Reuse, refurbishment and change of use

A sealed envelope with two alternative practical-exam themes for the Junior Architect (Section B). THEME 1 — reorganization of "Pratone Parella", an ~11,000 sqm flat meadow in western Turin, now a commons managed through a Collaboration Pact between citizens and the city: the area is strictly non-buildable except for temporary, removable, precarious structures. Required, with attention to sustainability: identifying accesses; a pedestrian-path network with paving materials; a drinks-and-snacks kiosk; a bike shelter with an electric charging station; a playground; a small orchard; 10 urban gardens (at least 70 sqm each) each with a small temporary timber shed (max 20 sqm footprint) for tools. THEME 2 — residential recovery of an attic in a historic building in Turin's Central Historic Urban Zone (ZUCS, R4 use), where only conservation-oriented works are allowed: the regional law on attic recovery applies (reduced average heights, 2.20 m for habitable spaces) together with Building Regulation rules on minimum bathrooms, dormers and in-pitch terraces; special attention to heights, daylight/ventilation ratios and accessibility. Both themes require a report on environmental and compositional criteria, a quantitative-economic assessment and sustainability choices.

Practical-exam Track no. 1 (Section A). The theme is the change of use into housing of a courtyard workshop building in Turin's Borgo San Paolo — a working-class district whose private courtyards still hide productive structures. The building was a carpentry workshop of about 430 sqm gross floor area: a single-storey reinforced-concrete open-plan wing (the workshop) and a perpendicular two-storey building (showroom, offices, the carpenter's home), now abandoned but in fair condition. The planning instrument allows a residential-compatible use; no heritage or planning constraints. Candidates must carry out the change of use of the whole building, creating at least 5 dwellings plus optional shared spaces. Key design constraint: full demolition and reconstruction is NOT allowed — only portions may be demolished (losing gross floor area) to better arrange circulation — while the garage volume may be demolished in whole or part. The design must meet hygiene and healthiness requirements, barrier-free accessibility, energy containment and the use of renewable sources. The linked written test asks for a report on compositional criteria, structural principles, the regulatory framework (accessibility, flows, sustainability) and technical/plant choices.

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 three alternative design themes (Section A, second 2025 session), published in synthetic form by the commission and paired with the first written test justifying the structural or settlement sizing. THEME 1 — the design of a public neighbourhood library, with the layout of parking, greenery and paths. THEME 2 — the recovery and consolidation of a Tuscan barn altered over time, with a new residential use. THEME 3 — an urban-transformation design in the Soccorso district of Prato, with the regeneration of the built fabric and public spaces. As in the first session, the three themes span the public building with its outdoor facilities, the recovery of a rural existing structure with a change of use, and the urban scale of a neighbourhood's regeneration.

A sealed envelope with two alternative practical-exam themes (Section A). THEME 1 — temporary housing for the relatives of patients at the Besta hospital, on a ~2,350 sqm lot in Milan between vie G. Ponzio and E. Bassini: total floor area 3,000 sqm, max 5 floors above ground (no basement required), pedestrian access from via Ponzio and vehicle access from the car park. The publicly-accessible ground floor holds a hall, reception, cafeteria, management office and toilets (about 20% of the floor area); the upper floors hold collective-service spaces (about 10% per floor). Candidates develop three accommodation types — a hotel room, a temporary mini-apartment with kitchenette and an integrated apartment — with at least one mini-apartment accessible to the disabled, complying with hygiene and barrier-free regulations. THEME 2 — the recovery of an open-court farmstead in the Milanese hinterland, a typical Po Valley agricultural structure (load-bearing brick masonry with lime-and-clay mortar, timber floors and roofs, with a fresco of Gian Galeazzo Visconti and San Bruno on the manor house), badly decayed from abandonment and covered by a declaration of historic-artistic interest. Candidates must identify the decay of the masonry, facades and timber structures with the necessary diagnostic work, and propose a conservation, restoration and residential-reuse intervention per the TRP1 transformation-area scheme of the local plan (recovery for residential use).

A sealed envelope with two alternative practical-exam themes for the Junior Architect (Section B). THEME 1 — merging and functional reorganization of two stacked dwellings (5th floor and 6th-floor attic) in an existing multi-storey urban building, for a family of four. Required: an internal vertical connection between the two floors, respecting the existing structure; the redistribution of living and sleeping zones without external changes, obtaining a large living area, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms on the 5th floor and 1 in the attic, plus a remote-work room usable by both parents with furniture studied for privacy; artificial-lighting scenarios by room use. The existing-state drawings are provided (1:100 and 1:50 plans, section, floor scheme). THEME 2 — design of a demountable kiosk (max 25 sqm) in a historic-centre square of a Ligurian coastal town, a space born from wartime destruction and used by residents for shows, open-air cinema, parties and play: an assemblable/demountable structure serving, by occasion, as ticket office, kiosk, shop or store. Both themes require, in the technical report, developing one of a cost estimate, the design and verification of a structural element, or constructional/energy choices for sustainability.

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 four alternative practical-exam themes (Section A, "senior architect"). TRACK 1 — a single-family house in the hamlet of Chianni (Gambassi Terme, Florence), on a sloping lot in the historic fabric less than 300 m from the Romanesque Pieve of Santa Maria (a Via Francigena stop recorded in 988): after demolishing worthless outbuildings, a single 140 sqm dwelling above ground, 2 floors plus an optional semi-basement, max height 7.5 m, parallel to the white road to be kept, parking to the north-west, with attention to the context's typology and materials. TRACK 2 — the recovery of the ruins of a 16th-century coastal tower (referencing the Torre S. Giovanni la Pedata at Gallipoli), reading its decay and designing the consolidation and reuse of the historic structure. TRACK 3 — a temporary exhibition pavilion on the terracotta pavement of the Belvedere Franco Zeffirelli, below Piazzale Michelangelo in Florence, for a show on the history of the ancient walls: 90 sqm, max height 3.60 m, demountable and reversible, dry-assembled, without foundations, lasting three months, with visual permeability toward the city and the walls and accessibility requirements; the site must not be altered. TRACK 4 — the urban design of a residential block (a disused area fronting via Roma) through an implementation plan: an in-line building, private and public parking (850 sqm), total residential and commercial volume 2,500 cubic metres (20% commercial), max height 7.5 m, with the stages of the implementation-plan procedure and the regulatory references.

A sealed envelope with two alternative practical-exam themes (Section A, 2024). THEME 1 — the new construction of a detached house on a lot of about 1,000 sqm in a municipality of Trieste province, for a family of four, with a pool and relaxation area in the basement and two possibly-covered parking spaces, complying with the B3 zone parameters of the town plan (floor-area ratio 0.8, coverage ratio 30%, maximum height 7.50 m, distances of 5 m from boundaries, 10 m from buildings, 5 m from roads); required are a 1:200 site plan with external works, dimensioned 1:100 ground-floor and basement plans with building and health parameters, at least one 1:100 section and at least two elevations with materials. THEME 2 — an urban recovery in Trieste's centre, at the edge of the walled city: a residual space left by unfinished works, at the junction between the pedestrianised Cittàvecchia district and the 19th-century Piazza dell'Unità d'Italia, to be turned into a public space. The urban-scale design defines a square — with a site-volume plan for the buildings to rebuild or complete, pedestrian and green areas, street furniture, traffic (including emergency access), disabled accessibility, rainwater management and lighting — and includes a small kiosk (florist, newsagent, small bar). Deliverables: a 1:500 site plan, a 1:200 plan of the square and one of its sections, and the kiosk's 1:50 plan, section and elevations.

A sealed envelope with two alternative practical-exam themes (Section A, 2024). THEME 1 — the renovation of an apartment in a building facing the central Piazza del Ponterosso in Trieste: a partly representative home with a double and a single bedroom, each with its own bathroom, a further toilet near a large living room, a kitchen with a pantry-store and at least eight wardrobe modules; required are a dimensioned 1:100 plan with the building and health parameters (uses, room areas, daylight/ventilation ratios), two 1:100 sections, a 1:50 plan with materials and construction details, and an axonometric view. THEME 2 — a new beach establishment with services at Grado Pineta (Gorizia province), on a Minimum Intervention Unit of about 15,600 sqm of maritime domain: following the Technical Rules of the “beaches” plan variant (band A of free transit, B of shaded stay and C of services), with an occupancy index of 0.06, a maximum height of 3 m, a pitched or flat solarium roof, 50% sea-front visual permeability, low-impact technologies and the prescribed disabled services; required are the overall 1:500 design and the 1:100 architectural development of the services area (a bar-restaurant kiosk and the small service structures).

An envelope with three alternative six-hour design themes and a linked first written test (technical report on design and construction choices). THEME I — a three-storey retail building on a roughly 7 m wide residual urban lot between two existing buildings of different heights (10 m and 4 m); accessibility for people with motor disabilities is explicitly required. THEME II — adaptive reuse: on a suburban lot of about 37 × 28 m with three existing concrete structures, design three temporary dwellings with shared spaces (kitchen and living, about 110 sqm total) reusing the existing volume and adding a solar greenhouse, with new volumes in brick and/or reinforced concrete and external works. THEME III — an urban-planning theme: an implementation district of Pescara's master plan (territorial index 1.00 cum/sqm, additional social-housing volume, max height 16.80 m), with road widenings, a new road link and continuous sustainable mobility (cycle paths) between public facilities; required outputs include a 1:1000 project plan, a 1:500 urban section and typological/aggregation schemes of the building types.

A sealed envelope with two alternative practical-exam themes (Section A, 2019). THEME A — the reuse of a building originally of mixed agricultural and residential use in a mountain historic centre: on the ground floor a large stable and the kitchen with a pantry, both under barrel vaults, and the everyday rooms; the attic, reached by an internal hatch and an external stair, holds a hayloft and an added room. The candidate must design its reuse for contemporary uses, with spaces that are not overly compartmentalised and an informal use, engaging with the historic structure (the vaults, the connections) and the historic-centre context. THEME B — a product-image centre, i.e. the corporate outlet of a confectionery industry, to be built at the company site, in a semi-rural area of Friuli along a busy, highly visible regional road: a minimum 10 m setback from the road edge, a maximum height of 10 m above ground, with the option to build against the plant (for blind walls). The new building, linked to the plant and reachable from the existing guest car park, spans one or more floors for about 400/500 sqm of gross area, with a direct-sales area (no warehouse) and a space for meetings, seminars and exhibitions. Deliverables: a 1:500 location plan, 1:100 plans, main 1:100 elevations and sections, a construction and facade detail, and possible concept sketches.

A sealed envelope with three alternative practical-exam themes (Section A, 5 hours): the design of a civil building work or an urban-scale intervention, with the linked written test asking to justify the choices and the structural sizing. THEME 1 — in an existing building of an urban terrace, a former municipal vehicle depot facing the city watercourse, a change of use into an atelier for artists with temporary residence: from the existing reinforced-concrete frame (40×40 columns, 80 cm top beams, north/south fronts in three bays with infill removed, blind flank walls, precast roof at 5.30 m) obtain an exhibition space ≥100 sqm with toilets accessible to disabled users, a dwelling ≥60 sqm, a public-visitable workspace ≥90 sqm and a store/garage ≥30 sqm reachable from the street, with new infill and an insulated, energy-efficient envelope. THEME 2 — in a terrace of porticoed gothic lots, the reconstruction of a collapsed lot (street fronts 4.8 m wide, 2.4 m deep portico, side walls already consolidated and insulated) as a home for a family of four: living ≥25 sqm, kitchen, bedrooms and baths, a study, a garage ≥15 sqm reached through the portico, complying with the local building code on open spaces. THEME 3 — in a terrace along a tree-lined avenue, a 43 m east-west lot with side fronts misaligned by 2 m: a student house for at least 124 students over four levels (double/single rooms with private bath, shared kitchens every 8 students) and a ground floor with a public urban hub, a 24/7 café/reception, laundry, bike and waste stores, aligning the eaves to the existing buildings. Deliverables shared by the three themes: 1:100 plans, 1:100 sections and elevations, and the construction detail of the ground and roof nodes showing attention to energy containment (1:20).

A sealed envelope with three alternative practical-exam themes (Section A, summer session 2017), each with its linked first written test. THEME 1 — an urban-regeneration design for Transformation District no. 17 of Genoa's municipal urban plan (PUC), in Sampierdarena, following the plan's compliance rules (materials provided: PUC excerpts, Liguria Regional Law 16/2008 on usable floor area and settlement-use indexes, 1:5,000 mapping): an early-20th-century residential fabric with historic remnants (holiday palaces), the via Rolando shopping street, schools, the Sampierdarena railway station, via Cantore and the nearby Fiumara mall. THEME 2 — a civic library in an eastern-Liguria town, on a services lot next to a watercourse (15 m minimum distance for new buildings, no basements allowed), two storeys high, with lobby and cloakroom, reading and periodicals rooms, archive, staff and public toilets and a small café point, complying with rules on energy saving, renewables and architectural barriers. THEME 3 — the residential recovery of an old three-storey rural building (oven, stable and cellar at ground floor, two flats above, long used as a warehouse) into one or two units of the candidate's choice, with a possible 20% volumetric extension of the gross habitable area: attention to vertical circulation (internal or external), justified changes to structure and openings and the extension's choices; the report also asks for specification items for works on the existing structures and the technical specs of the extension.

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), each with its linked first written test. THEME 1 — the residential reuse of a top-floor dwelling in a six-storey building: a volume already covered by an amnesty, a reinforced-concrete structure with no static issues but decayed perimeter walls; a new layout for a two-level dwelling, with a report on criteria, materials, energy-saving technologies and the permit procedure. THEME 2 — a retail complex sized to the attached table, separating the food retail volume from the others, with dedicated pedestrian and vehicle access, outline sizing and the organization of open spaces (greenery and parking); a report on distributive sizing, accessibility and architectural barriers, escape routes and the authorization procedure. THEME 3 — a housing building in the urban fabric of Imperia, on a lot with a flat central part and a steeply sloping raised part held by an existing retaining wall, with two vehicular entrances: no more than three storeys (ground floor possibly non-residential with plant rooms, cellars and covered parking), three dwelling types of which one barrier-free, a mixed roof — pitched and walkable flat; the report justifies typology, structural system, energy efficiency and barrier-free solutions.

A sealed envelope with three alternative practical-exam themes (Section A, 2015): all three sit on the same site — the former A.M.T. bus depot on via Maddaloni in Genoa, to be imagined fully demolished — asking for three different transformations, with the shared warning that the area is at flood risk and must be designed with suitable solutions. THEME 1 — an open-access library over several floors, with a detailed programme: lobby, a selection/consultation/lending area (450 sqm), a reading area (400 sqm), a periodicals room, a study area, an archive (300 sqm), a media library, offices, a refreshment area, toilets, a 100-seat conference hall usable outside the library service, and covered staff parking; the written test asks for the conference hall sizing at 1:50. THEME 2 — a multi-storey residential complex in one or more volumes, with a total volume no greater than 16,000 cubic metres; the written test asks for the typical-flat sizing at 1:50. THEME 3 — the residential urban development of the area under three alternative floor-area ratios (1.00 / 1.25 / 1.50), with the provision of planning standards (12 sqm/inhabitant of equipped greenery, 3 for common-interest uses, 3 for public parking, plus private parking): a comparative assessment of the three solutions and the chosen one developed as a 1:500 site-volume plan with 1:200 sections and elevations. Deliverables: 1:100 plans, elevations and sections for the buildings; a 1:500/1:200 site-volume plan and layout scheme for the urban study.

A sealed envelope with three alternative practical-exam themes (Section A, first 2014 session), each with existing-state cartography and a first written test justifying the choices and the sizing. THEME 1 — on a buildable lot owned by the Municipality of Sestri Levante, in the valley of the Gromolo stream, a residential building within a maximum volume of 2,405 cubic metres: no more than three storeys above ground plus a possible non-residential basement, a pitched roof and at least two different dwelling types, accounting for the given no-build constraints (cemetery buffer and river buffer) and addressing accessibility, visitability and adaptability under Ministerial Decree 236/89. THEME 2 — the recovery of a cluster of unremarkable rural buildings in open countryside at Amelia, Forano locality (a PRG agricultural zone): today stores and barns with a single two-storey rural dwelling, to be turned into a family-run farm-stay by defining the hospitality and social spaces (restaurant, kitchen, living room, bar, outdoor common spaces and the manager's flat), with modest volume increases and altered openings. THEME 3 — in a peripheral area of a small Piedmont municipality, the design of a vacant residential (and compatible-use) area through a privately-initiated executive urban plan: define uses, building type, the location of planning standards and the road layout, respecting the assigned parameters (territorial index 0.60, coverage ratio 0.50, maximum height 10.50 m, standard 25 sqm/inhabitant) and the obligation to continue the pedestrian route to the north. Deliverables: from the building's 1:100 plans and sections to the 1:500/1:400 site-volume plan and the implementation-plan scheme, depending on the theme.

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.

A sealed envelope with three alternative practical-exam themes (Section A, November 2013 session), each with existing-state drawings and a short written report. THEME 1 — in the urban centre of a western-Ligurian town, a public detailed plan sets an organic intervention unit on a lot of about 1,000 sqm: design a building with retail on the ground floor and housing above (usable area up to 1,700 sqm, eaves height no higher than the existing building on via Fiume), after demolishing the internal buildings, with given alignments, the public use of the pedestrian areas, a public portico and an inner garden-square, basement parking at the legal minimum, compliance with energy saving and barrier-free rules, and the use of passive heating and renewables. THEME 2 — a new building for a small food market with an attached bar/café, on a flat lot facing a pedestrian square in the Po valley: eaves height 9 m, maximum gross buildable area 950 sqm, with an accessibility check. THEME 3 — a small brewery in Genoa's historic centre, in a former harbour warehouse within a building listed under the Cultural Heritage and Landscape Code (Legislative Decree 42/2004): arrange the production cycle (possibly on view), the tasting and serving spaces, a light refreshment service and the toilets, with a mezzanine of at most 140 sqm, working on a room of thick stone walls, pillars and vaults, without ground insulation or systems, and creating a boiler room reached directly from outside. Deliverables: a 1:200/1:100 building design with an arranged site plan, dimensioned plans, elevations and sections, a 1:50/1:20 construction detail, a 1:20 bathroom plan and an accessibility check.

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.