On the disused industrial area “ex Michelin” in Trento, the construction of a residential, tertiary and commercial complex with an area of 199,000 square meters is planned, as follows: 44,000 square meters of residences 10,400 square meters of commercial spaces 21,000 square meters of service sector 4,500 square meters of receptive spaces 9,600 square meters of exhibition space (museum) 3,600 square meters of multi-purpose spaces (auditorium) 109,000 square meters of parking and technical rooms MUSE will be built in the abandoned area of the former Michelin factory. The building consists of a succession of spaces and volumes, full and empty, resting on a large body of water on which they seem to float, multiplying the effects and vibrations of light and shadows. Everything is held together at the top by the large layers of the roof, which support the forms, making them recognizable even outside.
The structure develops on 2 underground levels and 5 levels above ground, rising up to 18.5 meters. In plan it reaches a maximum length (east / west) of 130 m above ground (140 m at basement level), and a maximum width (north / south) of 35 m above ground (45 m at basement level). The roofs are characterized by a succession of large slopes with east-west orientation, partly opaque with a zinc finish, and partly in transparent glass. All the pitches have generous overhangs, characterized by a progressive lightening of the structural frame and a thinning, in ever-narrower bands, of the roof covering.
For the north and south elevations a stone cladding in bush-hammered verdello was imagined, mechanically supported by a metal substructure; in this way a finish is taken that characterizes the most valuable corners of the various buildings in the new neighborhood. To the "masses" covered in stone, the glass surfaces alternate. The steel knots of the doors and windows take the elements already used in the rest of the intervention for shape, step and dimensions. The east front, corresponding to the portion of the building that contains the library and offices, is characterized by the so-called "green facade": a succession of uprights in laminated wood, with a system of metal shelves that supports "vases" destined to make grow along the facade - through special vertical supports between vase and vase - of climbing species. The west front is characterized by the view in succession of the roof slopes, with in the foreground those in glass of the tropical greenhouse.
The project is testimony of a particular attention to the issues of sustainability and energy saving. In fact, it provides for a series of choices and measures to achieve LEED certification. The rationalization of the basic energy supply - achieved through the installation of a centralized energy system that optimizes resources and reduces the management costs of the building - adds a careful choice of materials aimed at containing as much as possible the heat loss, as well as the installation of 340 square meters of photovoltaic panels on opaque roofs.