Cattoi neigbourhood in Riva del Garda
A residential complex on the edge of the lake
This buildable lot inside a vast park on the shores of Lake Garda is both unique and precious: it marks the beginning of the historic centre, the pedestrian city of Riva del Garda.
The project exploits the position of the area and its morphology: the current road, raised 4 meters above the terrain, allows for the construction, without the need for any earthworks, of a two-storey parking structure flush with the road. Perfect for leaving the car and proceeding on foot.
From the parking structure visitors walk toward a large pedestrian space, a sort of sidewalk-plaza surrounded by shops and bars, a space of pause that introduces visitors to the pedestrian city.
The main street, Viale Rovereto, is currently a disordered sequence of buildings, verandas, canopies and advertising signage. A chaotic, discontinuous and kitsch commercial surface.
The project opposes this post-war urban language with the rigour of a medieval structure: streets and spaces at the humans scale and exclusively pedestrian.
We proposed two building models: a compact street front, with shops at grade and homes on the upper levels; and a low building of independent patio houses wrapped around a large garden.
All of the houses have a double skin: on one side a continuous stone cladding, dark, solid and massive that begins as exterior paving, becomes the façade and terminates on the roof; on the other side wooden lattices screening large glazed openings, terraces and loggias from which to enjoy the view of the lake and the surrounding landscape.
Drawings
