David Chipperfield Architects has won a competition to redevelop a key historic site in the centre of Pisa, Italy.
The site, beside Pisa's cathedral and within a World Heritage site, is occupied by the 13th-century University Hospital of Santa Chiara, which will be dismantled.
Chipperfield's winning proposal includes new colonnades and pedestrian areas.
Here's the info from Chipperfield:
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David Chipperfield Architects competition win: Urban Redevelopment of the University Hospital of Santa Chiara, Pisa, Italy
David Chipperfield Architects has won the international competition for the urban redevelopment of the University Hospital of Santa Chiara, Pisa.
The site of Santa Chiara is located in the heart of Pisa’s old town and borders the Cathedral Square (Piazza dei Miracoli), which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The group of buildings, which dates back to 1257 and has been used since then as a hospital and university centre, will be dismantled and redeveloped, and its functions relocated to a special area outside the old town.
The project involves the development of a consistent plan for the urban redevelopment, and the urban, landscaping and architectural enhancement of the area - which comprises all the hospital buildings of Santa Chiara, including the university wards - through a systematic, consistent group of works to be carried out on such sites.
The proposal starts from the belief that a strong architectural intervention can modify the morphology of the area. The buildings are seen as pavilions set in an urban campus, and all the volumetric additions are taken away to clarify the historical architecture. The architectonic proposal consists of a double colonnade generating a new pedestrian street and a new space for citizens and for tourists. The folding colonnades face each other and embrace the public space, generating a new hinge for the city.