This summer I had the unique opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at an amazing engineered shading solution, customized by the renowned architect Renzo Piano. The project was a multi-purpose complex featuring the MuSe Museum of Science along with condominiums, offices and retail in Trento, Italy.
All of the shades for the complex were designed by Renzo Piano and manufactured and installed by Model System Italia. Model System has unique capabilities to create custom solutions that we typically do not see in the U.S. The European market demands dynamic products to conserve energy, and what I saw truly epitomized engineered shading solutions.
My host was Renato Borsato, salesmanager and director of Model System Italia, who walked me through all the various creative applications Piano had requested for the project, based on the company’s FM41 and FM51 shades.
The FM41 is a simple gravity-assisted exterior shade. As modified by Piano, the roller is enclosed in a stylish round aluminum cassette with stainless steel cables to stabilize the fabric as it travels. The complex features hundreds of these systems with the enclosure, hardware and fabric all in a green that correponds to a similar color used in the architecture of the condominiums.
The solution I saw next was very exciting. It was the FM41 Exterior Shading Solution that was modified with hockey shaped aluminum arms that projected the shade cloth out as an awning treatment.
Across the balconies, this exterior shading solution employs only one motor to control all four shades. This technique is called coupling.
The larger patios offered a more complex dramatic shading system that utilized the FM51 technology. The FM51 functions by applying tension to the bottom hem bar, keeping the fabric taut and preventing sagging. Renzo Piano designed all the cable systems,including the brackets. The fabric is an exterior solar shade fabric manufattured by Serge Ferrari.
The last stop was to the MuSe Museum whose angled profiles echo the shapes of the nearby DolomiteMountains. The bright orange FM41 shades installed in several locations were striking against the glass and steel structure.
The use of color in the shades by the architect was exciting to see. Hopefully, architects in the U.S. will be bold enough to incorporate these exterior shading solutions into their upcoming projects.
The collaboration between the architect Renzo Piano and the manufac-turer Model Systems Italia was a remarkable achievement. Over 6,000 shading solutions in several different variations and styles were custom designed and installed. See the following page for my interview with Renato Borsato and his thoughts on the market for engineered shading solutions.