The state exam at Politecnico di Torino

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.

Practical-exam Track no. 3 (Section A). A hinge corner lot in a semi-central area, facing a crossroads where an early-1900s building listed by the heritage authority, a late-19th-century block and a late-20th-century residential building coexist. The lot is now occupied by an interwar rationalist building, bombed and rebuilt in 1946, abandoned for decades. Candidates must design — with total demolition of the existing — a new residential building that relates to the surrounding built context and pays special attention to environmental sustainability. Programme: basement with private garages and plant rooms; ground floor with shared resident spaces, circulation and neighbourhood retail (max 5% of the project's gross floor area); apartments on the upper floors (above 4.30 m from street level). Parameters: plot area 1,040 sqm, floor-area index 2, maximum coverage 2/3 of the plot, minimum 50% green of the free area (at least 20% of it on natural ground), street-front heights tied to street width (Hf = 14.5 + L/3), buildings either abutting or more than 10 m apart; the lot itself carries no heritage or planning constraints. The linked written test asks for a report on compositional criteria, structural principles, the regulatory framework (accessibility, gathering spaces, flows and sustainability) and technical/plant choices.

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 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 two alternative practical-exam themes (Section A). THEME 1 — a multi-storey mixed craft/residential building in a building-completion zone (CE4.6) of a ~5,000-inhabitant town in the Turin plain: 48×28 m lot, plot area 1,344 sqm, floor-area index 0.25, 2 floors above ground plus a basement, eaves height 7.50 m, coverage 30%, 25% permeable area; permitted uses: residence for at least 60% of the gross floor area, residence-serving craft activities on the ground floor only up to 40% of the gross floor area, garages, cellars and stores in the basement. THEME 2 — an office building of representative character (offices for a metal-carpentry business, keeping the existing industrial shed in the south of the lot) in a reorganization/completion zone (IR1.3): plot area 10,000 sqm, office gross floor area max 35% of the productive gross floor area, 3 floors above ground plus a basement, eaves height 10.50 m, 40% coverage, 25% permeability. Both themes require the planning verifications supporting the design and, in the report, identifying the intervention type and the required building permit under the Consolidated Building Act, plus developing one of a cost estimate, the design and verification of a structural element, or energy choices for sustainability.