Title Restoration of the former Arsenal of Pavia
Location Pavia
Services Design Competition
Yeasr 2024
Surface 20.000 mq green and public spaces
Team Politecnica, IT’S, Studio Calvi
The dispersed park of the Ex Arsenale acts as a landscape hinge between the urban system, the green infrastructure, and the “blue” network of Pavia. It revives the site’s distinctive features and historical memory, such as the presence of water as an integral part of the built environment and the natural quality of the riparian zone, recreating continuity between buildings, water, and vegetation. The outdoor areas present a landscape system that is closely intertwined with the architectural one, becoming extensions of each other in a spatial continuum where vegetation serves as a tool for integrating different scales and areas of the complex.
The enhancement of the space is achieved by defining a new “void” integrated into the existing system, articulated through a succession of squares and pathways that shift along a gradient: more material and structured towards the urban space—equipped with seating and furniture—and greener as it moves towards the river park. The resulting landscape highlights the proximity to the watercourse and the characteristic landscape of Pavia, contributing to improved environmental quality, comfort, and biodiversity. In the project, the straight course of the Navigliaccio’s banks widens and “enters” the courtyard of the new buildings, shaping the morphology to create a double amphitheater with organic forms that break the linearity of the buildings and echo the sinuous bends of the Ticino River.
On the west side, the new square by the water features broad terraced levels that transition from mineral to natural, with curvilinear paths connecting to the riparian zone and the Garden of Celebrations. On the east side, sinuous stepped seating offers views from the historic Demanio buildings towards the Park and the canal. Thus, a vegetal stage is created, where the canal regains its central role, bringing nature back to the heart of the spaces and contributing to the increased permeability of the site’s surfaces.
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