1. Inedited Identities
Stratification is the predominant feature of the Giuseppe Verdi Theater. The project we propose is conceived with the awareness that non-reversible things happen: a bombed-out building is a story that cannot be re-edited. The belief behind this project is that the architectural space is a human fact that has no relation to the time in which it is built; that Poletti's pro-naos has the dignity of contemporaneity as well as the extension we are presenting. Contemporary is the moment in which the architectures are made, then over time they become testimony of that period; over the centuries they are enhanced by acquiring historical and artistic value. Here is the point: making architecture with great responsibility and awareness.
The particularities of this intervention and of the proposed project are of various types.
A new internal space of the theatre with a strong emotional impact with attention to the visual and acoustic comfort of the spectator.
A reorganization of the functions and a distribution optimization in order to make the theatre a recognizable place for the city of Terni.
The back of the theatre becomes the protagonist of urban redevelopment: the new volumes and the external arrangement ennoble a void which currently is of little architectural value.
2.The Theatre
2.1 The hall
The hall consists of four large central sectors and six balconies that climb up its perimeter, designed to reach the required 800 seats and guarantee an optimal view from each seat. As requested by the client, the stalls will be eliminated by continuing the slope of the gallery between 1.25m and 4.50m and creating a smaller room under the gallery for concerts and rehearsal rooms but also for multifunctional uses not necessarily theatrical performances.
In relation to the inclination of the stalls, the stage will be raised by about 2.20m compared to the current altitude, leaving room for the orchestra pit. It will also be necessary to redefine the morphology of the steps by laying a new floating floor on the structures of the current gallery.
The interior of the room is characterized by a cladding of the structures with a double sound-absorbing wooden skin curved to create a drapery of the interior spaces that combine the stalls, balconies and acoustic elements in a single fluid form. The fluid architectural choice and the characteristic of the material used, wood, will determine in terms of acoustic comfort a great added value for the new theatre. The morphology and the quality of the lining of the hall supporting the acoustic and visual comfort of the spectators.
The three levels of the hall are connected to the foyer through side paths to the hall from which the emergency escape routes outside the building. The safety stairs were conceived as architectural elements integrated into the composition of the new project external volumes.
2.2 The rehearsal room
The rehearsal room, housed in the stalls of the current theatre, will accommodate 208 seats. It looks like a continuous envelope that characterizes the principal hall in technological and architectural terms. The smooth sound-reflecting coating covers a gap in which positioned the technological systems and which will allow the environment to be used as a rehearsal room, a smaller room and a conference / projection room. Also in this room, a floating wooden ceiling is the answer to acoustic comfort in order to offer an excellent sound quality to the spectator.
2.3 The dressing rooms
The dimensions and plans of the dressing rooms are totally redefined. Access will take place directly from the road level of Largo Sant’Agape. The area of the dressing rooms will include: 4 group dressing rooms with relative services, 3 single dressing rooms with relative services, men's / women's toilets, the spaces that connect the dressing rooms with the stages, a freight elevator connected with the stage and with the warehouse.
3. The new volumes
The new facade of the complex on Largo Sant’Agape is characterized by two main volumes which are horizontally interpenetrated by a third. The two main volumes are also marked by openings and emergency stairs following the logic of randomness. The geometric shapes of the new volumes, differentiated by the use of materials and calibrated with the new stairs, create a sculptural building, giving the historic centre a moment of interest also integrated with the new layout, expansion of the pedestrian area.
3.1 The fly tower
The demolition and complete reconstruction of the old fly tower is planned by client. The new volume will have a facade cladding in terracotta elements laid on a substructure in steel uprights. This system allows the façade to be placed side by side with the existing buildings, declaring their identity characters. The shape and the characteristic of the cladding of the fly tower create a three-dimensionality on the wall through the shadows and chiaroscuro that contrasts with the brick masonry of the existing building of the theatre. This difference in chromatic aspect and materials establishes a dialogue between the old and the new and vice versa.
The escape routes and the emergency stairs are extrados to the volume and covered in cor-ten steel, as is the shelter that hides the technical systems on the roof. The canopy roof designed as a functional / decorative element, deliberately very light, protrudes from the building to protect and cover the emergency stairs on the side elevation.
3.2 The museum
The volume that counterbalances the mass of the fly tower. This small building with essential and minimal lines contrasts with the theatre and the new fly tower, a small, very balanced sculpture covered in a creamy colored limestone and glass on the top where a practicable terrace opens up and can be used by visitors to the museum.
In addition to the museum, there are the technical rooms and offices. The entrance on the ground floor takes place from the small distance between the volumes of the fly tower and the museum. There will be a common atrium for artists, visitors and employees. The museum is located on the second floor of the building and consists of a double height space with terraces for events. Museum and theater are in direct connection with each other and with the laboratory environments.
3.3 Offices and laboratories
The offices and laboratories have their entrance from Largo Sant’Agape and are characterized by a brise soleil that surrounds the entire floor ensuring the necessary indirect lighting characteristics. A sector dedicated to the management of the museum and the theatre is set up in direct connection with them and with the laboratory environments.
4.The square
As mentioned above, the particularity of this intervention is of being an opportunity for urban regeneration. It is a project where the back of the building becomes as important as the entrance to the theatre. The volumes of the scenic tower and the museum redevelop the urban void of the square in front the theatre.
The idea is to extend the pedestrian area of the axis of Via dell’Ospedale also on the square in front of the museum and the fly tower.
Different Materials identify different functions in square:
Resting place with seats made with monolithic stone elements that stand out from the flooring designed in wooden planks.
Pedestrian transit using the same stone paving already used in the pedestrian area of Via dell’Ospedale.
Green, by inserting three shady trees in the rest area.
Ground connection of the museum, architectural sculpture, covered with a perimeter of large dry pebbles.