Active Coloring

Built on an area of about 110000 m2 located in the plain between Alessandria And Novi Ligure, the paint factory, which recalls formal and structural solutions already adopted by Viganò in the Marchiondi institute, was built in the context of the industrial development of the area after the Second World War.^[1]

The plant is characterized by a distinctly horizontal development and maintains a uniform height of about six meters, with some short sections that rise up to ten.^[2] The relationship with the external environment is filtered out by the perimeter green areas and by the backwardness of the factory bodies compared to the road.^[1] The mimesis of the complex in the environment also contributes the perimeter fence, characterized by a reduced height and a Greek pattern, designed with the aim to break the rigidity of the traditional perimeter wall typical of industrial buildings and to allow a visual continuity between the complex and the countryside.^[1][4]

Organized according to a modular layout in plant and raised, with a basic module of 6,666 × 6,666 meters,^[2] the complex concentrates access and control of the carrai flows in a single passage, regulated according to ANAS rules.^[1] Within the plant, the distribution of the spaces is regulated according to functions: the entrance area to the north-west is intended for general services, including the concierge, offices, changing rooms, refectory and infirmary; the central area is dedicated to the productive sectors, arranged to Y with parallel bodies; the southern zone was instead originally destined to the storage of solvents and work at greater risk of fire.^[1]

From a constructive point of view, the Active color factory was entirely made of exposed reinforced concrete, with some prefabricated elements.^[1][4] The roofing of the sheds was developed by means of a single unit with a Greek section and a corrugated surface, designed to eliminate the traditional protruding beam and connect the pillar directly to the cover plate.^[2][5] The capitals of the pillars have a characteristic "L" conformation, designed to facilitate the positioning and alignment of pre-compressed beams. The perimetric swabs are made of transparent windows inserted in a thick concrete grid, designed both to guarantee brightness and visual continuity between the interior and the exterior, and to act as easily demolished walls in case of fire or internal explosion.^[1][2] Finally, technological plants and pipes were left open, assuming a precise plastic and decorative value inside the working environments and creating a contrast with concrete and red oxide finishes.^[2][4]

In 2019 the color factory was no longer in operation and only part of its premises was still used as a warehouse. Despite the obvious signs of degradation, the building retained its original characteristics.^[3]

• Renato Pedio, Colorificio Active in Novi Ligure in the architectural itinerary of Vittoriano Viganò, in Architecture. Chronicles and history, no. 166, August 1969.
• A architecture by Vittoriano Viganò. The Active Plant, in Domus, no. 483, February 1970.
• Alessandra Capuano and Giorgio Muratore, Guide to modern architecture. Italy: the last thirty years, Bologna, Zanichelli, 1988, ISBN 978-8808054340.
• Victorian Viganò, How to make architecture, Milan, Electa, 1992, ISBN 978-8843542345.

Architecture portal

Portale Piemonte