Machine Aesthetics in a Coastal City

Set in the middle of a coastal industrial zone, the project asked: how can a research institute that observes and treats industrial by-products become part of this harsh fabric while critically rereading it? The answer was sought in a “machine aesthetic” that speaks the language of industry yet renders it transparent.

The project emerged from the idea of a research institute set in the middle of an industrial site — a place where industrial by-products could be observed and treated. The coastal city's industrial fabric is reinterpreted through a critical language of “machine aesthetics.”

The form is built on a steel structure compatible with the surrounding industrial language, with a pilot-scale treatment facility placed beneath it. A point-fixed (spider) glass façade provides transparency and technological visibility, while an overpass links the building to the existing industrial network.

A programme of cafeteria, conference, administration, laboratories, classrooms, workshop and library turns research and observation into a spatial narrative. Steel bridges and courtyards interweave production with public use.