Bergamo: here are the winning projects for site-specific installations in two squares in collaboration with GAMeC

The Bergamo City Council, Confindustria Bergamo and GAMeC have presented the winning projects and designers of the contest for the design of two squares in the city of Bergamo, on the occasion of Bergamo Brescia Italian Capital of Culture 2023: Piazza della Libertà and the square in front of the new Confindustria headquarters at Kilometro Rosso. The projects are fully supported by Confindustria Bergamo, to support the Bergamo community through the creation of inclusive, sustainable and harmoniously integrated meeting and social places in the city context and linked to the values of innovation and industriousness. The Piazza Libertà installation will be inaugurated in early 2023 to coincide with the opening of the celebrations for Bergamo Brescia Italian Capital of Culture. In contrast, the installation of the square at Kilometro Rosso is scheduled for spring 2023. Launched in July, the contests involved 12 international and Italian designers. From these, the two winning projects were selected, chosen to create an ideal bridge between the city center and its suburbs, between the historic and representative urban core and the current innovation and industry hub.

A temporary site-specific intervention oriented to interpret the theme of the cultural capital “The Illuminated City” will be set up in Freedom Square: Lights On, by Greek designers Objects of Common Interest. The project was selected by the commission for its ability to combine the iconic character of the sculptural element with a need for community participation, creating a welcoming and functional space for all the people who will experience the square in this year of celebrations.

The project that will transform the entrance space to the Confindustria Bergamo headquarters within Kilometro Rosso Innovation District is Pioppeto, by the architectural firm Salottobuono founded by Matteo Ghidoni. The renovated plaza will be dedicated to the concept of Industrious Nature, chosen by the Bergamo Industrialists’ Association to narrate its will in promoting development that is attentive to issues of ecology and sustainability, and in its ability to be guided by an innovative, dynamic and creative outlook.

“The two projects represent some of the first interventions, in chronological order, that will allow Bergamo to evolve, in the context of the Italian Capital of Culture 2023 project, representing to the general public some of the most characteristic values and themes of the Enlightened City: the industrious soul of the territory, its creative and entrepreneurial fabric, the drive for innovation and renewal proper to our identity,” said Bergamo Mayor Giorgio Gori. “And, if the intervention on Piazza della Libertà is destined to have a different location at the end of 2023, that of Kilometro Rosso is meant to remain definitive, a legacy to the city.”

“The two works,” explained Giovanna Ricuperati, president of Confindustria Bergamo, “contribute to defining the new vision of an attractive territory that is aware of its potential, that dialogues with modernity, starting from its strengths, its manufacturing roots and strong sense of belonging, and combines them with the values of innovation and economic, social and environmental sustainability, thanks also to the evocative capacity of the languages of art and culture. In particular, the design for the square at the Kilometro Rosso Innovation District, develops along the lines of ’Industrious Nature’ that inspired us throughout the process of building our new headquarters, marking the further approach and openness to the community, while the design for Freedom Square expresses in an artistic key the enlightened entrepreneurial vision that always finds new ways to resist the complexities of changing contexts.”

“The presentation of the two winning projects for the squares of Bergamo and Kilometro Rosso represents the conclusion of a careful and articulate selection process that involved young professionals, researchers and design curators,” added Alberto Barcella, president of GAMeC. “We are satisfied with the energies activated so far, thanks to which the city is enriched with two new meeting spaces mediated by the language of urban design, and we look forward to the moment when the Bergamo community and visitors to the city will be able to inhabit them.”

Lights On, specifically designed for Bergamo’s Piazza della Libertà, involves public space on multiple levels and is based on three key concepts: reuse, reactivate, renew. The project stems from the desire to rework the relationship between the community and the resources it already possesses, and to propose innovative solutions starting from the heritage of the city and the territory. The centerpiece of the intervention is an imposing light sculpture, a sinuous, flexible and seemingly soft, but actually very robust work of art. Powered by solar panels, it will be placed in close connection with the architecture of the building overlooking the square. The fountain in the center of the square will be able to be observed from anunprecedented close-up perspective, thanks to a raised pavement (a kind of hill) made of recycled tires that will allow a panoramic view of the entire area. Completing the installation is a series of seats made from reclaimed polychrome marble and recycled resin. Each element is designed to be recycled and reused. In fact, both the lighting elements and the seats can be reassembled in different ways and in other contexts.

Poplargrove intends to be an interpreter of the need for industry to combine sustainability, nature and production, intervening on the specific spatial and environmental qualities of the context in which the installation will fit and contributing, with a small piece, to the goals of decarbonization and reforestation of the territory. Indeed, poplar plantations offer significant opportunities to address the challenges of climate change and activate new sustainable economies; they contribute significantly to the goals of the Green Deal because, with their potential for industrial processing and rapid rotation, they can help meet market demands by significantly reducing the demand for extraction from natural forests. The project will affect the area between the Kilometro Rosso wall and the Confindustria headquarters, on the roof of the underground auditorium: thirty-two potted trees will be arranged to form a large natural columned hall topped by a leaf roof, anticipating the entrance to the building. The lawn area along the red backdrop of the wall will be replaced by a body of water that will accommodate reeds, tife and water lilies. Concrete and ceramic pots and benches with different geometries will complete the layout of the plaza, which is intended to be a welcoming place, able to provide comfortable conditions for outdoor pause and meeting and to host events and sharing moments designed for the community. The overall intervention is intended as a self-sufficient system that reproduces thetypical ecosystem of the Po Valley: the plaza constitutes a large draining surface that conveys rainwater to the pond, which, partially collected inside a cistern, will be reused to irrigate the trees. A hardy and easy-to-manage tree, poplar filters sunlight and alleviates summer heat; the rustling of its foliage also mitigates noise from planes and vehicles. The project also envisions an increase in the biodiversity present in the poplar grove and the body of water: the trees are intended to provide an ideal nesting environment for multiple species of birds, and, over time, frogs and other small organisms will appear and populate the natural and man-made environment of the plaza.

Pictured is the render of the Poplar Grove project.

Bergamo: here are the winning projects for site-specific installations in two squares in collaboration with GAMeC

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