A
new way to think architecture in our social and economic crisis times
comes from AZPA (Alejandro Zaera-Polo Architecture). The
London-Barcelona based practice has been announced as winner of an
international competition aimed to establish a recognisable home for
the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland. Breaking away
from the starchitect notion of public architecture needing to make an
“extravagant gesture”, AZPA’s innovative proposal partakes in
an act of “urban recycling and sustainability performance” by
reusing the pre-existent complex of the Palazzo Scolastico and the
Piazza Remo Rossi. Both represents a great opportunity to encrust the
Film Festival within an urban structure which has already deep
affective relations to the Locarno citizens, and a significant
presence in today’s cityscape.
There
are two primary aims in AZPA's project:
-
Economy of resources through urban recycling. With an estimated price
tag of 28 million Swiss Francs, this renovation is said to be no more
than the cost of a complete demolition.
- Consolidation and rebranding of the public identity of the "Palazzo
del Cinema di Locarno".
As
Architect Alejandro Zaera-Polo claims: “I do not want to redraw the
city, but keep the city.” Beyond the preservation of the
historical memory of Locarno, they believe that the Palazzo
Scolastico is an adequate building that deserves to be preserved and
recycled. The project aim to transform the building interior
courtyard into three larger theaters. Additionally, a complimentary
renovation will take place on the surrounding Piazza Remo Rossi,
which will be repaved with red natural stone, will become the "Red
Carpet Piazza" consolidating the presence of the Film Festival
into Locarno’s structure of open spaces.
AZPA
declere: “When conceiving our proposal for the Palazzo del Cinema
di Locarno, we tried to avoid the dominant trend, prevalent during
the last few decades, that public architecture needs to make
extravagant gestures in order to curate our cities public realm.
In the aftermath of the 2007 global financial crisis, rampant global
warming, and perhaps the demise of “starchitecture” as a default
procedure to build urban identity, our proposal is guided by
principles of economy and the attempt to capitalize on the existing
structure and the public affection for the Palazzo Scolastico –
which was used to host the local schools and now hosts a variety of
NGOs and community associations – to provide an architectural
identity for the new cinema complex in Piazza Remo Rossi.”
More
info:
photo
credits © AZPA (Alejandro Zaera-Polo Architecture)
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