Renault dealership | Ottavio Di Blasi

This project deals with the regeneration of a 1960’s building. It envisages the complete innovation of the building’s image, in a coherent way with the function of the new one: a display area for cars. The new intervention occurs without ignoring the previous building; it reinterprets the old façade, and lets one see through behind the new one, which is built from a glazed structure that is generated from the shopfront on the ground floor. At this level it still belongs to the old building, but at the higher levels it detatches itself from the existing façade and inclines at approximately 10 degrees. Even the mirrors which compose the structure are separated amongst themselves to the point of creating void spaces up to 20cm deep at the top. As the glazed façade rises, the panels become opaque. The façade itself becomes therefore a screen that protects the higher levels, which contain the offices, from direct sunlight. An opaque shadecloth covers the existing roof structure, and extends approximately 3m, which defines a limit for the façade.