Professional Documents
Culture Documents
100
Isolarchitetti
Projects
ria, la marina di Varazze recupera gli spazi una novella strada di mezzacosta, che si piega alla
volta adibiti a discarica di punta Aspera, andan- morfologia del territorio, materializzando le
do ad rirsi nella parte occidentale della città, ombre profonde del portico. Progetto comun-
laddove la diga foranea continua con un arco que non mimetico, dove ogni materiale ha un
l’andamento della costa rocciosa e vi si radica proprio carattere, una propria individualità,
attraverso un giardino botanico mediterraneo. una propria identità che si smorza però nel col-
Tre ordini di pontili ospitano circa 800 imbar- loquio cordiale con l’esistente. Di qui il ricorso
cazioni, ma nell’architettura nessuna giacitura al legno perché materiale presente nei cantieri
scomposta, nessun segno forte, solo un len- navali ma anche negli stabilimenti balneari di
to – temporalmente e fisicamente – adagiarsi inizio secolo, o l’uso di una copertura che ha il
al terreno, all’acqua, alle linee del paesaggio. colore degli abissi sferzati dal vento di libeccio:
102
Projects New port of Varazze
0 5 15m 2
Filiberto Rotta
104 5
Main elevation
6 with a Mediterranean botanical garden. Three
View from sea: the façade’s rows of wharfs accommodate about 800 boats.
progression seems to lie
on the land, water and the
But its architecture has no disordered places,
landscape’s contours no strong sign, only a slow (temporal and physi-
cal) coming to rest on the land, the water, the
landscape’s lines. A new fundamental act was
needed to organize this section of the coast, like
the creation of Aurelia for the Romans. There
was a need to combine the demands of ship-
Filiberto Rotta
0 5 15m
7 0 5 15m
106
7
Longitudinal section
of the marina
8
Night view of the marina of
Varazze
Projects New port of Varazze
Filiberto Rotta
108
9-10 to the newly-founded facility for advanced obstacles, difficult to overcome, maybe even
Perspectives of two façades marine research. So, out of nothing, here we more than Calvino’s The Road to San Giovanni.
11
View from wharf. Wood is have a kind of pile-dwelling, a new half-coastal It’s easy to give in to the lull of time that softens
the dominant material, also street that folds into the structure of the land, and flattens everything. It is easy to bend in the
used in the shipyards and shaping the deep shadows of the portico. face of the many demands that must have been
bathing establishments. This project is not about camouflaging. Every piled up in nearly a quarter century, easy to
material has its own character, its own individ- lose the freshness of the first sketches. Yet here,
uality, its own identity, though one softened in the felicitous general layout has survived, in-
a cordial dialogue with what was already there. tact, unchanged, careful to make sure that the
This is the logic behind the use of wood as a shout of businesses located here do not drown
material found in shipbuilding, as well as in the out the conversation with history and tradi-
turn-of-the-century bathing establishments; tions. It is more than a pleasant island in the
likewise, there is the use of a roof the color of Ligurian landscape. It is more than just another
the sea whipped by the southwesterly winds. resource for Varazze. It is an act undertaken
This makes the port seen from the hills above together, a point of meeting between, land, sea
seem to melt into the gulf water. Seen from be- and people. While in a not distant past fisher-
low, it gives the impression that the building is men and small landowners struggled alone
lightweight, rising towards the sky. against the sea and drought, now tourism ports
The buildings’ compact structures echo in drive hopes of employment and land planning,
their bands of split vibration-compressed ce- courageously re-envisioning the landscape
ment a kind of local artificial stone, the hues of afresh. “Yes, the pile-dwellings! We must make
Projects New port of Varazze
the rocks and the historic buildings and villas the pile-dwellings!”3
whose presence defines Varazze’s inland area.
Likewise, they reflect the Italian bellflowers, Notes
1
Campanula isophylla, white and lilac flowers, I. Calvino, La formica argentina (“The Ar-
fuchsia, saxifrage, red lilies, all the flowers gentine Ant”) (1952) in “I racconti”, Turin 1958
so well-loved by Libereso Guglielmi, Mario (197313), p. 385.
2
Calvino’s legendary gardener, whom his son I. Calvino, Un pomeriggio, Adamo (“Adam,
Italo so well deftly depicted in the short story One Afternoon”) (1947) in “I racconti”, Turin
“Adam, One Afternoon”2. Patience, tenacity 1958 (197313), pp. 16-24.
3
and a love of the place, stretched over twenty- I. Calvino, L’uomo delle palafitte (1943) in
two years of the project’s long gestation period. “Romanzi e racconti” edited, by M. Barenghi,
The seasons were like steep cliff, thick with B. Falcetto, vol. III, Turin 1994 (1972), p. 796.
0 2 5m
10
Filiberto Rotta
11
2
Progetti
13
Pianta e prospetto della
4 coclea sud: 1. lamiera di
rame preossidato;
2. pacchetto coibentato;
5 3. trave in legno iroko; 13
4. pavimentazione in
autobloccanti; 5. struttura
rampa in legno iroko travi
10x20; 6. solaio gettato in
opera
14
12 Vista del fronte sul porto
0 0,2 0,5m
110
4
Filiberto Rotta
14
5
12
Detail of roof attachment:
1. insulating pack;
Projects New port of Varazze
13 0 2 5m
16
Informazioni Elementi in pietra naturale Gheimar, Tavagnasco Infissi Standing finish Coppa serramenti,
Information Natural stone elements (TO) Valmacca, (AL)
Opere di falegnameria Vibrapac solaro, Milano
Ascensori Elevators CEAM Elementi in vetro Coppa serramenti, Carpentry work
Glass elements Valmacca (AL)
Controsoffitature Tecnolinea, Pavia Pavimenti in legno Effedue parquet
False ceiling Facciate Facades Vibrapac, Solaro (MI) Wood flooring Bovisio Masciago
Copertura Roofing Asti lattonerie, Milano Fondazioni Foundations Rotopi, Pavia Pavimenti sopraelevati Sadi, Pianezze
Raised flooring
Elementi di illuminazione Schroeder Impianto antincendio Tecnoservice, Camnago
Lighting elements Fire-fighting system Porte Doors Dierre, Villanova d’Asti
Elementi in legno Bodino, Torino Impianto di illuminazione Sicel, Trezzano Prefabbricati Prescav, Pavia
Wooden elements Barbirato, Biella Interior lighting system sul Naviglio Prefabricated structures
Elementi in pietra artificiale Paver, Piacenza Impianto elettrico Sicel, Trezzano Verde Landscaping Liguriaverde,
Artificial stone elements Electric system sul Naviglio Albisola Superiore