A 31 NORTH MOTORWAY

Travelling with nature

The A 31 Nord Valdastico is a motorway that cuts across the foothills of the Alps in Veneto, providing a fast connection between Vicenza and Trento. The project adopted new conceptual tools in its approach to the environment, working with the surroundings rather than against them.

Client
Autostrade Brescia Verona Vicenza Padova SpA
Year
2011
Status
In progress
Size
79 km
Team
project Flavio Albanese

Flavio Albanese
founder & partner

Flavio Albanese (1951), is founder and president of ASA studio albanese. He is a self-educated designer, by combining his passion for contemporary art with the practical experience of an artisan-architect. Having come into contact with Carlo Scarpa, he learns from him to avoid an “a priori” approach to design, adapting on a case-by-case basis to the occasions, themes and contexts. He has held courses at the École Polytechinique Fédérale in Lausanne and at the Art Institute in Chicago (1980), at Yale University (1983), at the University of Architecture in Delft (2005), at the University of Florida (2006), at the Fundacion Proa de Buenos Aires (2008) and frequently at the most important Italian universities. He has also held two workshops at the international summer school of the Architecture School in Venice in 2009 and 2010. He was a member of the Confindustria Vicenza committee from 1998 to 2001, the Domus Academy Scientific Committee (2004-2005) and the MIart Committee of Honour (2009 and 2010), director of the Officina del Porto di Palermo (2006-2008), vice president of the Andrea Palladio Architecture Firms International Centre (2011-2015) and president of the Fondazione Teatro Comunale Città di Vicenza (2010-2016). From 2007 to 2010 he was asked to head Domus, the prestigious international architecture, design and contemporary art magazine. Active since 1971, in 1987 he founds with his brother Franco ASA studio albanese. The studio's projects were published by the most most important architecture and design magazines: the Neores project was selected for the Mies van der Rohe Foundation European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture (2003), and ASA studio albanese took part in Venice's Architecture Biennial in 2004 and 2006. Flavio is an avid reader and bibliophile (his library, which is open to the rest of the firm, contains more than 15.000 volumes) and he is a connoisseur and collector of contemporary art.

Franco Albanese

Franco Albanese
partner, CEO & executive director

Franco Albanese (Vicenza, 1958) has worked in the world of architecture and design since 1976. He graduated from the Architecture School in Venice in 1986 and the year after he founded ASA studio albanese in Vicenza with his brother Flavio. Since then he has been the firm's CEO and Technical Manager, and this role has led him to playing his part in the creation, development and execution of the most important projects. As designer and operations manager he oversaw: the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Padua (1997); “Neores”, the production site and headquarters of Sinv Spa in Schio, Vicenza, (selected for the Mies van der Rohe Foundation European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture in 2003); the project for the Town Hall of the Municipality of Grumolo delle Abbadesse, Vicenza (1999); “Morimondo 17”, the industrial reconversion of the Sinv spa premises in Milan (2000); the headquarters of Margraf in Chiampo, in the province of Vicenza (2006). He also supervised the “Rocco Forte Verdura Resort” in Sciacca, in Sicily (2005), the expansion of Pantelleria Airport (2006), the new Rinascente in Palermo (2007), the reconversion project of Lindower 22 in Berlin (2011), the Hybrid Tower project in Mestre-Venice (2012), the Fope headquarter extension project in Vicenza (2016). In recent years, he has increasingly concentrated on reconverting urban industrial areas, which has become a key theme of ASA studio albanese's philosophy. In recent years, he has increasingly concentrated on reconverting urban industrial areas, which has become a key theme of ASA studio albanese's philosophy.

project manager Piero Corradin

Piero Corradin
partner, head of projects

Piero Corradin has been a partner of the firm since 2020 and head of project since 2014. He graduated from the Iuav Architecture School in Venice in 2002 and in the same year began working as an architect in ASA studio albanese. Some of the most important projects Piero has worked on include the urban redevelopment of a quarter in Beijing to an OMA masterplan (2007), the new branch of Banca Popolare in Marostica (2006), the new headquarters of AFV Acciaierie Beltrame in Vicenza (2007), the bid for the new Exhibition Centre in Vicenza (2008), and the international bid “Recupero della cava di Mursia” on the island of Pantelleria (2010). In 2012 he took part in the Hybrid Tower project in Mestre (Venice), in 2016 in the Fope headquarter extension project (Vicenza) and in the Agrologic agro-food hub in Monselice. In 2008 he was tutor for PreVisioni, the international workshop on the future masterplan for Vicenza and at the 2009-2010 summer workshops of the Iuav Architecture School in Venice.

team Andrea Garzotto

Andrea Garzotto
architect

Andrea is an architect who specialises in image rendering of projects and 3D models and joined ASA studio albanese in 2007. Virtual rendering and 3D models are a key aspect of every level in architectural projects, which is why Andrea is involved in all the firm's most important projects. Besides rendering images, he also works in interior design and architectural design. After spending a year and a half in Porto, where he fell in love with black and white images, he graduated in architecture from the IUAV in Venice in 2006. In December 2012, he opened "Incipit", a collective space and laboratory for the visual arts. Andrea is a freelance photographer, and considers himself to be a precursor to selfies and a wannabee biker. Travelling is an integral part of his life and his photography. He loves the Berghain in Berlin and wines that have bubbles.

Giuseppe Santonocito

Giuseppe Santonocito
communication manager

Giuseppe studied philosophy in Venice and Paris, completing his research doctorate in 2006. Since 2007 has managed ASA studio albanese's communications, dealing with new acquisitions for the Library and taking part in key concept and project philosophy planning. From 2007 to 2010 he was a regular contributor to Domus magazine, providing articles, research and reviews, as well as working as editor on the books section for several editions. Before joining ASA, he was assistant librarian at the Museum of Modern Art in Ca' Pesaro in Venice (from 2001 to 2005). As a freelance copywriter he has produced concepts and text for various projects, working with the digital storyteller Felice Limosani on “Il sole sui tetti” 2011 and 2012, with the Fondazione Gaetano Marzotto for the Progetto Marzotto 2013, and with Intertrade Group and Agenzia del Contemporaneo for Pitti Fragranze 2014. He was a tutor at the summer workshop of the Architecture School in Venice in 2009 and 2010. The often exceedingly loud music blaring through his AKG headphones includes Radiohead (and never Coldplay), he loves wide open spaces that aren't very city-like, such as Berlin, and he prefers red wine to white.

Giovanni Schiavotto —

Giovanni Schiavotto

Giacomo Tomasini

Giacomo Tomasini
architect

Partners
Consorzio Raetia

The A31 North motorway aims to be a new benchmark among Italy’s infrastructure projects, raising design awareness to the level of the very best European works. The issue of the countryside is no longer considered to be a hindrance to creating infrastructure but a point of reference: the “horizon” towards which the project is built. Three concepts are key to its development:  1/environmental compensation, 2/a low-impact approach, 3/ appealing workmanship. In this way, the A31 North will play an important role in the new Valle d’Astico landscape.