Interventions financed under the operational programme POR FESR 2014-2020
Urban Innovation Projects (PIU) Operations SOCIAL AGORA’ and PLEIN AIR
Pedestrianization
The pedestrianization of Piazza della Repubblica fulfils one of the key objectives proposed by the Administration, namely to return the whole area to the citizens by limiting the presence of cars.
Architectural Design, Una2 Architetti Associati, Genoa
Structures Project, Prof. Ing. Mauro Sassu, Pisa (Italy)
Systems Design, Mps Studio Associato, Cecina (LI)
Underground Services Project, Rosignano Marittimo Municipality (Technical Office)
RUP: Eng. Andrea Immorali (Municipality of Rosignano Marittimo).
Works Management: ing. Monica Ceccanti, arch. Maurizio Ferretti (Municipality of Rosignano Marittimo).
Construction company: ITI, Modena
Total amount of works: € 2,010.984
The project has opted for a non-integral pedestrianization of the areas concerned by the intervention. This choice guarantees easy transit around the perimeter, limits the repercussions on vehicular mobility and, above all, makes it possible to better regulate interactions between pedestrians and vehicles and not to completely isolate the square at off-peak times.
Integration into the cycle path network
The administration has drawn up an overall revision of the mobility system in the municipal area, with the adoption of a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan in accordance with the Eltis Guidelines, financed and promoted by the European Commission. The work on the public space of the square and the avenue is integrated, in its crossings and connections, with the new system of bicycle paths in Rosignano Marittimo.
The Loggia
The focal point of the project is the construction of a loggia on the south side of the square.
The loggia is a large rectangular, covered, open space – with a surface area of approximately 400 square metres – under which there will be a room of approximately 120 square metres, to be used for commercial activities that, according to the Administration, will promote the excellences of the area.
The loggia is the key element from an urban, architectural and functional point of view: it overcomes the most critical aspect of the square, namely the fact that its boundaries are substantially undefined.
Piazza della Repubblica, with the exception of the northern side, characterised by the presence of buildings, is in fact an indeterminate space, between the railway wall, the tree-lined avenue and a disused railway track.
The situation is basically typical of many Italian public spaces, which are still urban, in terms of location, but already peripheral in terms of quality and morphological characteristics.
The loggia, offering an element of physical and perceptive closure, creates the missing elevation and clarifies the relationship with the subway and with Via del Popolo, which beyond the railway line reaches the sea. In addition, with a height that is intentionally comparable to that of the buildings on the square – almost 8 metres at the highest point and about 4 metres at the lowest – it seeks a comparison of scale with the existing building.
The creation of a large open covered space implicitly becomes a catalyst for new uses and socialising for the square. The covered open space, which measures approximately 280 square metres, providing shade and shelter from the rain, will be able to host markets, events, temporary exhibitions, concerts, open-air cinema, indoor games for children, public assemblies, etc.
In addition to the covered area, it has been agreed with the Administration to build a number of new commercial premises under the roof, which will serve the function of service and environmental protection; the new activities will be an important presence for the use and enjoyment of the public space. The total surface of these covered and closed areas is about 120 square metres and they host a public space of about 75 square metres overlooking both the square and the covered space of the loggia. There will also be a pantry/storage room serving the bar, accessible directly from the outside and connected to a changing room for staff.
Structure and materials of the loggia
The loggia has a total area of about 400 square metres, with a floor plan of 40 x 10 m: it is almost 8 metres high at its highest point and about 4 metres high at its lowest point.
The shape of the roof is characterised by two pitches with a central compluvium along the major axis of the loggia. The inclination of the roof determines perspective accelerations and decelerations depending on the point from which it is observed.
The structure is completely open up to 240 cm from the ground, while the upper part, beyond this height, is covered with a series of vertical aluminium slats, red in colour, detached from each other and inclined with respect to the vertical plane to increase the transparency of the loggia in the different perspectives and to generate plays of shadow in the different seasons and times of day.
The cladding reaches all the way down to the ground in the commercial space, with a variation in the distance between the slats to ensure both the coherence of the architectural figure and the appropriate transparency of the interior spaces. The roof is made of seamed zinc sheets fixed to a board underneath.
Paving of the square
The pedestrianisation of the central areas is linked to an overall redesign of the ground and the paved areas. Generally speaking, the idea was to define a pavement that would be immediately recognisable as urban. The choice was in favour of a stone paving (granite) for the square itself, while a draining paving with less artificial physical and perceptive characteristics was chosen for the paths and pedestrian routes along Via della Repubblica.
More generally, the project envisages a re-perimeter of the paved areas and of the natural areas and flowerbeds at the edge of the square, in order to improve the overall use of the public space.
Lighting
The loggia proposes a double system: the first constitutes public lighting in the strict sense of the word and involves a series of projectors installed in the intrados of the roof. The second is defined by a system of adjustable/special projectors to be used for temporary uses and events, and which will be supplemented by a network of power supply shafts which will provide adequate power supply for shows, concerts, cinemas, markets, etc.
The linear park under the trees in Via della Repubblica
Via della Repubblica, which has long been closed to vehicular traffic, is characterised – like most of the streets in Rosignano Solvay – by long rows of maritime pines.
Via della Repubblica was originally conceived as a vehicular road with a sort of pedestrian counter-route through the greenery, similar to many streets in Rosignano Solvay, which are structured both physically and perceptually by the regular perspective of a colonnade of maritime pines.
The elimination of the asphalt surfaces of the old avenue, together with the need to remove some old and damaged pine trees due to the excessive density of the greenery, makes it possible to treat it as a true linear park, where it is not possible to move only along straight lines, but where, on the contrary, it is possible to exploit the diagonals of the potential shortcuts between the various points, to create perspectives between the pine trees and the plane trees that are different from those that are usual in Rosignano Solvay in situations that are basically very similar. It also increases the green area and the overall permeability of the land.
The paving design therefore emphasises these diagonal lines. An exception is the line of the cycle track, which crosses the area in a straight line on the side towards the athletics track, taking advantage of the presence of an existing path, in the stretch where it can have a more clearly separate seat than the others.
According to the priorities agreed with the Administration, the two preferred user groups are younger and older citizens.
More specifically, the public space has been characterised in such a way as to favour greater interaction between these two categories. In particular, an open-air fitness trail was created, mainly aimed at active ageing, with the installation of specific equipment.
To this end, the project envisages a series of “islands” spaced differently from each other offering a range of equipment that can be used by everyone, but particularly suitable for older age groups.
The ‘skate’ area
At the head of the avenue towards Via E. Solvay are two schools, separated by the final stretch of Via della Repubblica. In this section a slightly raised paving has been realised, crossed by the main route, a sort of hybrid surface with a quite articulated shape to favour different and informal uses by, above all, the younger user groups. One can imagine, in fact, that given the proximity of the two schools and the bus stop, it will be used as a collective seat during the moments of waiting before and after school hours. Moreover, the shape of the paving proposes, in addition to the seats, a series of inclined planes and curves that can be easily used for skateboards, skates, bmx etc.
As is more evident in the graphic designs, the shape of this new surface is cut and shaped so as not to interfere with the roots of the existing trees from which it always maintains the appropriate distances.