Public and civic building

A single envelope with three alternative six-hour design themes, each followed by a written technical report on compositional, structural, distributive and technological choices. THEME 1 — a three-storey terraced single-family house on a 5.20 × 15.60 m urban lot, built against two existing identical terraced houses, accessed from the street on the short side with a garden and fountain at the rear; max height 12 m. THEME 2 — a single-storey detached villa on a 35.50 × 17.76 m suburban lot: 30% coverage ratio, 0.7 cum/sqm index, 3 m from boundaries and 10 m from the road, max height 6 m with a pitched roof, one tree per 10 sqm of covered area, garden, drive, parking for two cars, fence, fountain and sculpture. THEME 3 — a small town hall (10 × 24 m lot, 3 storeys, max 16 m, flat roof, mandatory portico facing the square) and a 24 × 24 m pedestrian square: full civic programme (council chamber, offices, registry, archive, public desks and toilets, stairs and lifts) plus square design (trees, flowerbeds, benches, fountain, monument). All three require the dimensioned 1:20 floor-to-sky section with a materials-and-technologies legend.

A sealed envelope with three alternative design themes (Section A, first 2025 session), published in synthetic form by the commission and paired with the first written test justifying the structural or settlement sizing of the practical exam. THEME 1 — the design of a permanent public pavilion. THEME 2 — the recovery and consolidation of a barn altered over time. THEME 3 — the masterplan and implementation-plan scheme for the Polyvalent Food Centre in the former Mercafir area of Florence. The three themes test very different registers of the profession: the new public building, the intervention on a rural existing structure between recovery and structural consolidation, and the urban scale of the implementation plan with its standards and facilities.

A sealed envelope with two alternative practical-exam themes for the Architecture sector, Section A. THEME 1 — one or more residential buildings on a 1,117 sqm lot in a building-completion zone (CE3.1) of a ~5,000-inhabitant town in the Turin plain, along a river: floor-area index 0.60, max 3 storeys, eaves height 10.5 m, coverage 50% of the plot area, 25% permeable area, 5 m setback from boundaries and 12 m between buildings; residential capacity to be derived under art. 20 of Piedmont Regional Law 56/1977, with part of the lot within the 150 m landscape-protection buffer from public water (art. 142 Legislative Decree 42/2004). Candidates must specify number and size of apartments and typological, distributive and formal features. THEME 2 — a multifunctional public building (a municipal community centre for social gathering and informative, exhibition, cultural, sports and recreational activities) on a ~3,437 sqm lot in a public-services zone (S3.3): floor-area index 1.00, eaves height 10.5 m, 50% coverage, 25% permeability, same setbacks, the whole lot within the 150 m landscape buffer. Both themes require, in the technical report, developing one of: a cost estimate of the main items, the design and verification of a structural element, or the energy choices for the environmental sustainability of the work.

A sealed envelope with four alternative practical-exam themes (Section A). TRACK A — a small tourist information centre along the Via Francigena (stage 31, Gambassi Terme area), replacing the existing one: a modular, replicable, aggregable proposal with a modern, recognizable look; maximum dimensions 9.60×6×3 m; steel or timber structure with reversible, demountable dry systems (except foundations); functions including front desk, exhibition, sheltered waiting, device charging, videowall, bike stand and charging, water dispenser, accessible toilet. TRACK B — restoration of an early-1900s lighthouse at the edge of Capo d'Orlando (northern Sicilian coast), in very poor condition and listed (art. 10(1) Legislative Decree 42/2004), to be converted into an artist's residence with studio/workshop, gallery and living space: from diagnostic surveys to technological choices, following contemporary conservation principles (recognizability, reversibility, compatibility). TRACK C — a single-family house in Signa (Florence plain), in the historic centre (zone A) within a landscape-protection area (art. 136 Legislative Decree 42/2004), on a lot facing piazza Cavour and the Romanesque Pieve of San Giovanni Battista, abutting the 18th-century Palazzo Scaffai, with a listed "wall screen" (the "Cinema Giardino Michelacci" sign): after demolishing precarious structures, a single 160 sqm dwelling, max 2 floors plus semi-basement, height 6.50 m. TRACK D — a recovery plan for a former productive area (a disused agricultural consortium) at the edge of Sorano's old town (Tuscany), reconverting it to residence and retail with public greenery and parking: site area 5,530 sqm, in-line buildings with 1,100 sqm residential floor area, 400 sqm neighbourhood retail, max 2 floors/7.5 m, minimum 1,060 sqm public greenery, at least 25 public parking spaces, with pedestrian and cycle paths.

A sealed envelope with three alternative practical-exam themes (Section A), each with its linked written test (a report on formal, dimensional and technological choices and construction criteria). THEME 1 — a coastal observatory: a small building on elevated points along the coast for navigation, boating, fishing and naturalistic watch (2-3 operators per shift, possible overnight stay, a 120° visual horizon), in high-value windy landscapes: the most compact surface and volume possible, natural ventilation, solar-radiation protection, photovoltaic power, minimal external services, resistance to saline climate and wind load (+800/−500 N/sqm), thermal insulation (ref. −5°C/+20°C) — with the constraint that the site may be unreachable by construction machinery, driving techniques and materials. THEME 2 — a settlement of 10 “growing houses” on assigned 9×18 m lots: incremental dwellings from 36 gross sqm up to 108 sqm (36×3) with a programmed-growth system in max 3 phases (one or two storeys), for young couples with growing needs, cohousing allowed; an unspecified Mediterranean coastal context, 3 m between blind fronts and 6 m between windowed fronts, minimum heights 2.70 m (services 2.40 m). THEME 3 — the regeneration of piazza Roma in Pinerolo (about 3,110 sqm, a 38×83 m rectangle), the town's historic market square: replace the existing steel canopy with a new structure hosting about 40 stalls of 4×2.15 m and opening the square — fully pedestrian yet accessible to service and emergency vehicles — to other uses, giving value to the roof's upper face seen from the tall surrounding buildings and favouring low-maintenance materials.

A sealed envelope with three alternative practical-exam themes (Section A, 5 hours): three interventions on existing buildings, between recovery and reconstruction, each with its linked first written test (justify the choices, the construction system and the sizing). THEME 1 — the ruin of a late-19th-century warehouse on the edge of the historic centre (10.30×21.30 m, masonry, roofless): refurbishment and extension (+45% floor area) into a neighbourhood hall for public meetings, small screenings and workshops, with the landscaping of the rear green area facing a park; required are 100 seats with a storage room, two offices ≥15 sqm, four toilets (one for disabled users), 20 parking spaces and an outdoor-activities area. THEME 2 — a partly abandoned early-20th-century rural farmhouse (rendered masonry, timber-joist floors, timber roof): refurbishment with traditional techniques as a bed and breakfast with two rooms (baths ≥4 sqm), one room with a disabled bath, a breakfast room and a two-room flat for the managers, with a 40% floor-area increase in adherence or as a detached body and five parking spaces. THEME 3 — the reconstruction, on its original footprint, of a demolished public building that redefines the north-east side of the main square of a small settlement on a Romagna hill ridge (the site of the old fortress destroyed in the 17th century): a civic hall for conferences, events and exhibitions exploiting the terrain — with the lower floor at −3.50 m reached from the east — and reopening, if well shaped, the view toward the sea; 100 seats, storage, two offices ≥15 sqm, four toilets (one for disabled users). Shared deliverables: dimensioned 1:100 plan with furniture and attention to barrier-free rules, a section and two 1:100 elevations, and a ground-to-roof construction detail (1:20 or 1:10) attentive to energy containment.

A sealed envelope with three alternative practical-exam themes (Section A, 5 hours): three refurbishments of existing buildings, each with given structural constraints (a structure to keep and to treat as seismically adequate) and the linked first written test (justify the design and construction choices). The candidate must organise functions and spaces respecting the given structure, external perimeter and maximum height. THEME 1 — a municipal building of about 240 sqm in a residential area, from the 1960s, in mixed masonry and reinforced concrete: refurbishment into a neighbourhood service holding a library and a playroom, using an existing mezzanine at the rear and possibly keeping or relocating the ground-floor services and heating plant, with facade changes allowed. THEME 2 — the ground floor (about 400 sqm, 3.50 m high) of a building with a social centre already active upstairs, freed by the relocation of a shop: a functional expansion of the centre (library, bar, offices, services) with a seismically adequate reinforced-concrete structure, coordinating with the upstairs gym, clinic and other spaces and with the basement store. THEME 3 — a two-storey rural masonry farmhouse: refurbishment into a farm-stay with the manager's flat, three guest rooms with bathrooms and a dining room with a kitchen of at least 20 sqm. Shared deliverables: a furnished, dimensioned 1:100 plan, 1:100 elevations and section, and a significant construction detail (1:20), which may be integrated with sketches and perspective drawings.

A sealed envelope with three alternative practical-exam themes (Section A, 20 June 2013), each with existing-state drawings and a short written report. THEME 1 — the recovery of a building, originally a residential villa later extended with added bodies, into the town hall with its offices: a general refurbishment that enhances the main body and reorders or demolishes the accretions (maximum 20% volume increase), inserting multipurpose social spaces with teaching rooms, a conference space for at least 50 seats, an exhibition space, gathering spaces and offices, with full accessibility for public buildings and by opening the inner courtyard to the public, linked to a pedestrian square. THEME 2 — a new residential building for the managers of a farm-stay business in the Apennines behind Genoa: a maximum usable area of 118 sqm (per Regional Law 16/2008), a 7 m eaves height and at most two levels, with a double bedroom, a twin and a single room, bathrooms, kitchen, living-dining room and storage, blending visually with the existing farm complex and meeting adaptability per Ministerial Decree 236/1989. THEME 3 — the renovation of an urban flat (reinforced-concrete structure, cavity perimeter walls, systems and finishes to be redone) for a family with two children, one severely disabled: the reorganisation provides a room for the disabled child with space for nursing staff and an equipped bathroom with a bathtub accessible on three sides, ensuring the assistance areas are not hospital-like but stay residential and comfortable. Deliverables: a 1:100 building design with functions and areas, significant elevations and sections, an existing-vs-project comparison plan, a 1:20 bathroom plan, and the report on systems and on energy-consumption containment.

The practical exam of 26/06/2008 (Section A, old system, 8 hours): three alternative themes, each developed with preparatory sketches, plans, elevations, sections and details at suitable scales. THEME 1 — on a flat area 75 m up, on a cliff over the sea, a church of 200 usable sqm with a 60 sqm sacristy (WC, parlour) and a bell tower, plus a pilgrim house of about 80 sqm (meeting room, refreshments, toilets, assistance), joined by an open-air churchyard; masonry or reinforced-concrete structures, roofs in RC, steel or glulam, with possible outdoor spaces for open-air rites. THEME 2 — the landscaping of an enlarged neighbourhood park: resolve the link between the existing park and the new area, separated by a 10 m level change (altering or removing the retaining wall), create equipped greenery with an open-air theatre for about 200 seats screened from the street, a green area for pedestrian access and a car park, specifying paving, trees and fencing. THEME 3 — in an existing district, on a 20×30 m site surrounded by streets, a residential service (civic centre) with a 150-200 seat multipurpose hall (assemblies, conferences, screenings, theatre, exhibitions, library and newspaper room), an office for social services, a group meeting room, a soundproofed music room, a lobby and rest area, services and a heating plant, stating the main planning indices. Deliverables per theme: from the 1:500/1:200 site plan to 1:100 plans, elevations and sections, with construction details and a statement of structures and materials. Transparency note: the university does not publish the exam texts; this sheet is reconstructed from a preparation archive (source below), with the usual editorial summary.

The practical exam of the first 2007 session (Section A, old system, 8 hours): a single strong theme — starting from the debate on the multi-ethnic city and the “places and spaces of dialogue” among the three monotheistic religions, the commission asks for design ideas able to combine cultural differences and convergences. THEME 1 — a new architecture conceived as a synthesis of interfaith dialogue, placed in a site chosen and described by the candidate through preliminary sketches: a hall space of no more than 600 sqm covered within an enclosure of no more than 2,400 sqm, with functional, formal and structural solutions that heighten its symbolic representativeness. THEME 2 — the recovery of a rural building (drawings provided) as a place of interfaith dialogue, with functions allocated across the covered areas and an external layout consistent with the theme. THEME 3 — a new neighbourhood for 500 inhabitants as a response to multi-ethnic and multi-religious needs, sited in an urban-territorial context chosen by the candidate: positioning and sizing of roads and facilities per D.M. 1444/68, with indications on the neighbourhood's morphology and on the type of residential buildings. Deliverables: preliminary sketches describing the area, plans, elevations and sections at suitable scales, showing the architectural and urban elements that define the space. Transparency note: the university does not publish the exam texts; this sheet is reconstructed from a preparation archive (source below), with the usual editorial summary.