Reception
Ultimately, the roof terrace playgrounds, common drying rooms, communal spaces, common balconies on first floor, and overall social gathering spaces were a failure. First floor common spaces were mostly turned into parking, and many of the other features sit unused. Additionally, maintaining the ‘macrostruttura’ concrete edifici has proven difficult, leaving many of the protruding volumes in bad shape today.
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However, Bruno Zevi praises Ricci’s whimsical forms and solutions to dealing with macrostructure, although he felt Ricci sacrificed a lot to technical and bureaucratic difficulties as well as the economy of the construction. But overall, Zevi found the vernacular of the Case di Popolari di Sorgane much preferable to that of brutalism. referred to brutalism
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Won the In/Arch award in 1963 for dynamic architectural drawing.