Palace Battiferri

Last work carried out for the University of Urbino (by Giancarlo de Carlo), the Faculty of Economics can be defined as a heterogeneous architectural complex, where different forms and functions converge towards a trial aimed at the recovery of pre-existing buildings. The Palazzo Battiferri houses the buildings of Palazzo Brandani, the Convent of San Benedetto and the house of the Augustinian nuns.The Faculty of Economics rises from a southern corner of the town skyline and dominates part of the landscape, becoming a panoramic platform. , who lives the maturity of his experience in Urbino, faces the project of rearrangement and reconversion of the buildings set in the closed block between via Saffi and via Piave, with a deliberate look at the perception of the hilly landscape, which can be enjoyed in this spot of the city walls.The reconversion project shows a decisive freedom of intervention and a recovery, which while respecting the historical - architectural stratification, it does not remain exclusively philological. Besides the intensification of the building - landscape relationship, the architect 's goals are: the creation of a connective network between the different structures and the organic insertion of the complex into the urban fabric' s sprawl. All the choices follow these three guidelines, not excluding original and very courageous solutions, in a work of not easy recovery.
The main entrance (not the only one), crowned by an eighteenth-century portal, is located in via Saffi and is the fifth of a narrow open loophole between the Oratory of the Convent of San Benedetto and the house of the Augustinian nuns. The entrance is placed in a dialogue between the different spaces: the central body of the building, one of the two inner courts and the vestibule in front of the Oratory. The strong differences in level inside the Palazzo Battiferri complex appear evident, as evident solutions are shown in order to remedy in a functional way to these environmental issues, in fact, the stair tower (north), inserted in the first internal courtyard, becomes an effective binder . The contemporary bite of the staircase towers, both erected in the two inner courtyards, although breaking the uniqueness of the bricks, are vehicles for the three bodies that emerged from the architectural complex of the faculty (Palazzo Brandani, home of the Augustinians, Convent of San Benedetto), preserving the masonry perimeters. The south side of the agglomeration is occupied by Palazzo Brandani, which is forged on the acute angle that arises from the meeting of via Saffi with via Piave. Resting on the design of the ancient city walls, the building complies with administrative functions, following the private division of the internal rooms. The fan-shaped staircase below opens up a passage towards the central body, the Convent of San Benedetto. The building, high and clear on four sides, stands on a rampart on the landscape and is crowned by a pigeon-house, which offers an exclusive view towards the lawn - roof of the Magisterium. The west façade of the Convent, with a porch on the ground floor and austere windows on the upper floors, shows in its southern corner a framed window, which relates to the window of the Doge's Palace Gallo both for orientation and proportions. The hanging garden, set in the heart of the complex, houses the remains of the ancient walls found in the excavation work for the Auditorium below. Last call to the person of Carlo Bo is the inscription that stands near the solar sundial, located on the western wing of the Convent, which faces the green space. The functional solutions for the interiors to be used as classrooms, library and study rooms, transform the impediments due to the difference in architectural possibilities, with recurrent loftings and innovative acoustic systems that bring together contiguous spaces (acoustic ears of the Blue Room). The bowels of Palazzo Battiferri are crossed by the large colonnaded hold, which is followed by the secondary entrance of Via Piave and which frees the spaces of the café and the Auditorium from the canonical academic functions, restoring them to city life. The Faculty of Economics as a whole shows the best sides of the architectural pluralism of De Carlo, combining human activities with more degrees and preserving landscape and urban relations.

Text by Vincenzo Estremo