Andrea Milani: Tourist port, Rosignano Solvay (LI)

The abandonment of any attempt at contemporaneity was always the main reason for concern in a place like Rosignano Savoy, which has had a problematic and conflicted - if perhaps painfully coherent - relationship with the contemporary world. This is not a matter of transplanting examples created elsewhere in the world as much as building a theoretical system that draws upon the heritage of Italy's architectural culture and succeeds in developing an appropriate synthesis of the values of modernity. The first building allowed was the office block, the most distinctive structure of the whole project. It was prompted by a desire to complete the route along the quays with a set of buildings representing the end of a hypothetical stroll along the dockside. It is a destination, a collection point, somewhere to take a break, both for visitors and tourists, but in particular for the inhabitants of Rosignano. It is an extrovert, symbolic element, a tower/piazza, where the large concrete gate, an alternative machine à voir, has become a public tool for reading and the enjoyment of the view of the whole harbour complex. At each level of the internal staircase, it is possible to step out onto a terrace which projects you out towards the sea and the port. The large gate is a symbol and marker of the new harbour: its material structure is reinforced by the building/bridge of the offices. This has been raised off the ground by three and a half metres so that its underside protects the piazza; one side enters the tower, the other connects with a slender black column. The almost ethereal lightness of the structure is underlined by the building techniques used here: these involved a modular steel frame around large windowpanes, and a casing on the gate facade of a skin of brickwork sheets rotated progressively around their axes. This accentuates the effect the block has of appearing to dematerialise during the day, while at night it transforms the building into a lantern and signal. Ownership of the tower design was shared and supported by a range of bodies; everyone involved agreed that the same design methodology could be applied to the approximately 1,200m2 of the surrounding area (the visitor accommodation, commercial offices, yacht club, mini market and a bank).

Marina Cala de' Medici tourist port (office block, port facilities: bar, restaurant, shops, car parks, visitor accommodation, lavatories, green promenade), Rosignano Solvay, Livorno
Architect: Andrea Milani
Design team: Tiziana Capitani, Annunziata De Comite, Francesco Terzuoli, Sara Anselmi and Andrea Mezzedimi
Office block
Structural design: A.I.C.E. Consulting srl, Pisa
Mechanical systems design: Luca Sani (engineer), Florence
Electrical systems design: Gianmario Magnifico (engineer)
Surrounding area
Structural design: AICE Consulting srl, Leonardo Paolini (engineer)
Mechanical systems design: Luca Sani (engineer), Florence
Electrical systems design: Gianmario Magnifico (engineer)
Design phase: 2002
Construction phase: April 2004 – August 2007

Andrea Milani: Tourist port, Rosignano Solvay (LI)

A tower/piazza with a large concrete gate is a public tool for reading and the enjoyment of the harbour complex. Text Andrea Milani. Photo Paola De Pietri

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