AlterSites

AlterSites A platform to make visible neglected public spaces, and to support the transformation of the city through dialogue-driven participatory design.

Lately Altersites is focusing on circular design and construction.Manual of Recycling - Buildings as Sources of Material...
19/09/2021

Lately Altersites is focusing on circular design and construction.

Manual of Recycling - Buildings as Sources of Materials explores the concept of urban mining.

The idea is to re-use materials from pre-existing buildings to dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of new constructions. This obviously means designing and installing buildings envelopes which can be easily dismantled and re-utilised. Materials should maintain their quality and integrity over time.

Altersite is committed to explore this concept in the next posts.

Stay tuned.

Found this interesting building at the crossroad of Finchley Road and Queen's Grove Road.It is a disused underground sta...
01/03/2021

Found this interesting building at the crossroad of Finchley Road and Queen's Grove Road.

It is a disused underground station. It was a Chinese restaurant until 2009 then it has been shut since.

New zebra crossing from !Amazing temporary urban intervention to add a splash of colour and happiness to the entrance of...
09/08/2020

New zebra crossing from !

Amazing temporary urban intervention to add a splash of colour and happiness to the entrance of the White City tube station.

We could have more of these "signature" zebra crossing to enliven public realm across London and in the world.

It would be interesting to check the impact on the traffic. Are cars slowing due to the prominence of this piece of art? Or is it just to highlight an otherwise full crossing?


@ White City

Notes from the Temporary City:Hackney Wick and Fish Islands, 2014-2015. Authors: Mara Ferreri and Andreas LangI suggest ...
08/08/2020

Notes from the Temporary City:
Hackney Wick and Fish Islands, 2014-2015. Authors: Mara Ferreri and Andreas Lang

I suggest you to read little book as it is a compelling description of the development of Hackney Wick in the past decades.

It provides interesting insights in the evolution of this corner of London made up of failed profit-driven attempts, organic growth and artistic endeavours.

@ Hackney Wick

Nearby the historical settlement of Oriolo Romano, immersed in a rural landscape you can find this abandoned building wh...
23/07/2020

Nearby the historical settlement of Oriolo Romano, immersed in a rural landscape you can find this abandoned building which previously hosted a working water mill.

Built with the local volcanic stone called 'tufo' it has been restorated recently. Nonetheless, today it is vandalised and abandoned.

Overlooking the natural thermal spring called 'La Mola' it holds a value for the local community to be turned into a majestic space for events or as a museum.

I selected this one to represent hundreds of similar buildings lying in the same condition in the Roman countryside.

What a waste.

💙 @ La Mola di Oriolo Romano - VT

La Casa Sperimentale (The Experimental House) is a private house built in 1968 by the Italian architect Giuseppe Perugin...
20/07/2020

La Casa Sperimentale (The Experimental House) is a private house built in 1968 by the Italian architect Giuseppe Perugini.

From 1985 is in a state of decay. The current owner Raynaldo Perugini, was my professor of history o architecture at the Università degli Studi di Roma Tre in Rome.

The house disappears within a dense forest of mediterranean pine trees in the seaside settlement of Fregenae, nearby Rome.
The villa is built in concrete and steel following a modular design that allows for experimentation with the forms. The blocks can be move changing the overall shape of the house.

Raynaldo Perugini now wants to find funds to turn it into a space for events and exhibitions. This is great.

#1968 @ Fregene, Lazio, Italy

Torre Flavia in Ladispoli, a seaside town nearby Rome.This ruin in the sandy landscape used to be a medieval military fo...
19/07/2020

Torre Flavia in Ladispoli, a seaside town nearby Rome.

This ruin in the sandy landscape used to be a medieval military fortress. It was bombed by the allied in 1943 and never repaired.

Today it's probably one the most recognized landmark of this town.

Somehow it reminds me the Scottish chateaux in the Highlands. Or better, their value as an element of nostalgia and tradition that melts into the landscape.

Some time ago, I wrote a long article about the debate on the restoration of the Scottish castles.

In this context, I believe this monument should deserve a better approach and a strategy to mitigate the dangers of salty water erosion.

That cheap fence that denies access to its surroundings could be substituted by a more permanent and less invasive structure.

Also, the lack of a simple board to describe the history of the monument and its value makes me believe that there is not interest in promoting it worldwide and locally.

@ Torre Flavia

This is in Italy, in the province of Rome. A small seaside town called Marina di Cerveteri where I grew up as a child.Sa...
18/07/2020

This is in Italy, in the province of Rome. A small seaside town called Marina di Cerveteri where I grew up as a child.

Sad to see so many rundown buildings and entire neighbourhoods.

This one sites 50 meters away from the beach, is explicatory to understand the state of decay of some areas of this town.

A single cause is hard to identify although in this case I can tell the original idea to have shop fronts and communal activities failed.

Today the density of population is at its lowest due to lack of investments and poor facilities.

@ Marina di Cerveteri

Not too far from Barnes Station, overlooking the Southwestern Railway train track, you can find this building no longer ...
16/07/2020

Not too far from Barnes Station, overlooking the Southwestern Railway train track, you can find this building no longer used.

Presumably an office for railway related services, it's now in a state of decay.

In the past decades, railway's property such as arches and undercrofts have been often revitalised with good results. Yet, there are still many buildings left who could be turned into something that can serve the local publics.



@ Barnes railway station

Spatial Practices - Modes of Action and Engagement with the City.This is a brilliant book edited by Melanie Dodd who lea...
15/07/2020

Spatial Practices - Modes of Action and Engagement with the City.

This is a brilliant book edited by Melanie Dodd who leads Spatial Practices at Central Saint Martins in London.

I love this book because of its fresh approach to architecture and spatial practices in relation to the engagement with the communities.

Through interviews and essays it explore the curatorial, the urban and the public space.

In particular, I like because it gives a glimpse of what community oriented spatial practitioners deal with in their everyday practice.


In Charlton, on the Riverside of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, amongst the tallest buildings identified by the Supplem...
14/07/2020

In Charlton, on the Riverside of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, amongst the tallest buildings identified by the Supplementary Planning Guidance in 2017, there is is disused office building.

The purpose of the SPD is to have a clear planning guidance for the regeneration of this industrial area.

The building is in a strategic position nearby the Thames Barrier and few meters away from the river.

Like this one, many buildings in town are left in disuse awaiting for developments to start, sometimes for years.

Health and safety concerns and private ownership make difficult to open up these buildings temporarily to host meanwhile uses. Although, in the area, some artists have already based their offices in similar structures.

SPD can be found here:

https://www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/downloads/download/433/charlton_riverside_masterplan


@ Charlton, London

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