AZ Awards 2021 Winner: Green Pea: Democratizing Sustainability - AZ Awards

Winner: Environmental Leadership

People’s Choice: Environmental Leadership

AZ Awards 2021 Winner: Green Pea: Democratizing Sustainability

Green Pea in Turin sells only environmentally friendly products — an ethos that its architecture embodies right down to the finest details.

Year: 2021
Location: Turin, Italy
Firms: Acc Naturale Architettura (Italy) and Negozio Blu Architetti Associati (Italy) with Associato Vigetti e Merlo (Italy)
Photos: Fabio Oggero
Category: Environmental Leadership

Green Pea in Turin sells only environmentally friendly products — an ethos that its architecture embodies right down to the finest details. The shopping centre bursts with plant life, is made with only upcycled and recyclable materials and harnesses the kinetic energy of its shoppers. Commissioned by Eataly, the project injects a dose of altruism into consumerism.

The five-floor, organically shaped structure is characterized by its trellislike wooden sunshade slats — made from storm-felled trees recovered from the forests of Trentino — which allow the building to breathe. This sense of openness is also articulated in the large cuts in the glass surfaces that flood the interior spaces with natural light. The external envelope is complemented by an internal shell made of wood-fibre-insulated solid wood panels covered in sheet metal and supported by a load-bearing stainless-steel frame. The entire assembly can be dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere or completely recycled.

“This is a quite an interesting solution to urban sustainability issues.”

Barbara Bestor, AZ Awards 2021 Juror

All energy is produced by renewable resources, including geothermal, photovoltaics, mini wind turbines and those piezoelectric floors that capture energy generated by foot traffic. But what truly makes this building sing is its embrace of vegetation: Trees and plants fill the mall’s three terraces and animate the pedestrian square below. In its entirety, Green Pea is architecture as eco-manifesto — “a vision,” as the architects say, “of respect for the environment and the human being.” Every mall should be like this.

Team Cristiana Catino (Acc Naturale Architettura) and Carlo Grometto (Negozio Blu Architetti Associati) with Bruno Finzi and Mauro Savoldelli (CEAS) and Gabriele Gerbi (Sapi)

Winner: Environmental Leadership

People’s Choice: Environmental Leadership

AZ Awards 2021 Winner: Green Pea: Democratizing Sustainability

Green Pea in Turin sells only environmentally friendly products — an ethos that its architecture embodies right down to the finest details.

Year: 2021
Location: Turin, Italy
Firms: Acc Naturale Architettura (Italy) and Negozio Blu Architetti Associati (Italy) with Associato Vigetti e Merlo (Italy)
Photos: Fabio Oggero
Category: Environmental Leadership

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Year	2021
Location	Turin, Italy
Firms	Acc Naturale Architettura (Italy) and Negozio Blu Architetti Associati (Italy) with Associato Vigetti e Merlo (Italy)
Photos	Fabio Oggero
Category	Environmental Leadership