projects | Viabizzuno progettiamo la luce

donated to the town of Reggio Emilia by mrs. anna maria ternelli gerra, for the purpose of creating a new cultural venue in the city dedicated to her husband, the artist marco gerra (1925-2000), the former cairoli hotel, situated in piazza XXV aprile, has become a new site for photography and contemporary art and a key exhibition venue for european photography week. the block, which the building being renovated was part of, was built on an area beyond the 'castrum' of the roman city and was crossed by the ancient course of the river crostolo, so in roman times it did not have a stable population. with the construction of the thirteenth century hexagonal walls and the inclusion of the area inside the city, since the block was poorly built, it was allocated for vegetable gardens and orchards for the nearby convento delle grazie. analysing historical maps, photographic documentation and what still existed showed that where the cairoli hotel building is now located were walls with walkways and views over the vegetable gardens of the monastery. so there was 'visual communication' between the piazza behind the theatre (piazza XXV aprile) and the area used as vegetable gardens. then, superimposing current plans of the block on the historical maps, it emerged that the building was built by following the old walls with their walkways, so creating a curtain wall that closed off the square behind the theatre. so the project attempts to recover not only the building, as such, now devoid of any architectural and aesthetic value as a result of purely speculative works in the 50s but also and especially the concept of the diaphragm, the perspective and visual interface that it represented within the urban fabric of the historic city. the lighting design follows this route as well, lighting that enhances the prospects for the exhibition spaces and at the same time relates to the circulation routes and offices. the design idea then develops the urban and architectural potential of the place, seen as a link between two parts of the historic city to be regenerated: the piazza behind theatre ariosto to the south piazza XXV aprile) and the lowered area adjacent to theatre cavallerizza to the north. the structure leads the eye from inside towards the theatre through a series of metal gateways that, like a backbone, articulate the view of the transparent façade sloping to the east and, by virtue of this position, underline the complexity and magnificence of the theatre's organisational and structural machinery: in fact, the machinery, scenery and all the equipment that enables the shows to be 'constructed' goes in through here. the existing building, an element of separation, closed in on itself, turns into an open diaphragm, letting the eye see through it to reconstruct a spatial continuum between the piazza and the ancient vegetable gardens, once divided by a wall used as an elevated walkway. the new marco gerra cultural centre becomes part of the cultural, historical and artistic fabric of the city, relating to theatre valli and theatre ariosto, theatre cavallerizza and the university centre in foro boario, the civic museums and the galleria parmeggiani. the building itself is configured as an itinerary, an architectural and urban event that takes on a space-time complexion and stands as a study on urban links, not just physical appearances. internally, the corner staircase block provides a link and circulation on the ground floor to the entrance foyer, with bookshop, video wall and reading room, on the first floor to a multipurpose hall for conferences, screenings and exhibitions with an outdoor café and an educational workshop / photo-studio with a balcony, on the second floor to a temporary exhibition space with a multimedia meeting room and on the third floor to an additional temporary exhibition area and the centre office. finally, the open space between cavallerizza and the centro gerra, now a terrace of another restaurant, although only involved in a regeneration project at a later stage, is being 'restored' to urban life thanks to the pass-through foyer of the centre, which links it physically to piazza XXV aprile and redefines it as an open auditorium for conferences, screenings and musical cultural performances, interrelated with events held in the gerra centre. so the identity of the place is expressed not only in formal or architectural idioms, but in the quality and intensity of urban and physical or perceptual links that people can experience when crossing the city.