How to massage a city with a vibrant history of pop culture into a contemporary city of high culture and wellness?
How to communicate within the settings of an idol of Italian culture and the imprint it has had on culture worldwide? How to change a scenery featured in such historical moments as “Amarcord”, “8½”,“I Vitelloni” and “La Città delle donne”.
We have considered the project as an urban filmstrip… a linear sequence of urban frames all intertwined in a boardwalk of interior and exterior activities… the shape of the plan follows Burle Marx’s legendary pattern of Copacabana’s boardwalk but re-interprets it in a tridimensional way… the powerful and recognizable pattern evokes sand ripples and sea waves and has the incredible ability to allow both longitudinal and transversal connections which is exactly what is required in the project: to facilitate the meanderings of passers-by strolling along the boardwalk while at the same time integrating the street connections coming from the city. The whole public concept is covering a large parking facility half a floor underground and therefore permits to view the horizon and sea without having the feeling of climbing a floor above the ground. The concept is meant as a sectional solution to the abundance of sheds and facilities layed out on the beach and blocking the sea-view.
THE BOSCOVICH AREA:
the Boscovich area is the zone where the slow promenade takes place and where people take time to stroll and sit on terraces admiring the sunset. the sequence of programs accompanying the stroll range from the wellness center, some sporadic sport fields, commercial areas and café/restaurants terraces as well as benches on grass fields. the areas culminates on the north side with the wave hotel. the homogeneity of the plan, including in its language the larger functions such as the hotel and the commercial spaces generates an iconography impact that goes beyond the simple Bilbao-like architectural icon and integrates planning and people’s use of public space into one gesture. the effect is one of integration of experiences, from the urban to the local and tactile…
THE FELLINI AREA:
The Fellini area is where 2 great minds meet: the strength of Fellini's drama and the soft curves of Burle Marx landscape heritage… we decided to crystallize that moment by placing the public arena at the very place where the Fellini park and the boardwalk meet… there, ending the perspective from the city through the park will be the soft roof of the arena, protecting the grand hotel from its sound pollution while offering a beautiful foreground to the horizon…
THE KENNEDY AREA:
the Kennedy area is seen as a place of intense activity at the meeting of beach and city life… hotels open straight onto it with flows of people engorging its soft canyon-like open shopping mall. there’s a definite sense of life and commercial activity at play. the idea of an outdoor shopping is revitalized and re-explored by its fusion with the hilly landscape…