The historic town centre is in the form of a triangle; this is bordered on the two shorter sides by the route of the ancient Appian Way, and, on the longer side, by the successor to the Roman road circling the centre. Piazza Vittorio Veneto is on the hill facing Benevento and looks out over a rugged, mountainous landscape. Two years ago, I designed a building completely painted in gold for this site to function as a symbolic town gate, a glittering hub for a large, disorganised traffic junction.
The substantial extension of the junction and the introduction of large areas for town residents to stroll and sit in gave me the inspiration to create paved islands of light. I designed a large street light, twenty metres high, to interact with the gold building: this lights up the edge of the pedestrian platform and marks the centre of the piazza. I designed it to be built in chrome steel and to mimic the shape of a night lamp - its shade is constructed from micro-perforated sheets. The pedestrian platforms form a pavement made up of basalt slabs in different sizes. These are broken up at intervals by thinner bands of travertine, which were intended to embellish the surface with a contrast of colours. The natural green was designed to resemble lime trees, but the shady and strongly design-led character of this urban space is given by long chrome steel "snakes".
The lights that come on at night are positioned around this ring, which also acts as a brace for various climbing plants that will evoke the effect of a Galerie de Verdure. It is a piazza and a garden, both natural and artificial. At night, the structure turns into a silver band that marks out a new area of the town, emphasised by the single tall design feature. Meanwhile, the evergreen effect of the arbour is provided by helix ivy and wisteria. Cherubino Gambardella
Piazza Vittorio Veneto, Montesarchio, Benevento
Architects: Cherubino Gambardella, Simona Ottieri
Design Team: Mario Russo
Client: Comune di Montesarchio
Total area: 1,000 mq
Cost: € 100,000
Timescale: 2004 - 2008 (design); 2009 (construction)
