The new park for Prato is designed by choosing these two elements as starting points: the wall and the void. Therefore, what should be the appropriate strategy to ensure that this project will become a paradigm and example of inclusion? A way to ensure that the mobility of people constitutes an opportunity and not a threat to the vitality and quality of life.
Public space as a place of integration through cultural expression.
The spontaneous way in which the city reflects more clearly the ethnic richness of its population is trade. Our proposal involves three fundamental dimensions of collective life for social identity and therefore for coexistence.
Play: every culture has its favorite sport, the most popular one, and every sport needs a specific field. If people spend time in public space to unwind and meet, then sport is the activity that most naturally combines these two dimensions. Our proposal is to create a large open space that can accommodate all sports relevant to different cultures.
Food: another essential cultural expression is food. A trend that is gradually acquiring more strength is to use parks not only as a product but as a productive urban public spaces. This may be because parks are the only remnant of nature in the city, but also because the active connection of neighbors to the park increases the sense of ownership among the public space and community. A space that is grown (and not only visited) has a greater capacity to produce shared value.
Worship: perhaps the expression that more than others is vital in a population is its own belief. Architecture has historically been able to translate this dimension in buildings, temples and churches. Our proposal is to introduce a more archaic version of the worship space in the park: the first manifestation of the culture of nature, through the most basic synthesis. Source by ELEMENTAL.
- Location: Prato, Italy
- Architects: ELEMENTAL
- Design Team: ELEMENTAL, ECÒL, Teresa Moller Landscape Studio
- Collaborator: Mattia Di Carlo
- Year: 2016
- Images: Courtesy of ELEMENTAL