In the center of Lugo, Ravenna, there is the Pavaglione: an 18th-century emporium historically used for the silk trade, located along the Via Emilia urban system. The main space of this bulding is the large porticoed court, once housing the market and which has changed its function numerous times, losing its identity. An image of Pavaglione, by the Italian photographer Olivo Barbieri in 1982, is included in the iconic book Viaggio in Italia, edited by Luigi Ghirri and manifesto of the new Italian landscape school. Inspired by the intense history of the place and by dreamlike imaginaries by Italian photographers, Italian studios stARTT and P’ARC have designed the urban renewal of the square. The project won the S-Arch Award 2018, an international sustainability competition dedicated to completed projects, in the Urban Design category.

As in Atlante, another important photographic work by Ghirri, the studio carefully reads the signs present in the (micro) landscape of the square, which overlapped over time. The path that recalls the cardo of Roman centuriation divides the space into two parts: a larger, open and flexible, designed to host events and large cultural events, and a smaller, intimate and tree-lined, dedicated to everyday life.

The project keeps the original cobblestone in the perimeter part and has a continuous bituminous mantle in the central one. It consists of the application of new and measured signs on the square: long Corten bands mark the historical traces, curved concrete seatings corrugate the ground and generate meeting spaces, a constellation of monolithic chairs enliven the margins of the wider portion of the court, some poles house lights at different heights and sizes, creating other ephemeral and surreal signs at night. Each piece of furniture is unique, to create a unique relationship with the place and its imaginary. A contemporary intervention frees the public space from the imprisonment of its noble past and tells the ordinary stories of a piece of Italy.