This year, Arch Moscow hosted two large-scale international "days" - the Day of Italy and the Day of Denmark, during which master classes by Italian and Danish architects were organized. Four architects were invited to the Day of Italy - Dante O. Benini, Beniamino Servino, Paolo Desideri and Massimo Carmassi. All the architects turned out to be very different and equally unfamiliar to the Russian public, except, of course, Dante O. Benini, whose Globe Town project for Nizhny Novgorod recently made a lot of noise.
Dante O. Benini is of Italian origin and his architectural office is headquartered in Milan, but by education and architectural practice around the world, he is undoubtedly an international architect. His development as a professional was influenced by such world famous architects as Carlo Scarpa, Oscar Niemeyer, Frank Gehry, Tom Maine. Dante O. Benini's field of activity goes beyond architecture and extends to objects ranging from urban planning to yacht design.
Dante O. Benini's master class differed in its theme from the performances of other invited Italian architects. While others talked about working with stone (the Italian stand is dedicated to this), traditions and innovation, restoration of architectural monuments, Benini talked about the concept that is often used today - sustainability. Sustainability is translated into Russian as “sustainable”. It would seem that for architecture this concept is self-evident, architecture seems to be supposed to be stable. There is, however, a second version of the translation sustainability - environmentally friendly. Taken together, we get “sustainable and environmentally friendly architecture”, and there is no unambiguous Russian equivalent of this word yet.
Dante O. Benini builds in different cities of the world, but at Arch Moscow he spoke about projects in Istanbul, Milan, Turin and Russian cities - Moscow, Krasnoyarsk and Nizhny Novgorod.
In Istanbul, Benini built a pharmaceutical plant, in the construction of which it was possible to combine low costs and high quality architecture. The main compositional element of the factory was the entrance space formed by three cylinders attached to the flat facade of the building.
Also in Istanbul there is an office building designed by Dante O. Benini, completely buried underground. From the outside, it looks like a small green hump of a park with huge round glass inserts. These inserts are underground light wells that bring natural light to office and public spaces.
The interior of the Vodafon Italia office in Turin is designed in red and white colors with various variations. Benini most of all loves public spaces in the interior - cafeterias, shops where informal communication occurs, and it is important that architecture helps to create a feeling of informality and relaxedness.
Speaking about his Russian projects, Dante O. Benini began his story from a hotel in Krasnoyarsk. The image of the project is created by two domes connected by a flat membrane. According to the architect's idea, the memorable image of the hotel should become a city landmark and even a symbol of Krasnoyarsk.
In Moscow, Benini designed the interior for a SPA-salon on Malaya Dmitrovka. The building where the salon was supposed to be is a reconstructed architectural monument of the 19th century. Benini created the interior with minimalist means, but at the same time it is cozy and somewhere even with a claim to luxury.
Globe Town or "City-Ball" in Nizhny Novgorod is the most famous project in Russia by Dante O. Benini. This is the general plan of the new city, which assumes construction "from scratch" for 500 thousand people. The symbol of the new city will be a ball that looks like a cosmic body, star or planet. The idea of a symbol ball is not new to modern architecture. Rem Koolhaas, for example, back in 1985 created the De Bol project, the center of which was a sphere.
To entertain the audience at the end, Dante O. Benini showed him the project of a yacht for the ruler of Bahrain, which was launched in 2001. The decks, finished with precious woods, Jacuzzi and designer bow chair, the customer's favorite place on the yacht - all this is packaged in a streamlined white frame reminiscent of the work of Zaha Hadid.
Dante O. Benini's master class turned out to be the brightest event of the day of Italy at Arch Moscow. A large number of projects for Russia, both well-known and not so, have interested the professional audience. But, like most projects of foreign architects for Russia, they remain only projects. Russian society is not yet ready to accept modern architecture.
