Cleopatra’s Kiosk London

Cleopatra’s kiosk, London
International Design Competition. First Prize.
organizer: RIBA-Royal Institute of British Architects
Client: Samuel Alexander Ltd. London
Year: 2003-2007
Address: 7 Victoria Embankment, London WC2N 5AQ, United Kingdom
Stato: completed

This building originates from the winning design of a design competition managed by RIBA to design a kiosk to replace an older structure for selling boat tickets, souvenirs, and ice cream overlooking the River Thames in front of the Charing Cross metro station and under the Golden Jubilee Bridge in Central London. The kiosk takes its name from the Cleopatra’s Needle obelisk situated nearby.
The new kiosk is a vaguely zoomorphic flexible structure, completely clad in stainless steel, which changes its spatial and functional layout by moving two large doors, one sliding and one swinging, made of steel and curved translucent glass.

A memorial for 73 Jewish children saved in Nonantola, 1942-1943

Davanti a Villa Emma. A memorial for 73 Jewish children saved in Nonantola, 1942-1943
International architectural competition. First Prize.
Client: Fondazione Villa Emma, Nonantola
Dates: 2018 / Ongoing
Address: via Mavora 39, Nonantola, Modena
Architect and team leader: Bianchini & Lusiardi Associati
Team: Ing. Emanuele Fornalè (Structural design), Ing. Alessandro Farina (HVAC)
Status: under construction, completion scheduled for the third quarter of 2025

A museum and memorial dedicated to 73 Jewish children from Germany, Austria, and Slovenia who took refuge in Villa Emma, a country house in the town of Nonantola in northern Italy, from 1942 to 1943 and, with the help of the local population, were able to escape Nazi persecution and eventually safely reach Switzerland and then Palestine.

The museum under construction in July 2025

The building
Our winning design envisaged the creation of a “non-building”, namely a space whose blurred boundaries establish a continuous relationship with the surroundings and do not rigidly define an “inside” and an “outside”. Covered by a roof that symbolizes the sukkah temporary hut, this 800-sqm/8,600-sqft NZEB building is mostly made of wood – Cross-Laminated Timber for the walls and Glulam wood for the roof structure.
The building plan is characterized by a regular grid that has been deformed following the directions towards the places – both remote and nearby – which marked the history and life of the Jewish children saved here.
Together with the building, we also designed the museum’s permanent exhibition and the garden.

HL House, Fivizzano, Tuscany, Italy

Renovation of a historic stone house in Tuscany
Private client
year: 2003
Location: Fivizzano, Massa Carrara, Tuscany, Italy
Architect: Bianchini & Lusiardi Associati;
Structural engineer: Marco Ticozzi
Status: completed

An old stone building, abandoned for many years, located near the city wall of a town in Lunigiana, in the province of Massa Carrara, Tuscany, has been restored, renovated, seismically retrofitted, and transformed into a private house and violin-making workshop.
The building has a gross floor area of approximately 600 sqm (6,500 sqft), and an 800-sqm garden complements the property.

Home of 2030 – Sustainable housing in the UK

Home of 2030
International architectural design competition
Clients: Home of 2030 – Government of the United Kingdom, Building Research Institute (BRE), Design Council, and Ministry of Building Innovation + Education (MOBIE)
Organizer: RIBA Competitions
Year: 2020
Place: Regno Unito
Progetto: United Kingdom, various locations
Competition Entry – Preliminary design

The Home of 2030 competition addressed the topic of housing with a view to the near future, particularly concerning several major challenges: the aging population, the increase in working from home, the need to reduce the number of energy-intensive homes, and the need to build homes that foster cohesion, inclusion, and social connections. The four key objectives underlying the competition were identified as the creation of housing units designed for all ages, with low environmental impact, that can promote healthy lifestyles and a better quality of life, and that meet the diverse needs of the market.

1forus. A landmark for Paris’ Olympic Bid

International architectural competition
Client: Ville de Paris / French Olympic Committee
Year: 2004
Place: Paris, France
Competition entry

What does it mean to see and be seen in a contemporary metropolis? The idea behind the landmark project for the Paris Olympics is that seeing a contemporary city increasingly means looking through things, obtaining information about its past and future, and being transported out of time and space. The “1forus” landmark was conceived as a machine for seeing, imagining a large folded “double-sided” surface that, like Alice’s mirror, transfers different visions at different times: the past, the present, and the future. We decided not to take visitors up high to see Paris but to give them a way to obtain information about the site and, more generally, about the city. The first way of seeing is provided by the ‘skin’ of the landmark, a cladding made of polished stainless steel scales, which in its lower part reflects the surrounding environment while in its upper part, thanks to the different angle of the slabs, it becomes more permeable, scattering symbolic images of Olympic sports and reflecting what is happening inside.
On the upper edge of the structure, a series of lamps with blue filters ensures that the structure can be seen from afar both during the day and at night, becoming a landmark within the city. The interior cladding supports different levels of projected images: in the lower portion, the surface displays a real-time view of the area captured at a height of 21 meters by a set of cameras; in the middle section, images on the history of Batignolles alternate with images recounting the 1908 and 1924 Olympic Games; in the upper section, a presentation of the Olympic concept is shown.

Zero-Energy Modular Residential Buildings, Beijing, China

Lilies – Solar Energy for My Home
International architectural design competition for experimental zero-energy residential buildings in Beijing. Prize for Technical Excellence.
Organizer: International Solar Energy Society / China National Engineering Research Center for Human Settlements / Chinese Renewable Energy Society
Years: 2007/2008
Place: Beijing, China
Architect: Bianchini & Lusiardi Associati
Status: awarded competition design

Our “Lilies” residential complex comprises three independent buildings. Like the flower from which it takes its name, the complex “grows” on water and gets the energy for its existence from sunlight. The energy it requires is generated by 24 Stirling motors which use the difference of temperature to create electricity; furthermore, heating and cooling are provided by heat pumps using the water in the ponds as a heat source/thermal mass.
The buildings consist of modular units fastened to a modular load-bearing structure made of carbon steel. Each building’s stairs, elevators, and horizontal distribution are placed inside an inner courtyard. I singoli blocchi abitativi sono agganciati ad una struttura portante modulare in acciaio e si aggregano sul perimetro della pianta lasciando libero lo spazio centrale dove sono state collocate le scale e le passerelle che distribuiscono agli appartamenti. Based on a 0.6-meter module, each apartment is equipped with a low-voltage system with a power socket and 4 LEDs in each module; this way every point in the dwelling can accommodate a light fixture and/or provide energy to appliances.

Technology
Each building is equipped with eight Stirling-Solar units manufactured by SOLO Stirling GMBH, which generate up to 64 KWP of electricity. The engines exploit the temperature difference between a “hot chamber” – heated by solar radiation through a parabolic mirror – and a “cold chamber” cooled by the water of the pools beneath.
Cooling and heating
Winter: passive heating from Sunlight reflected by the pools. Active hearing from geothermal heat pumps powered by the energy generated by the Stirling engines.
Summer: sunscreen and vegetation filter incident radiation from the Sun, Natural ventilation flow is incremented by the shape of the parabolic concentrators on top of the buildings. Passive cooling is increased by the thermal mass of the pools’ water. The inner courtyard at the core of each building acts as a ventilation chimney, creating an ascendent airflow that helps extract heat from the apartments surrounding it

Figures
Net floor area of the dwellings: 38 to 76 square meters (409 to 1018 square feet). Site area: 1680 square meters | Total net floor area of the presidential complex: 7200 square meters | Buildings’ height: 15.9 meters | Levels: 6 – 5 of which for residential units.

A project to revitalize Liverpool’s waterfront

Waterworks – Art for places, Liverpool
2-stage international design competition. Shortlisted and awarded
Client: Liverpool Biennial / Sefton Commission
Year: 2009-2010
Place: Liverpool (United Kingdom)
Design team: Bianchini & Lusiardi Associati. Consultants: Kevin Dowson (BMD architects, London) / ASC engineering, Milan.
Status: competition entry, developed design

The competition’s objective was the construction of a mobile recreational facility to be located on the Liverpool-Leeds Canal in Liverpool. The goal was to design an urban object capable of sparking the environmental and social redevelopment of selected neighborhoods along the canal.
The project we proposed is an amphibious system capable of adapting to different locations and offering users a space equipped for various recreational activities, from dining to sports.
It consists of four volumes with soft, compact shapes, made of aluminum and honeycomb polycarbonate, which can be connected and arranged in various ways on the ground. When necessary, the small pavilions can be loaded and transported on a barge along the canal. The material, which makes them lightweight and durable, also has interesting aesthetic qualities, making the containers bright and colorful, visible from afar even in the evening.
Energy self-sufficient, the pavilions are equipped with a photovoltaic system and a hydrogen fuel-cell generator.