Os arquitectos Fábio Neves e Paulo Lopes em 3º lugar no concurso internacional POST QUAKE VISIONS, lançado pela associação Youg Architects Competitions, com a proposta Aquaeductus…
Post-Quake Visions
Around the world several cities suffer from the same problem as Crevalcore. In a time of severe economical and financial crisis, the demand for reconstruction these cities in a “low cost” solution is mandatory. Although like Crevalcore these cities need more than material reconstruction, they urge for a reviving solution that brings life, use and a sustainable living solution.
Crevalcore is a small city Northwest of Bolonha, Italy and has very unique urban finger print. Throughout the centuries, Crevalcore kept the Archetypal Roman urban design.
Understanding the importance of this unique urban design, our solution is based on converting all these unique historical assets into a city scale solution. As one of the main public buildings in Roman times we introduce a contemporary approach of the Thermal/SPA building in the core of the city and bring the water outside to the public space into the square in front of the church and through the main street, Via Giacomo Matteotti, underlining the former Decumanos axis, the main Roman urban axis by the use of narrow water canals on the ground and long concrete seats to the people of the city.
These canals collect the water coming from the Thermal/SPA building but also from all reconstructed buildings that share the same archetypal inspiration, the Roman house with a inner patio and Impluvium this way allowing the memory of the city and her ancient origins to be preserved and combined with the contemporary times.
The Thermal building would work as center core attracting several flows like in other small inner cities around the world and therefore projecting the city outside of her “walls”.
Constructive System
As previously mentioned the demand for a low cost solution is critical. Here the construction system concept is both simple and innovative. Inspired on the new building recycling technologies available today like “Ero” machines for the recycling of concrete, the idea is to tear down the damaged buildings and use the rubble for a “on site ” concrete casting system. This allows not just to use materials that already exist on site and lowering several costs but also to solve part of the problem by the rubble left on a demolition.
Not just this system could be used in Crevalcore but also in other cities with the same problems as a prototype allowing a unique finger print to the recycled buildings keeping the memory of the site alive in the plasticity of the buildings.
Use and function
As mentioned before, instead of a specific building as solution for the problem our strategy points to the whole group of damaged buildings united by the material and typology.
In order to attract all kind of new economies to the center of the city the buildings keep a basic and free floor plan, allowing them to have different kind of uses. Some can be converted in shops, other in restaurants, hostels or even in small offices and labs as all of them have a very different size and shape.
Nevertheless, and despite the fact that all buildings may have a different use, they all share something in common, inspired on the archetype of the roman house, the patio with Impluvium are the typological link between all of them. The main facade underlines the importance of the urban gallery being totally closed except on the street level and therefore all buildings live from their inner patio.
