Piazza De Nava and Piazza Alvaro Redevelopment and Restoration / MICROSCAPE architecture urban design AA + nuvolaB architetti associati

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Text description provided by the architects.The client's objective was to carry out the redevelopment and restoration of the square in order to integrate the National Archaeological Museum (where the Riace Bronzes are exhibited) and the urban context. The new Piazza De Nava is the true urban center ofReggio Calabria, where the two urban systems of the built fabric converge: that of the historic city and that of the twentieth-century expansion, structured along two axes with different angles, both parallel to the coastline. We structured the project around this feature, linking it deeply to the urban structure of the city.The redevelopment of Piazza De Nava is very simple, low-impact, and ecologically compatible, thanks to the recycling of rainwater, the new RGB+W lighting system entirely based on LED sources, and the planting of new trees and numerous shrubs from the Mediterranean maquis. The choice of materials combines innovation and tradition: we used stainless steel sheets coated with an innovative PVD system to create solid, iridescent surfaces for the construction of the planters; we repurposed the existing paving stones from beneath the asphalt of the surrounding streets; and we reused the curbstones and stones from the historic staircase. We restored the G. De Nava monument fountain, which is now fully visible from the entire urban space. Furthermore, the radical transformation of the area in front of the Museum, which has been converted from a vehicular road into an integral part of the square at the same level as the old pavement and the new paving, has turned an urban divide (the road) into an urban proscenium. Through an alternation of subtly blended blocks of Reggian stone and lava, it connects the surrounding urban context with the new contemporary square.The square is entirely pedestrianized and accessible to all types of users. Artificial lighting plays a crucial role in shaping the public space. Here, we have introduced two new tall lighting poles (a legacy of the poles historically in the square), on which groups of projectors have been installed, capable of illuminating both the Piacentini façade of the Museum and the entire square. The dynamic color-changing LED strip system, placed in the groove of the new steps, shapes the emotional lighting of the urban square. At night, too, the new space is intended to be a metaphor for the territory: with the blue light, the effect is that of sea waves breaking on the shore; with the green light, it creates the impression that a mountainous slope from the nearby Aspromonte is descending onto the square.The new layout of the square acts as a catalyst for dynamic urban views that, naturally position itself as the representative center of the city. This is not only due to the presence of the Museum but even more so to its potential to be metaphorically configured as an urban theatre. It is a space with a steady slope that follows the current profile, divided in two by a diagonal axis that picks up the direction of the 20th-century expansion.