PREVIOUS PROJECT

Our first attempt to design the Palasport for Santa Giulia (Figure 65) was a laboratory for experimentations. We tested some concepts (a bowl in the dome), some integration and flexibility approaches, and learned a lot about the complexity of making an Arenal. Concerning the program, it set the technical basis and also the intention of making the Palasport a place for every day, with plenty of uses for the community in the surroundings.

We had though some basic problems that worked as learning for us. Among them: The dimensions of making a complete dome, which was out of scale for the context of Santa Giulia;

- The “façade inside a facade” approach, which was unjustifiable;

- The underground mall, which demanded too much groundwork;

- The unsustainable approach, in terms of keeping the place warm;

- The design of the position of the Arena, combined with the landscape and buildings around, was poor. It was certainly a great experience to redesign the building for the thesis work with a more mature view of the challenges we were going to face.