Architecture Professor Designs Two International Buildings
October 15, 2007
James Wines, Penn State professor of architecture and president and creative director of SITE in New York City, has designed two international buildings, located in Briosco, Italy, and Seoul, Korea.
The Fondazione Pietro Rossini Visitors Pavilion in Briosco, an example of site-specific green architecture, is located on an expansive hillside and serves as the centerpiece of a 25-acre sculpture park and functioning animal farm. Commissioned by Alberto Rossini, CEO of Ranger Italia, as a memorial to his son Pietro, the Fondazione Pietro Rossini Visitors Pavilion serves a gallery showcase of the Rossini private collection of early and mid 20th-century Italian art. In keeping with the concept of environmentally responsible architecture, the building is enclosed with thermal glass and climate controlled in warm weather by means of cool air being drawn upward from underground. The pavilion is built from recycled and locally available brick and stone, gathered mostly from within a five-kilometer radius. In order to fuse the structure with its site, as well as provide year-round insulation, the entire roof is covered with an earth shelter garden and regional vegetation.
The GwaCheon Club in Seoul is a four-story facility with parking, meeting rooms, a restaurant, tearooms and two roof gardens. It is conceived as a restful sanctuary, separated from the urban street noise and occupational pressures of the surrounding city. The structure is designed as a series of five interlocking architectural units, with each section based on one of the five elements of nature traditionally celebrated in Chinese (Buddhist) culture. The arrangement of interior spaces and exterior treatment carry out these themes.
Wines has been an advocate of environmental thinking since the opening of his professional practice, SITE, in 1970. For more information on James Wines and SITE, go to www.siteenvirodesign.com.
Contact: Flora Marynak, fwm1@psu.edu