Arco Cultural Centre & Auditorium
To revitalize two neoclassical buildings on the edge of the old town
An Art Nouveau villa on the edge of the historic centre, at the end of the most popular tree-lined street. This pedestrian street is flanked by nineteenth century buildings constructed for visitors from Central Europe, in search of the sun and a temperate climate. The villa is abandoned. The local government decided to utilise it to create a new centre of social life for the town. The slope surrounding the villa is the distinctive element of the site.
We decided to build the 500-seat Auditorium beneath the current ground level, creating a gentle artificial hill surrounded by trees. The fly tower emerges from this green surface: a transparent and squarish volume that extends to meet the two sixteenth century structures of Villa Becker and the former Quisisana sanatorium. The glass sleeve is narrow, 50 metres long and 8 metres high. It is supported by a steel structure, the same one that supports the hanging walkways, stairs and lifts that connect the auditorium to the other activities hosted in the restored nineteenth century buildings.
Drawings
