Sensitive patterns

Stefano Boeri, former Arsenal requalification in La Maddalena

Abstract

The Archipelago of the La Maddalena is without doubt one of the most stunning places in Italy. Here, on the Island of the La Maddalena itself, Stefano Boeri’s studio has created, in view of the G8 which has since then moved to Aquila, an ambitious project aimed at redefining and rescuing the ex-Military Arsenal there. The work is made up of new buildings and conversions. There is the conference centre, the nautical centre and prestigious school (situated in the area covered by the granite arcades that used to house the military car park), the sports centre (obtained in part from under the arches themselves, partly in the old magazines and storehouses), the hotel and the tourist harbour. The whole rests upon an area of 155,000 square metres, and has nowadays become one of the main nautical complexes in the Mediterranean. In other words, a real ‘city within a city’, as underlined by the planning team, worked on by a good 1,600 people, workmen, technicians and planners.