Between the mainland and Maniace Castle, at the furthest end of the island of Ortigia, lies the former Piazza d’Armi of Syracuse. The entire area, of great historical and architectural importance, has been enhanced thanks to the work of Impresa Stancanelli, inspired by the studies of Arezzo’s most famous citizen, the scientist Archimedes.
The aim of the project, outlined in the prestigious editorial “100 progetti italiani” (100 Italian projects), was to reintroduce a timeless place to the city, in the form of a a true open-air museum, a new meeting point between history and modernity. Focusing on the enhancement of the existing building, we paid particular attention to the choice of materials, their colour rendering and the aesthetic inspirations that characterised the intervention.
Our intervention
The architecture which synthesized the volume and geometry of the square is based on the most famous Archimedean puzzle, the Stomachion, in its Tangram variant. The new layout includes a linear system of aromatic gardens, a children’s play area and a polygonal, fully reflective object-installation. The latter, fashioned as a design bistro, blends harmoniously into the area, thanks to the mirrored stainless steel panels covering it, a tribute by the designers to the burning mirrors used by Archimedes for his war machines. On the south side of the square, panoramic ash seats have been introduced, also based on the Tangram theme. The work was followed in all its phases from design to construction.
Object of intervention
Development of the former Piazza d’Armi in Syracuse
Performances– Stancanelli Russo Associati
Preliminary design
Final design
Detailed design
Construction management
Performances – Impresa Ernesto Stancanelli srl
Construction site set-up
Construction
Contributors
Andrea Abbadessa
Cosimo Aleo
Benedetto D’Antoni
Client
Senza Confine S.r.l.
Year
2018
Design technology
Building Information Modeling (BIM)
