Cremona. Italy / January 1999 / City Council of Cremona
Cremona. Italy / January 1999 / City Council of Cremona
Unity, practicality and recognisability were the conceptual responses to this dual commission to reconvert the square to its original nineteenth century function of open-air market and into a pedestrian area, restoring it as an active, significant center of the city of Cremona.
In order to enhance this idea, the new paving system slopes slightly towards nearby Piazza Duomo and erases the differences in height between the two, thus better integrating Piazza Stradivari with the rest of old Cremona.
While two rows of plants – one screening the road side, the other shading the piazza’s shorter side – revive the memories of former greenery, a row of seven sanded steel poles with elliptical section makes the square a pratical as well as distinctive component of the urban context and give character to its unusual L-shape. These poles serve actually as technical structures for the necessities of the market, as their lower parts are connected to the underground network (water, electricity, etc.), as well as lighting elements defining the route to the Cathedral and as supports for a temporary, mobile roof canopy that can be used to create a large covered space for events of approximately 300 square meters. Furthermore, at night the roof canopy can be fully illuminated.
Unity, practicality and recognisability were the conceptual responses to this dual commission to reconvert the square to its original nineteenth century function of open-air market and into a pedestrian area, restoring it as an active, significant center of the city of Cremona.
In order to enhance this idea, the new paving system slopes slightly towards nearby Piazza Duomo and erases the differences in height between the two, thus better integrating Piazza Stradivari with the rest of old Cremona.
While two rows of plants – one screening the road side, the other shading the piazza’s shorter side – revive the memories of former greenery, a row of seven sanded steel poles with elliptical section makes the square a pratical as well as distinctive component of the urban context and give character to its unusual L-shape. These poles serve actually as technical structures for the necessities of the market, as their lower parts are connected to the underground network (water, electricity, etc.), as well as lighting elements defining the route to the Cathedral and as supports for a temporary, mobile roof canopy that can be used to create a large covered space for events of approximately 300 square meters. Furthermore, at night the roof canopy can be fully illuminated.
