The lost tower of Pianella
1027-SDI-IT-2014
Architects: Silvia Mihaela Diaconu, Bogdan Laurentiu Gogoci
Status: Project (2014)
Visualizer: Studio
Scale: 200 ㎡ Small
Types: Cultural, Mixed use

The project tells the story of a small but proud city who wanted to regain its identity, after a mistake of the past: the demolition of the Civic Tower that took place more than 50 years ago.

Interpretation comes in when you have to fill in blanks in history. It is the most useful tool to spread the knowledge and to offer closure and understanding of the things that are no more. For this reason we preferred interpretation over reconstruction in the case of the lost tower of Pianella.

The short and fascinating story of the tower has an uncertain beginning and a sad ending. No one knows for sure whether it was a defensive structure, a surveillance or a decorative one. What everyone knows is that the tower was on a peak, rejoicing a breathtaking view of the surroundings. It was part of an ensemble formed of a noble villa and its rich garden that was later offered to the community and transformed into a park.

If you take the old tower out of its context, you still get the icon on the flag of Pianella, but the essence is lost. This monument still resides in the memory of the inhabitants because its presence marked a very lively public space that was lost along with its demolition. The remains of that place are serving in the present as a school yard and as a semi-public space addressed to a limited part of the community.

In our approach we want to state that reconstructing the intangible connections that used to tie the tower to the imaginary of the local community is more important than reconstructing an object. We have to undestand that its authentic materiality is irremediably lost, but we also need to keep in mind that its immaterial values still exist. People‘s memory of that tower is connected to the park, where they were holding events and festivals, where the tower was more of a landmark than a building. The inhabitants are longing for the image because of what the image brought with it.

Given this premises, we found another place to host the new tower, a place with the same potential that the old one used to have: green space, views towards the surroundings, proximity to the town center. On the other hand, we need a connection to the original place, in order no to lose the authenticity. For this reason, we chose to highlight the remains of the old tower, that would be researched and recovered, and to design what is left of the former park, just to show the testimony of the past.

The last element to this puzzle will be the revival of the sleeping center of Pianella, by introducing these regenerating arteries that would connect the focus points of the city. The result would bring a new image to Pianella, a revived communitary space that tells a lot about the history and the identity of the settlement and a more tourist-friendly center aiming to fuel the economy.

Therefore, we hope to prove that architecture goes beyond designing a simple object and that only by including the interpretation and the regard for the social issues it will truly reach its true purpose: positive change.

Post date: 23/11/2014 | Views: 3.490