Enpacl
Rome, Italy


The new E.N.P.A.C.L. offices in Rome Giammetta & Giammetta - Architetti associati Architectural project and lighting design: Archh. Marco and Gianluigi Giammetta, Rome Photographs: Arch. Luigi Filetici The new offices of the E.N.P.A.C.L. - Ente Nazionale di Previdenza ed Assistenza dei Consulenti del Lavoro (National Organisation for Providence and Assistance for Work Consultants) were inaugurated on April 16 in Rome. The clients were unusually bold in outlook, an unusual feature in Italy, and ready and determined to use architecture as a vehicle for communication and to test out new forms and layouts for offices. The project is articulated around four floors plus the ground floor. The offices are reached via a large atrium in which the light marks the route along the floor towards a "totem" of communication in which dynamic images are projected from high-definition monitors. On the fifth wall are projected words written in light which narrate the functions of the organisation. On the second, third and fourth floors are the various operative areas and services; from the entrance halls of the various floors placed at the centre of the building's axis of rotation, an organic curve is generated characterised by the compact nature of sheet steel, which through its concavity and convexity marks out the space and indicates an itinerary. A corridor loses its function as a monotonous means of connection, transforming itself into a space for communication: on one side, a curved, material sign provokes a constant dilation and contraction of the space rendering it dynamic and provocative; on the other, a transparent etched crystal wall captures the external light and projects on itself the human figures moving within the spaces, creating a play of shadows which with their movement present a theatrical show seen against the light. The lighting consists of units of the Mondial F1 Targetti system used singly to highlight the walls with grazing light. The projectors located inside them use dichroic low-voltage lamps and colour filters with suppressed band dichroic treatment. Within the offices, plates of transparent crystal house and protect the individual workspaces, transforming themselves in elements supporting other units through the addition of metal structures. The alternation of transparency and opacity unites and separates the spaces by logical function. The workspaces which share the same functions can communicate visually between themselves to reinforce the idea of the team within the single space. The glass, through its metamorphic nature and thanks to the reflections of that ethereal element which is light, breaks the limits of the material and becomes the protagonist of this space which we venture to call Architecture.