- Italcementi Group

The installation of “A Dream House” in the courtyard of honour at the University of Milan

Building an inexpensive house in line with a modern philosophy of environmental sustainability. That’s the concept behind the 100K€ home, a project designed by architect Mario Cucinella and promoted by Italcementi Group which is participating at the Fuorisalone at Milan Capital of Design 2009 ® (Milan, 22 – 27 April) presenting the installation entitled “A Dream House”. The eco-friendly “low cost” housing project is ambitious and innovative. Italcementi supports it creating new materials which guarantee the energy efficiency of the building and the reduction of CO2 emissions.

The courtyard of honour at the University in Milan provides the backdrop for the installation (6.70x6x6.20 meters) which is made from the best and most recent results of the daily commitment by Italcementi to research and innovation: the smog-eating cement TX Active® now well established on the market which is used today to cover the installation of the 100K€ House at the Fuorisalone, an innovative thermal product specifically made for the 100K€ House and a new "transparent" cement. These are three new building materials for architects and designers, especially designed for "good building" practices that take into account both the aesthetic and environmental aspects of building.

A closer view of the project

These solutions are the result of i.nova., the innovation network set up by Italcementi which intends to provide an innovative contribution to systems, technologies and products which focus on Sustainable Development. I.nova. is a real-life worksite projected towards the future and articulates its multitude of activities in an attempt to pursue excellence in construction and economic performance, whilst maintaining objectives such as the protection and improvement of living conditions of local communities.
Italcementi has focused its best resources on this project along with the multidisciplinary expertise of its engineers, architects, chemists, physicists and geologists who work in teams to achieve ambitious results. A total of 170 researchers work at the laboratories in Bergamo and Guerville (Paris) and over the past 10 years have produced a portfolio of over 50 patents.

Italcementi has always collaborated with important figures in the architecture world, among which the American architect Richard Meier who designed the Dives in Misericordia Church in Rome, a symbol of the Jubilee 2000 and the first example of use of the TX Active® white cement, and the ITC Lab - Innovation and Technology Centre - which is currently being built on the outskirts of Bergamo. The structure of 11,000 m2 integrates with the Kilometro Rosso Science & Technology Park and will host over one hundred employees and researchers.

Italcementi now supports the housing project by Mario Cucinella, and has created a new material that guarantees the energy efficiency of the building. It uses a low thermal conductivity solution which allows you to retain heat in winter and remain cool in summer, with obvious benefits for the utility bills, the level of comfort of the inhabited areas and also for the environment as there is a reduction in CO2 emissions .

Italcementi is also looking forward to engaging in new challenges in the future. The requirements of the Italian pavilion at the Expo Shanghai 2010 has led to the development of a new "transparent" cement, which has competitive costs and offers technical solutions which are totally new to the market.

After its participation at the UIA Congress in Turin, the Venice Biennial, Batimat in Paris and Construmat in Barcelona, Italcementi confirms its continued commitment to the world of architecture at Milano Capitale del Design® 2009 and the desire to maintain a constant dialogue with the building community in order to discover together the most appropriate and practical route towards a future focused on energy saving and sustainable development.