International competition.

Project data

  • Status
    Competition
  • Year
    2005
  • Tipology
    Botanical garden
  • Location
    Padua, Italy
  • Client
    Università degli Studi of Padua
  • Budget
    10 million € (adjusted to 2013)
  • Total Area/Surface/Volume
    14.000 sq m
  • Awards
    International competition. Second place

Description

A series of very new greenhouses positioned around a mirror of water is “added” onto the existing 16th-century botanical garden.

It is Bellini himself who makes the claim of autonomy for his proposal.
“From this perspective the new constructions, placed in the ‘Tre Pini’ area while maintaining their own specific autonomy, integrate themselves (and operate) as a safeguard to the area’s historical part by providing the services and educational spaces necessary for the new cultural project and putting it in line with analogous European experiences”.

The courageous choice of this selfreferential logic with regard to theexisting cityscape underlines the desire to create “a new world”, in short “a Wonder”, a bit like the nearby Prato delle Valle and the 16th-century Botanical Garden did in their time.

(Ermanno Ranzani)

Credits

Design Team
Mario Bellini, Giovanna Bonfanti, Maurizio Di Lauro

Collaborators
Alessandro Zufferli, Luca Bosetti, Geovanna Maschio, Edy Gaffulli

Consultants
Manens Intertecnica S.r.l. , Land S.r.l. , ICIS srl. Ing. Luciano Luciani , Arch. Maurizio Momo