RECOVERY AND ENHANCEMENT OF THE FORMER AUSTRIAN ARSENALE

Verona, Italy

Recovery and enhancement of the former Austrian Arsenale

Verona, Italy
2016

program: Project for the recovery and enhancement of the former Austrian Arsenale in Verona
floor area: 29 477 sqm
client: Italiana Costruzioni – Navarra Gestioni
Alfonso Femia / Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia with
structural engineering: CONTEC Ingegneria
images: ©Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia
“To transform the Arsenal into a place of destination and not just a place of crossing. A place where you can meet contemporary art, in dialog with the best European experiences” AF
Some places in the city have a history of relationship between their landscape and the use made by men. These places were often protected because owned by departments which have safeguarded the spatial dimension and the gaps that characterize them. The Arsenal of Verona is one of them. His recovery wishes to affirm the importance of the public dimension for the city and to improve the existing volumes for the exterior space; proposing to build a system of public spaces sequences (gardens, boulevard, courts, …) that lie at the heart of the Arsenal, entirely identifying with it: the creation of a Contemporary Art Park.
The intention of the proposal is to transform the Arsenal into a place of destination and not just a place of crossing. A place where you can meet contemporary art, in dialog with the best European experiences (the Palace of Versailles, the Reggia di Venaria, the MAMO in the Unité d’Habitation of Le Corbusier in Marseilles, the Kensington Gardens Serpentine Gallery in London…).