Problem: Rehabilitation of post-war veterans

A major psychological problem for post-war personnel is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sometimes called shell shock or combat stress, which occurs after experiencing a severely traumatic or life-threatening event. The main symptoms are: 1. Recurring intrusive reminders of the traumatic event, including distressing thoughts, nightmares, and flashbacks of feeling the event is happening again. 2. Extreme avoidance of reminders of the traumatic event, including people, places, thoughts, or situations associated with the bad memory. 3. Negative changes in thoughts and emotions, such as excessive negative beliefs about self or the world and persistent feelings of fear, guilt, or shame. 4. Constant vigilance, nervousness, and emotional reactions such as restlessness, anger, reckless behavior, difficulty sleeping, difficulty concentrating, and hypervigilance (increased alertness).

Site Selection:

Our site named Cavea Arcari is located in the wooded mountains near the Italian city of Vicenza. Beautiful and secluded Italian towns are scattered around. The road in front of the site is connected with hiking trails and highways. The quarry ceased operations in the 1950s, leaving behind a vast space that combines the grandeur of nature with the sophistication of human activity. The engineers at that time used the method of crossing tunnels to extract stones, and huge stone pillars stood at the intersections inside the cave to maintain the stability of the mountain structure. At the same time, these standing stone pillars are arranged in an irregular shape, and the space inside the cave is naturally retracted, coupled with the penetration of external light, there is a sense of changing scenery step by step. The waterscape inside the cave spreads and shuttles between different caves, adding to the fun and exploratory nature of the site. Between 2010-2018, David Chipperfield Architects used stone materials such as local marble to transform the main entrance section into a multi-purpose event and performance.