Iragna Municipal Facilities

RAFFAELE CAVADINI, 1993 - 1995

TOWN HALL

The introduction of the Town Hall was intended to create a new urban layout for the entire area and establish a renewed relationship with the existing historic buildings, such as the church, cemetery, parish house and school. At the same time, two important public spaces were created: a square facing the village, enhanced by a fountain, and a large garden to the north, conceived both as a play area and as a venue for public events. The Town Hall building reinterprets certain classical themes in a contemporary way, drawing on historic buildings of a similar nature in the Alpine region, where the use of stone plays a defining role.

NEW CEMETERY AND MORTUARY CHAPEL

The old cemetery of Iragna follows a typology that is fairly common in the Alpine region. Located directly beside the church and bell tower, it is enclosed by a plastered stone wall articulated by a sequence of chapels marking the Stations of the Cross.

It was decided to construct a new mortuary chapel outside the existing perimeter, on the only available adjacent site. The project therefore developed into an extension of the cemetery and a redefinition of its boundaries, a role primarily assumed by the new perimeter wall. The enclosing wall coils inward in a spiral to embrace the chapel, dividing the area into two parts: the cemetery itself and a more enclosed garden.

The chapel is a very simple double-height structure, with its main opening facing the enclosed garden, framing the mountains and sky as its only backdrop. Two overhead openings in the roof, positioned at either end of the volume, create a series of constantly changing light effects depending on the weather and the seasons.

OLD POST OFFICE SQUARE

The space available for this intervention was a poorly defined open area dominated by cars. There was also a small abandoned building that the municipality intended to demolish in order to widen the road. This modest structure, originally part of a cluster of rural buildings, had gradually become disconnected from its surroundings.

The design therefore sought to reconnect the house with the group of buildings to which it originally belonged. The cluster was also extended with a garden defined by a concrete structure filled with greenery and laid out according to a precise geometry. Four split-granite stelae were erected in the four final sections of the garden. A historic fountain and an oak tree were placed beside the house, essential elements in the creation of this small hortus conclusus.