Project: ARscape Landscape Atelier (Arch. De Comite, Arch. Serpa), PTA Pisa, Arch. G. Santi.
Intro
A space that places itself as central in the functions and use of a neighbourhood, identity-defining and crucial in the spatial relations and use of the same, becomes an extension of domestic intimacy: the garden/terrace that not everyone possesses, the stage of everyday life for people of different ages who in it meet, listen, read, tell stories, think, play; in one word, socialise and take possession of a piece of city that belongs to them and that currently appears abandoned, avoided and unused.
Starting from a requirement expressed by the call, that of controlling the acoustic aspects of the place, the project develops around the theme of sound as a real incorporeal material, just like light and colour. Today in Largo Petrarca there are particularly reverberating surfaces and focusing effects deriving from the inclination of the walls of the taller buildings. The prevailing winds in the East–West direction channel city noises from outside, mainly vehicular noises that do not express sound values of particular interest.
The design of the space, therefore starting from the acoustic component, does not limit itself only to the treatment of “noise” in its purely quantitative component; instead it considers sound in its aesthetic and qualitative component and recovers its perceptive and semantic values.
Sound guides the composition of the space, the choice of materials, defining the urban sound form as a real “Soundscape”, characterised by soundmarks and dominant sounds. The new sound space does not renounce its peculiarities as a lived public space, but softens its contents using the playful aspect of sound in a dialectical relationship with the natural elements, water and wind, to the detriment of the pervasiveness of a diffuse and amorphous noise such as vehicular background noise.
The well-being that can be generated in everyday life by public spaces equipped with green areas and recreational assets is linked not only to their capacity to generate ecologically evolved environments and climatically performing spaces, but also to their capacity to define a sonic and perceptive “pause” from the noise of the city. Thus the design of this urban space developed by selecting the sounds to be left active or enhanced (“positive sounds”) compared to those to be interrupted for a period of time or attenuated, in order to define a state of pleasantness and the need/desire to stop and experience its forms and possibilities of interpretation and use. The human brain in everyday urban life is able to extract some sounds, place others in the background, almost excluding them, for our well-being.
The question therefore becomes what type of sounds tell — or should tell — public spaces rather than what their quantitative incidence is in terms of decibels. Is it possible to create a sound of the city not simply quieter but actually more pleasant? By producing a musical score of sounds recognised as pleasant by our brain, often connected with nature (the rustling of leaves in the wind, the sound of slowly flowing water, birds among the branches), accentuating their presence within urban space, those recognised as disturbing are placed in the background. If this design of positive sound is associated with the design of public space with methods of reducing the reverberation of sounds produced inside it and their containment, through the form of the space at volume 0 and through its materials, we approach the creation of that suspended place sought in cities, capable of producing a real improvement in terms of well-being and everyday experience within them.
SPECIFIC ACTIONS
The use of “active” poles, trees and small grassy earth mounds along the edges makes it possible to mitigate external vehicular noise by creating soft barriers at the entrance of the square and at the same time to absorb and reduce internal “noise”.
The spiral positioning of the entrances to the square, shifted with respect to the current accesses of the surrounding streets, avoids the creation of “noise corridors”. The reduction of reverberant surfaces (sound-absorbing ground, modelling of the terrain, use of wooden inserts in the seats made of preformed concrete), the use of playful elements (active and reactive poles that exploit the wind flowing in the East–West direction, use of moving water) and natural elements (rustling of trees and birdsong) allow the introduction of new surrounding sounds and achieve masking effects of ubiquitous disturbing noises.
To mitigate the heat island effect, in addition to the vegetative treatment, the theme of water was introduced through the creation of a water basin (with a height drop to accentuate its sound) and water games, positioned in the sunniest and most difficult-to-shade part of the square. In addition, “water and light lines” were introduced, consisting of rainwater collection channels with slit openings, illuminated by LED strips that refer to the presence of the old Medicean aqueduct.
The paving will be made of pigmented permeable concrete in light earthy tones, with high draining capacity, sound-absorbing properties and mitigation of the heat island effect thanks both to the light colour and above all to the strongly porous structure of the mixture, which reduces heat absorption compared to other conglomerates and limits temperatures in sun-exposed paving areas. It is also a material that does not require polluting hot installation processes, resists frost, is driveable and requires low maintenance while maintaining its physical-mechanical characteristics over time.
Alongside this material, wood will be used for seating with inserts at the backrests to ensure greater comfort of use and a reduction of reverberation.
Two project lots were identified: Lot 1, subject of this call, and Lot 2, outside the call, which provides for the arrangement of the area surrounding Lot 1. For Lot 2 an intervention cost of €260,000 has been roughly estimated. Parking areas have been reorganised (Lot 2) and vehicular traffic has been moved outside the perimeter while still allowing access for service and emergency vehicles.
The project introduces new relationships with the neighbourhood, with commercial buildings and with existing buildings and public spaces; in particular the district building, located at the barycentre between the commercial system and the recreational system, becomes the focal point of the entire composition and is enhanced, emphasising its public function. A green equipped space is introduced, open onto the square and continuous with it, along the main frontage of the district building and with the commercial buildings on its western side.
Databox
Type: Design Competition
Location: Pisa, Italy (2018)
Status: Honorable Mention
Promoter
Comune di Pisa
Category
Landscape, Architecture, Design