Green Infrastructures
2015 Tramway Line 2 Historical Centre Variant to Project (Construction Lot 1) Piazza Unità Italiana
Landscape draft and final project for the Historical Centre Variant to Project (Construction Lot 1) Piazza Unità Italiana
WHERE
Municipality of Florence – Province of Florence- Tuscany Region – Italy
WHEN
2015
WHO
Clients / GLF Grandi Lavori Fincosit S.p.A. –Rome
Project Manager/ Ing. Michele Priore (Manager Office Tramway, High-Speed Trains and Motorways Municipality of Florence) and service staff
Designers/ Prof. Arch. Lorenzo Vallerini, in collaboration with Arch.tti Lorenzo Nofroni, Elisa Lucattini and Stefania Nannelli
WHAT
The design of the square, which is however external to the interventions related to the construction of the tramway as foreseen in the Draft Project “Variant to Project for the Tram Track on Via Valfonda”, has tried to take the opportunity of the construction of the tramway to redevelop the entire area of the terminus as a gateway to the Historic Centre starting from the historical configuration that the Square had in the context of Santa Maria Novella.
The design idea is based on a simple criterion: to maintain as much as possible a continuity of use of different spaces and functions through constant proportions that allow easy flows of movement without interruptions.
The side of Piazza Unità Italiana encompasses the central area attached to the monument and the long peninsula today in continuity with the sidewalk of Via Panzani in a single large pedestrian area characterized by the recovered and restored stone, while the carriageway area connects again with the central line coming from Via Panzani and directed towards the main railway station through a coloured asphalt pavement.
The central pedestrian area and the side sections of the carriageway are raised by 20 cm. compared to the surrounding situation and include at the same height the platform for the Bus Stop, while the edges are with stone sidewalks that turn to connect with buildings. The side of Via degli Anelli adjacent of the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella widens to encompass the Tramway Stop and the road. The on-board parking areas are maintained, while pedestrian traffic is ensured by pedestrian crossings that maintain the current main flow.
For the furnishings, the weaving of the pavement and the monument with four seats laid on two of the four sides of the pedestrian area in the center of the square are maintained, while the lighting system complements the existing one with four artistic chandeliers of the type in use in Florence and four spotlights for the illumination of the monument.
