Small Square in Lodrino and New Patriziato Building

Canevascini e Corecco Architetti, 2020

The proposal highlights and resolves the relationship between the existing space of the square and the riverside area, located at a lower level.

The building, subordinate to this function, is therefore designed to accompany the two spaces visually and functionally, placed perpendicular to the morphology of the site and opening out like a fan towards the Ponte Vecchio, which is further enhanced by this gesture.

The square is redesigned accordingly, taking its geometry from the new building to form a stone square contained by three minimal wall screens, defining the void open to the south. A tree gives shade and protection to the outdoor space of the public meeting place, alongside which seats and tables integrated into the design of the square have been placed.

In terms of typology, the new building is organised in a manner measured to the local reality: the two most public areas are housed in contact with the square, while on the lower floor, with a separate entrance, there is a nursery. The two upper floors are dedicated to dwellings designed for intergenerational users. The volume of the new building is compact and elongated, with openings and a form that recall the architecture of the place, but with a contemporary language and materiality through the bush-hammering of the concrete, a treatment that brings the stone aggregate to the surface.

The large garden obtained along the river is linked to the activity of the nursery, but is easily usable in connection with the square in the case of a public event, forming a single fluid space, articulated between the mineral and the vegetal.