Levitas – The PLAN Journal, 2021

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM “LEVITAS”

At the end of this complex design path, we can say that much has been learned and that further steps toward integrating real and virtual design techniques for such complex projects are worth considering.
First of all, the design path: concept, prototyping, digitalization, fabrication, construction, incorporating many tentative solutions and iterative design checks within each phase, was a highly contemporary realization of the synthesis of Art and Science in the field of design. For Levitas, this approach was necessary from the outset because there were no references in the literature for this particular combination of materials, shape and configuration. The challenge was extremely stimulating, especially in view of the limited available budget.
Secondly, the best architecture and design are always based upon dialogues. For Ian Ritchie, and Marco and Claudio Clozza of D3wood, that dialogue took place between the “abstraction” of concept as expressed first in Ian Ritchie’s words and drawings and the abstract pure/perfect geometry of the first digitalization, and the physical reality of the material used: wood, and its inherent characteristics and potentialities, section geometry and behavior both during construction and upon being subjected to the environment.

From the first poem written by Ian upon visiting the site – itself the result of a dialogue between his creativity and that specific landscape – to all the digital tools needed to integrate the concept’s shape and fabrication, and to the CNC routing of the wood and Levitas’ final construction, sophisticated artisanal skills and engineering were used in parallel to make the final work of art possible. The challenges were met with considerable daring; weaving the wood using only friction fixing, for example, was a bold step. Even some of the weaknesses and changes in the final work that developed over time can be considered as part of the discovery process. Perhaps further research at a PhD level, related to the geometry and how the behavior of a small joint may affect perception of the whole shape, might be a worthwhile subject.
Levitas allowed the design, engineering and fabrication team to recognise the synthetic value of analogue (material manipulation) and the digital (virtual) design – perhaps demonstrating the idea of Arts & Crafts II. Working with mock-ups, testing and checking in the real world had been the only way to achieve the beauty of Levitas which, as with any true piece of art, at the very end has revealed itself as unpredictable – its final silhouette a unique piece within the beauty of the Italian Alps at Arte Sella.

2021 Ian Ritchie, Marco Imperadori, Marco Clozza

Acknowledgment

Structural calculations:
Marco Clozza, D3Wood

Prototype and construction:
Marco Clozza, D3Wood
Floriano Tomio, Arte Sella

Politecnico di Milano:
Marco Imperadori, Scientific Curator – Arte Sella Architecture
Rector’s Delegate Far East – ABC Department

Fabio Roncoroni – Gicarus Lab
Graziano Salvalai – ABC Department
Luigi Barazzetti – ABC Department

Consuelo Montanelli, Architectural – Engineering student
Serena Rosa, Architectural – Engineering student
Federica Brunone, PhD Candidate ABC Department

In collaboration with:
Arte Sella: the contemporary mountain
Emanuele Montibeller, Art Director
Giacomo Bianchi, President