INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION FOR THE REDEVELOPMENT OF A CIMINIERA INSERTED IN THE MINCIO PARK
LOCATIONIITALY
- MANTOVA
DESIGNERS LUCA RIGATTIERI, ANTONIO MEDICI, MARCO CHIERICI, LORENZO BONFIETTI
PROJECT
YEAR2017
DESIGNING. UGO BERNINI - STUDIO POLARIS
PUBLISHED ON MAY 09, 2018
The architectural and landscape redevelopment project of the Ponti Sul Mincio chimney starts from the desire to integrate the industrial building into the surrounding naturalistic context, making the chimney the fulcrum of a wider museum itinerary characterized by a promenade that winds through the park created in the area in front of the thermal power plant.
The strong contrast between the 150 m high exposed reinforced concrete tower looming over the surrounding nature is resolved with the installation of a cladding composed of an interweaving of spirals which, emerging from the ground, branch upwards embracing the chimney up to the top, symbolizing nature re-appropriating the disused industrial archeology artefact.
The intertwining of large lozenges, perceptible from a distance, envelops the chimney, veiling and attenuating the visual impact of the imposing concrete cylinder around it. The lattice is crossed by an ascending spiral of bronzed metal mesh that climbs like an ivy, breaking down the imposing volume and evoking the idea of symbiosis between nature and artifact, as happens for example in the ruins of the Mayan cities in South America or in those of the temples of Cambodia, surrounded by the luxuriant v surrounding vegetation.
The chimney with its cladding moved by the wind, which with the sunlight generates changing reflections similar to those of water or tree leaves, becomes a landmark perceptible from a distance where the landscape and naturalistic values of a territory with unique characteristics are reflected in the golden reflections and in the adamantine and ethereal forms of the new metal skin.
The choice of a bronze-gold tint for the covering allows you to integrate the image of the chimney with the natural colors of the context, which especially in the
autumn period tends to the same shades. At the same time it remains a prominent element becoming a visual reference point of the context less detached and contrasting than it is now.
