Restoration and Energy Efficiency Improvement of Villa Rossi
Enrico Giacopelli
April 23, 2026
2:30-3:30 pm Open Lecture
3:30-6:30 pm Co-creation Activity (for PoC students only)
Room 1B DAD | UniGe
Teams ID meeting: 375 942 222 296 98
Passcode: Rs29Pm7Q
The lecture explores the energy retrofit of Villa Rossi, a modern heritage building in Ivrea (TO), Italy, aiming to improve energy performance while preserving its architectural and cultural value.
Interventions focused on enhancing the building envelope’s thermal insulation and thermal inertia. Strategies included improved low-E glazing, insulation with conventional and super-insulating materials, mitigation of thermal bridges, a ventilated cool roof system, and increased thermal inertia through macro-encapsulated Phase Change Materials (PCMs). These technologies balance heritage preservation with current Italian energy performance requirements.
The study includes infrared thermography and monitoring of envelope U-values before and after intervention. Results show reduced energy demand and improved indoor thermal comfort.
Enrico Giacopelli
Partner of GStudio
Enrico Giacopelli, architect, has been engaged since 1995 in the study, preservation, and enhancement of Ivrea’s modern architectural heritage through restoration and adaptive reuse projects, research-based studies, consultancy activities, and the promotion of cultural initiatives.
His work includes the cataloguing of Ivrea’s modern architecture, the editing of the Preservation Guidelines for Ivrea’s Modern Architecture, and consultancy for Ivrea’s Town Planning Scheme with specific reference to modern heritage. He developed the MaAM project (Open-Air Museum of Modern Architecture of Ivrea) and contributed to conservation projects including Officine ICO (Figini & Pollini), Canton Vesco neighbourhood (Fiocchi & Nizzoli), La Serra Congress Centre (Cappai and Mainardis), Scarmagno plant (Zanuso & Vittoria), the primary school in Vico Canavese and the RTM plant (Nello Renacco), and Villa Rossi (Emilio A. Tarpino).
The Officine ICO restoration received an Honorable Mention at the 2009 Medaglia d’Oro all’Architettura Italiana (Milan Triennale) and the Premio In-Arch; Villa Rossi received an Honorable Mention at the 2025 Domus Restoration and Renovation International Prize.
He is Visiting Professor of Architectural Design at the Politecnico di Torino and served as Coordinator and Professor of the International Summer School of Ivrea at the Politecnico di Milano.