Restoring and Revitalizing a Historic Park

The Walls and Fortresses’ Park (Parco delle Mura e dei Forti) represents the historical defence line that runs seamlessly around the city of Verona, a place of deep and precious monumental value. With a fresh and contemporary look, this design fits harmoniously into the old city center, unveiling the historical framework and providing a new contemplative green space for residents and visitors alike.

The structure is informed by military layout and physical remnants, a matrix that accentuates, protects and enhances the symbolic value of the site and performs three main functions. It:

• Connects the new park to the existing urban fabric through a reinterpretation of the original military framework.
• Protects, opens and highlights the key sightlines and vistas that add interest and value to the area.
• Reduces the scale of the landscape by defining different areas and aspects, improving the usability of the space and protecting the natural rhythms that characterize the appeal of this urban park.

Monumental Path
Anchored to the urban tissue, the Monumental Path strengthens the liaison between the historical fortification and the park. Thanks to the minimal presence of vegetation along the Path, it allows significant vistas over sites of specific interest and beauty, providing areas to contemplate and rest where stone benches are located beneath the shade of small clumps of Ginko biloba.

Urban Park
The Urban Park is the heart of the project, the most lush and vibrant area. As soldiers on a battlefield, the alternating rows of trees articulate the space with a pleasant and playful atmosphere. Special “rooms” framed by a stone paved border are designed as intimate places for contemplation, rest or small outdoor activities. Secondary stepping stone walkways cross the park and link it to the Monumental Path, ensuring the openings of important visuals towards the fortress and a fully accessible public space.

Fortress Bastione Campo Marzo
Military structure and monument, the project plans to partially bring the fortress back to its original profile. The restored silhouette allows a variety of framed spaces and open views, transforming the meadow into an outdoor stage for various events and cultural activities.

Provianda Campus
The Provianda of Santa Marta is an important historic building recently renovated to be part of the new University Campus of Verona city. In order to define respect for the ancient masterpiece, the project draws a large open lawn, monumentally enclosed by a double row of Tilia trees, to ensure a feeling of intimacy and protection. Three squared stone frames articulate the field to describe the historical wells found during excavations and deliver an iconic character to the new public park for students and visitors.

Despite the particular location,  this landscaping project is not only focused on the conservation and philological restoration of artifacts but also involves giving new life and new identity to a place that has always been used for diverse military purposes, from Napolean to American occupation: a place, which over the passage of time has lost much of its definition and original function. The project explores long-term design solutions that have the potential to restructure and re-characterize the area and harness its considerable potential and strong symbolic value.