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Renzo Piano Building Workshop delivers a ship-like residential building for Mareterra, a new land reclamation project in Monaco
Per capita, Monaco was the wealthiest country on earth last year. The unsurprising result of running a country with no income, property, or wealth taxes is that the well-heeled want to live there. This creates a problem, as there is limited space for all the VVIPs: Monaco is the second smallest country in the world behind Vatican City. (It could fit into half of Central Park.) The default national quip is that they are not about to invade France for more land; instead, they usurp Neptune. The country is a fascinating and dense fabric of older villas, resort-style slab towers, and increasingly swank recent developments by Zaha Hadid Architects, Foster + Partners, and Studio Fuksas, slotted into whatever square meters of steep slope can be spared. Property sales are one of the few things on which the state collects income (beyond the casino, of course, where their own citizens are forbidden to gamble) so the state obviously likes construction.Development is on the rise in Monaco, per the wealthiest country. ( Hufton + Crow)Land reclamation from the sea offers the chance to build a little breathing space. About 25 percent of the principalitys surface was wrested from the surf across seven prior expansions. SAM LAnse Du Portier, a consortium of private investors, has just completed an eighth with Mareterra, a 15-acre expansion masterplanned by the Paris-based office Valode & Pistre. It includes townhouses designed by that firm, villas by a jetset assortment of architects from Tadao Ando to Stefano Boeri, and most prominently, a large residential structure by Renzo Piano Building Workshop. Nearly half of the developmentconsists of public space designed by Michel Desvigne Paysagiste. The site also includes an expansion of Monacos convention center, a new marina, retail space, and an Alexander Calder piece brought out of lengthy hibernation in storage for a proper open-air installation. Mareterra has been in the works for some 20 years but was delayed at various points due to concerns over cost and environmental impact. Its footprint is angled to dodge principal currents in the Ligurian Sea. The landfill process, which began in 2018, was laborious. Eighteen square ten-ton caissons, about 91 feet on a side, were manufactured in Marseilles and made a three-day journey to Monaco, where they were formed into essentially a stockade around the site. The water inside was drained, and then existing polluted sand was removed and replaced with layers of sand, soil and tons of limestone. The caissons are hollow, designed to admit the ocean such that waves dissipate, reverse, and break into one another beyond the waters edge. Their surfaces were also abraded to provide a welcoming surface for sea life. Posidonia oceanica sea grasses, coral, and other aquatic plants were also carefully relocated.Le Renzo consists of two buildings narrowly separated with open-air stairs. ( Hufton + Crow)Seaside LivingRPBWs building, named Le Renzo after the man himself (he initially modestly protested) is the landmark of the complex. The ruling Grimaldis are descendants of a rogue Genovese aristocrat who seized the outpost from that bygone maritime state; theyve turned back to the Italian fatherland for this commission.Pianos lifelong enthusiasm for the sea is no secret, and in part his design language comes in part from ships and various naval influences. His taste for cables, sail-like appurtenances, porthole windows, and hull-inspired curves has long been honestly stated. His work often bears this briny stamp, especially along shores, such as the NEMO museum in Amsterdam; the Centro Botn in Santander, Spain; and, to a lesser extent, the Whitney Museum in New York. Not to mention that hes designed sailing craft, a yacht, and even a cruise ship.Renzo Pianos design language often comes in part from ships and various naval influences.Piano wrote in his 2017 Complete Logbook, The port is a powerful landscape made up of elements that are both grand and ephemeral, that are continually changingreflections on the water, suspended loads, swiveling cranes, and of course ships coming and going. Who knows where that ship is coming from, in what direction it is headed? We know this one in Monaco isnt going anywhere, but it contains great kinetic energy. A ship-like structure was also urbanistically gracious in this case. Joost Moolhuijzen, partner at RPBW, explained the dual aims on location. We felt a strong responsibility not to build a big building in front of the view. We didnt want horizontal balconies running forever. Monaco already has quite a few of those.Structural pilotis are angled diagonally, however, they are not needed as the building is very solidly anchored on piers extending to bedrock almost 200 feet underground. ( Hufton + Crow)Moolhuijzen stressed fragmentation and permeability as key aims. The project consists of two buildings narrowly separated with open-air stairs that split it into five main volumes. His team worked a long time to develop its verticality. They accomplished this in a variety of ways; its height varies about a dozen times. And at around 72 feet (22 meters) deep with another nearly 20 feet (6 meters) of balcony space, its also narrow. A variety of surface elements like characteristically transparent glass balcony joinery and an almost literal rigging of runners for balcony blinds establish a vertical rhythm. Cantilevers on each end accentuate the overall sense of balance, with balconies fronted by additional aluminum panels as a flourish. All of this sought to provide, Moolhuijzen said, a second skin. Two masts on top serve no function except the provision of maritime panache.Balconies fronted by aluminum panels add a decorative touch. ( Hufton + Crow)The building makes landfall lightly; just at lobbies, the base of circulatory elements, and a series of structural pilotis, which are angled diagonally on each side. There was no structural reason for this; the building is very solidly anchored on piers extending to bedrock almost 200 feet underground. They just look goodand supportive! Creating those angled columns gives a sense of stability, Moolhuijzen explained, but they also meet the curved, ocean linerlike underside of the building at a more pleasing angle, propping up high-rent steerage as if the vessel sat motionless an exposed dry dock.Public AccessThe elevated mass also works to open up the waterfront. The architects were intent, Moolhuijzen explained, to create a very public space at the base of a private building to make it welcoming; you can walk around here. The oceanfront plaza, faced in sandstone, runs along the series of townhouses and villas that are a bit more walled-off, handsome if considerably less striking. Theres one magical space along the promenade, accessed by an inconspicuous door: Monacos Blue Grotto is one for the machine age. Its a cave-like space that is simply an overlook of the inside of a caisson, open to light and sea shifting throughout the day. Moolhuijzen explained their realization of the shame that this amazing civil engineering structure was just hidden from everybody.Theres a considerable park on the landward side of these structures; paths weave around small hillsides, and the expanse contains many of the 1,1000 trees imported from Tuscany for the development. The aforementioned Alexander Calder piece is also a treat. Princess Grace purchased Quatre Lances, originally displayed at the Fondation Maeght, and it was installed along the waterfront in 1964, where its aluminum frame was quickly mangled by harsh winds. It has been in storage for decades until this redeployment, now rendered sturdier with some steel additions.There is a public space at the base of the private building. ( Hufton + Crow)Piano, who had previously designed two acclaimed Calder exhibits, arranged three concrete walls with an embedded bench to frame the mobile. Sandy Rower, head of the Calder Foundation (and Calders grandson) explained, Calder had described the sculpture as existing in a really specific place, surrounded by walls. Renzo went back to the beginning and studied just what Calders intent was. Hes given us a little laboratory to experience something.The piece was unusual for Calder, as it was explicitly conceived as an interplay between the mobilethe underside of whose fronds are colored and seen almost solely in reflectionand the water. The water is part of the sculpture; its not a sculpture without the reflecting pool.Moolhuijzen described it as Monacos smallest museum. Unlike nearly everything in town, its completely free to visit.Anthony Paletta is a writer living in Brooklyn.
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