PPPPrato

Introduction

On January 1, 2016 the Municipality of Prato launched an international two-phase design competition for a new 3-hectare urban park in its historical city center, located within the perimeter of the city walls, where the former city hospital is located. Among its objectives, all aimed at interpreting the needs of the contemporary city, are the socio-economic development of the city center, the enhancement of its touristic vocation, sustainability and accessibility. After a first competition phase, that registered 230 candidates from all over the world, the international jury selected 10 teams that were invited to participate in the final competition phase.

On October 1, 2016 the international jury, chaired by architect Bernard Tschumi, evaluated a series of design proposals that all contributed significant ideas for the evolution of the contemporary city. All teams put forward new thoughts that reflect upon a renewed sensitivity towards the environment. The jury unanimously announced the winner : the team formed by OBR Paolo Brescia and Tommaso Principi with Michel Desvigne Paysagiste, that will be commissioned to design the final project for the new Parco Centrale di Prato.

Finalists announced

On Wednesday May 4, 2016 the jury – whose members are Bernard Tschumi, Massimo Nutini, Michelle Provoost, Sébastien Marot and Roberto Zancan – selected, among the 230 candidates from all over the world, the 10 finalists who will be invited to conceive a schematic design for the site.
Here are the finalists

Premise

TPO / Théâtre National de Chaillot company. Pop up Garden. Fabbrichino Theater, 2014.

The Emperor's Castle and, in the foreground, a glimpse of Santa Maria delle Carceri. Photo by Marco Badiani.

TAI Tuscan Art Industry, 2015 edition. Former Lucchesi factory. Photo by Stefano Roiz.

Santa Maria delle Carceri. Photo by Sansa55.

Photo by Marco Badiani.

Santa Maria delle Carceri. Photo by Julio César Mesa.

Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci. The extension designed by Maurice Nio. Detail. Photo by Ivan D'Alì.

Photo by Marco Badiani.

Museum at Palazzo Pretorio. Photo by Mario Ciampi.

Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci. The extension designed by Maurice Nio. Photo by Ivan D'Alì.

TAI Tuscan Art Industry, 2015 edition. "Après Coup" exhibition. Former Lucchesi factory. Photo by Maurizio Chiocchetti.

Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci. The original building by Italo Gamberini. Photo by Carlo Gianni.

Museum at Palazzo Pretorio. Photo by Mario Ciampi.

Photo by Marco Badiani.

Lazzerini Library in the old Campolmi Factory. Photo by Marco Mattei.

Photo by Marco Badiani.

Chamber of Commerce of Prato, MDU Architetti. Photo by Pietro Savorelli.

Photo by Marco Badiani.

The church of Saint Stephen, Prato Cathedral. Photo by Roberto Guido.

The church of Saint Stephen, Prato Cathedral. Photo by Salvatore Gerace.

Lazzerini Library in the old Campolmi Factory. Photo by Marco Mattei.

Emperor's Castle. Photo by Sansa55.

Prato. Photo by Bryn Pinzgauer.

Museo del Tessuto in the old Campolmi Factory.

Emperor's Castle. Photo by Sailko.

Emperor's Castle. Photo by Rolando Valdiserri.

Il Fabbricone Theater. Photo by Marcello Norberth.

“Prato is a vibrant, contradictory, innovative, and conflictual city: a city that, from the start of the 20th century and in particular after the Second World War, has represented a formidable urban, social, cultural and economic laboratory where new models have often been tested.

The area of the former Misericordia e Dolce Hospital represents one of the main strategic objectives the Municipality di Prato is currently involved in. Its next transformation, object of this international competition, is about the creation of a new large urban park of around 3 hectares to serve the city.

A new large public space which must become attractive as a metropolitan area and due to the flows of international cultural turism thanks to the facilities contained therein and thanks to quality and innovation in the treatment of the green areas and the presence of art and architecture with strong contemporary connotations: a new modern-day place set within a historical and valuable context, capable of conveying the image of Prato as the city of the contemporaneity of Tuscany.”

From the introduction of Valerio Barberis, Deputy Mayor for Urban Planning, Municipality of Prato.

More in the Preliminary Planning Document

Project site

The area object of this competition, located inside the perimeter of the city walls where the former city hospital was built, represents a large portion of the south-west quarter of the Historical Center where the axes of ancient foundations can easily be identified: the Decumanus Maximus (the present-day Porta Pistoiese up to Piazza San Marco) and the Cardo Maximus (from the Porta al Serraglio train station up to Porta Santa Trinita). The heart of the city, represented by Piazza del Comune, around which the “center” of the Historical Center has developed, is still located at the point where they meet. The main architectural features of the city are concentrated here as well as a series of commercial and cultural enterprises set up to serve a regional user base.

The project area is characterized by the “void” created by the vegetable gardens of the hospital, which remained intact until the enlargement was built in the 1960s and 1970s.

For the city, the creation of the urban park in the former hospital area represents an absolutely exceptional and unrepeatable occasion. Creating a park of over three hectares inside the fourteenth-century walls is in itself highly unique. It rarely happens that we witness projects of such significant proportions within parts of ancient and established cities.

More in the Preliminary Planning Document

Brief

Project area, the entrance from Via Cavour. Photo by Luca Martinelli.

Project area, Via Cavour side. Foto di Luca Martinelli.

Project area, Via Cavour / Via Corradori side, Via Sant'Orsola in the background. Photo by Luca Martinelli.

Project area, Via Cavour side (on the left) and Via Sant'Orsola side (on the right). Photo by Luca Martinelli.

Project area, Via Cavour / Via Corridor side (on the left). Photo by Luca Martinelli.

Photo by Michela Brachi.

Photo by Caterina Bruschi.

The main aim of the competition is to completely rethink the former hospital area, creating an urban park that endows it with a functional and strategic role so as to fully include it in the network of city relations.

The new urban park must first of all be able to change the vision and perception not only of the new place that will be created, but it must also alter the perception of the downtown areas adjacent to it, conferring awareness that a new part of the city has been created inside the walls. Not an area closed off by walls and gates, but a prevalently open area capable of becoming a hub of vitality for the center and for the city outside the walls.

The project for the new 3-hectare park consists of two functional lots.

The first lot includes the complete creation of the green areas and therefore of the park, as well as a built volume with a minimum area of 500 square meter of gross floor area containing, among other things, the services essential to the park itself.

The second functional lot includes the creation of other buildings, up to a maximum of 3,000 square meters of gross floor area.

For additional information on the competition participation process you may download the Competition brief and the Preliminary Planning Document.

Please note: the competition notice has been modified, as per documents available in the Download area of this website and in the official documentation on the website of the Municipality of Prato.

Download

The official competition documents may be downloaded from the website of the Comune di Prato (at this link).

The documents are in Italian, since Italian is the official language for this competition. All interested may preview abstracts from the Competition Brief and the Preliminary Planning Document here below.

Timetable

(updated on October 30, 2016)

by December 31, 2015
Publication of the competition brief

by February 29, 2016
Deadline for receipt of applications for admission to the competition

by May 4, 2016
Evaluation by the board and subsequent dispatch of the invitation to participate in the competition to the shortlisted contestants

October 1, 2016
Selection of the winning design and entrustment of the final project and working plan

October 7 – 28, 2016
Exhibition of all design proposals

Modifications to the timetable can be made by the competition organizer for sound reasons and will be published on the competition website ilparcocentralediprato.it

Jury

The jury, appointed on the basis of specific expertise, at an international level as well in consideration of the distinctive characteristics of the procedure, is made up of the following people:

Permanent members

Bernard Tschumi, Architect (President) (biography)
Michelle Provoost, Architectural historial (Vice President) (biography)
Sébastien Marot, Philosopher and landscape design theorist (biography)
Roberto Zancan, Architecture critic (biography)
Francesco Procopio, Architect from the Municipality of Prato, in charge of the restoration of the city’s historical heritage (biography)

Temporary members

Marzia De Marzi, as a delegate of the Association of Architects of the Province of Prato
Mario Moscardi, as a delegate of the Association of Engineers of the Province of Prato

The Jury will examine the documentation submitted by the contestants and select a maximum of 10 entrants to be admitted to the competition phase. At the end of the competition, the Jury will select a winner who will be commissioned with the project.

Finalists

The ten finalists are:

1

Roberto Pasini (AUS pasini ranieri) – group leader
Kongjian Yu (TURENSCAPE)
Giovanni Grappeggia (Studio Verde)
Marco Francia, Deris Ortali (Eltec)
Andrea Ranieri (AUS pasini ranieri)
Matteo Giulianelli

Below are images of projects included in the portfolio submitted by the team in the first phase:

Turenscape. Guangdong Zhongshan Shipyard Industrial Park, Zhongshan, Guangdong Province, China, 2001

Turenscape. Qinhuangdao Botanical Garden, Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province, China, 2010

Turenscape. Quzhou Luming Park, Quzhou, Zhejiang, China, 2015

Turenscape. Shanghai Houtan 2010 World Expo Park, Shanghai Houtan Expo Park, Shanghai, China, 2009

2

Emanuele Barili – group leader
Alejandro Aravena (ELEMENTAL)
Gonzalo Arteaga Rozas (ELEMENTAL)
Cosimo Balestri
Teresa Moller (Teresa Moller Landscape Studio)
with Olivia Gori, Mattia Di Carlo, Knut Stockhusen

Below are images of projects included in the portfolio submitted by the team in the first phase:

Elemental. Santiago Metropolitan Promenade + Children‘s Bicentennial Park, Santiago, Chile, 2003-2015

Elemental. Calama Periurban Park, Calama, Chile, 2013-ongoing

Elemental. Casablanca Park, Casablanca Valley, Chile, 2007-2009

Elemental. Mitigation Anti-Tsunami Park inside PRES - Sustainable Post-Tsunami Reconstruction Plan, Constitución, Chile, 2010-2016

Emanuele Barili & Cosimo Balestri. Piazza dell’Immaginario, Prato, Italy, 2015-2016 under construction

3

Massimo Alvisi (Alvisi Kirimoto) – group leader
Petra Blaisse (Inside Outside)
Maurizio Milan (Milan Ingegneria)
Alessio Montanari
with Giampiero Aresi, Aniello Camarca, Eloisa Susanna

Below are images of projects included in the portfolio submitted by the team in the first phase:

Inside Outside. Petra Blaisse. Biblioteca Degli Alberi, Giardini di Porta Nuova, Milano, Italy, 2008

Inside Outside. Petra Blaisse. Lyrical signature, Roeterseiland Campus - University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2013

Inside Outside. Petra Blaisse. Water Recipe Garden, Qatar Education city - Headquarter building, Doha, Qatar, 2007

Alvisi Kirimoto. Podernuovo Winery for Giovanni and Paolo Bulgari, San Casciano dei Bagni, Siena, Italy, 2013

4

Ferdinand Ludwig (Baubotanik) – group leader
Daniel Schönle
Markus Allman (Allmann Sattler Wappner)
Carlo Scoccianti
with Lukasz Lendzinski (Umschichten), Peter Weigand, Sergio Sanna, Bernhard Scharf (green4cities)

Below are images of projects included in the portfolio submitted by the team in the first phase:

Baubotanik. Plane Tree Cube Nagold, Regional Horticultural show in Nagold, Germany, 2012

Baubotanik. Footbridge, Wald-Ruhestetten, 2005

Baubotanik. Klimopass for the German Ministry of Environment, Climate and Energy Management, 2013-2015

Carlo Scoccianti. Casting the first stone, Campi Bisenzio, Florence, Italy, 2010-2012

5

Dominique Jakob (Jakob + MacFarlane Architects) – group leader
Pablo Georgieff (Coloco)
Laura Gatti
with Francesca Borrelli

Below are images of projects included in the portfolio submitted by the team in the first phase:

Jakob + MacFarlane, Gilles Clément and Coloco. The Staircase-Garden, Bruxelles, Belgium, 2007-2008

Jakob + MacFarlane, Gilles Clément and Coloco. Jardin du tiers-paysage, Submarine Base, St Nazaire, France, 2009-2011

Jakob + MacFarlane. Docks. City of Fashion and Design, Paris, France, 2012

6

Rients Dijkstra (MAXWAN ARCHITECTS + URBANISTS) – group leader
with Franca Maria Luisa Neonato (PN STUDIO)

Below are images of projects included in the portfolio submitted by the team in the first phase:

Maxwan, Arteza. Skolkovo Gardens, Moskow, 2015-2016

Maxwan, TPO Reserve, Latz+Partner. Zaryadye Park, Moscow, Russia, 2013

Maxwan. Park Groot Schijn, Antwerp, Belgium, 2009-2013

Maxwan. Spoelberchplein, Machelen, Belgium, 2011-2013

7

Paolo Brescia (OBR – Paolo Brescia e Tommaso Principi) – group leader
Michel Desvigne (Michel Desvigne Paysagiste)
Alberto Romeo (Intertecno)
with Tommaso Principi (OBR – Paolo Brescia e Tommaso Principi), Elisa Siffredi (OBR – Paolo Brescia e Tommaso Principi), Enrico Ferraris (Michel Desvigne Paysagiste), Massimiliano Marzo (Intertecno)

Below are images of projects included in the portfolio submitted by the team in the first phase:

MDP Michel Designee Paysagiste, Foster + Partners, Tangram, Yann Kersalé, Ingérop. Marseille Old Harbor , Marseille, France, 2010-2013

MDP Michel Desvigne Paysagiste, Arcoop. Drai Eechelen Park, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, Luxembourg, 1999-2011

MDP Michel Desvigne Paysagiste. Ile Seguin, Paris, France, 2000-2015

OBR Paolo Brescia e Tommaso Principi, Antonio Perazzi Studio del Paesaggio. Terrazza Triennale, Milan, Italy, 2014-2015

OBR Paolo Brescia e Tommaso Principi. Giardini di Pitagora, Crotone, Italy, 2003-2011

8

Dan Dorell (DORELL.GHOTMEH.TANE/ARCHITECTS) – group leader
Lina Ghotmeh (DORELL.GHOTMEH.TANE/ARCHITECTS)
Tsuyoshi Tane (DORELL.GHOTMEH.TANE/ARCHITECTS)
Franck Boutté (FRANCK BOUTTÉ CONSULTANTS)
Klaas De Rycke (BOLLINGER + GROHMANN)
Simone Murr (BOLLINGER + GROHMANN)
Laure Vandeputte (BOLLINGER + GROHMANN)
Gabriel Auger (BOLLINGER + GROHMANN)
with Marco Tosato, Leonardo Oprandi

Below are images of projects included in the portfolio submitted by the team in the first phase:

Bollinger + Grohmann. Städel Museum extension, Frankfurt, Germany, 2009-2012

Bollinger + Grohmann. Structural Engineering for EPFL Rolex Learning Center designed by SANAA, Lausanne, Switzerland, 2010

DGT Dorell.Ghotmeh.Tane architects. Kofu Stadium, Tokyo, Japan, 2012

DGT Dorell.Ghotmeh.Tane architects. Memory Field, Tallinn, Estonia, 2006-2016

9

Martino Tattara (Dogma) – group leader
Pier Vittorio Aureli (Dogma)
Luciano Aletta (Dogma)
Paolo Rigoni (StudioSilva)
Marco Sassatelli (StudioSilva)
with Elia Zenghelis

Below are images of projects included in the portfolio submitted by the team in the first phase:

Dogma with Elia Zenghelis and Milan Ingegneria. Zeus - Project for Vlora Waterfront Promenade, Vlora, Albania, 2014

Dogma with Studio B&L. Easier Taken Slow - Project for the Economic Corridor of Durana, Durrës, Tirana region, Albania, 2014

Dogma. Stop City, NWMA Belgium-The Netherlands-Germany, 2007

Dogma with Andrea Branzi and Favero&Milan Ingegneria. Ramones - Project for the Taichung Gateway Park, Taichung, Taiwan, 2011

10

Benedetta Tagliabue (EMBT | Enric Miralles – Benedetta Tagliabue) – group leader
with Matteo Francesco Ruta (Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento ABC), Gabriele Masera (Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento ABC)

Below are images of projects included in the portfolio submitted by the team in the first phase:

EMBT Enric Miralles Benedetta Tagliabue. Diagonal Mar Park, Barcelona, Spain, 1997-2002

EMBT Enric Miralles Benedetta Tagliabue. Hafencity Public Spaces, Hafencity, Hamburg, Germany, 2002 - in progress

EMBT Enric Miralles Benedetta Tagliabue. Santa Caterina Market and Neighborhood, Barcelona, Spain, 1998-2004

EMBT Enric Miralles Benedetta Tagliabue. Scottish Parliament Building, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1998-2004

The five runnersup:

11

Gonçalo Byrne (Gonçalo Byrne Arquitectos) – group leader
Ribeiro Ferrera Joao Antonio Nunes (PROAP)
Zoilo Sanchez Juan Ignacio
Giorgio Baldisseri
Lorenzo Cipriano Marchetto
Massimo Zancan
Ilaria Conte
Ettore d’Angelo
Augusto Bottai
with Manuel Bellagamba, Giuseppe Franco D’Arteni, Nereo Bianchi, Michael Jakob, Eduardo Camacho-Hubner, Massimiliano Alessandro

12

Philippe Rahm (Philippe Rahm architectes) – group leader
Gabriella Chiellino (eAmbiente)

13

Iñaqui Carnicero – group leader
Lorena Del Rio
Zuhal Kol
with Carlos Zarco

14

Wolfgang Tschapeller – group leader
Niklavs Paegle
Christina Jauernik
with Lonny Van Rysvwyck (Atelier NL), Nadine Sterk (Atelier NL), Matthew Edgeworth

15

Alejandro Zaera Polo (AZPML) – group leader
Maider Llaguno
Andrea Boschetti (Metrogramma)
Alberto Francini (Metrogramma)
Sala Cheli
with Vittorio Peretto, Cristina Iglesias