Total Space for the Fortezza Da Basso

The Fortezza da Basso is one of the most important Medici monuments in Florence and is used for events such as conventions and fairs on its vast surface area of almost 100,000 m2, 55,000 of which are covered, including a complex and varied typology of spaces. The project presented by us recovers and updates two proposals from the Seventies presented in the context of two national design competitions. The project envisages a philological renovation of all the buildings within the Fortezza and the demolition of any incongruous additions, including the last constructions in prefabricated materials, and covers with a light and transparent structure the entire perimeter, thus creating an “internal exhibition area” of exceptional dimensions, while leaving unaltered any precious historical buildings. It is not a project aimed at creating a new architecture within the Fortezza, but in a certain sense it is a “completion” project that integrates and realises the original design with an element which makes it available in its entirety without any incongruous additions. With a total covering the result is a natural/artificial space, ideal from the point of view of exhibitions thanks to the maximum extension obtained and of the possibility of housing a variety of events which may be carried out through the means and modes of furnishing and design.