The facial image of St. Francis of Assisi’s “emerges” on the ground of Piazza San Francesco, one of Terni mains squares, as part of this year’s Festarch event in Italy.

The festival organized by Abitare design magazine & The Young Architects of Terni, invited West 8 to participate on Festival with a small installation in one of Terni main public spaces. Allocated in front of the Romanesque church named after the Saint the intervention entitle “Le mille pietre” depart from the same original narrative idea generated by San Francesco of sometimes digging on top of surface to find new meaning in life.

The cobblestone surface of the square pavement was removed to generate a striking image of St. Francis of Assisi’s face.  This intervention – carried out by locals – in commemoration of the charismatic Saint evokes sentiment and nostalgia for his way of life and offers a contrast with today’s reality thus linking the aspects of design, history and awareness in public realm.

After the festival, the removed stones will be purge and purified, reallocating them back its original place, enabling that the rostrum remains visible in a soft light way for several months and disappearing throughout time. This intervention is made possible thanks to the Confederation Building School of Terni, in collaboration with the Dutch Embassy in Italy, the Young Architects of Terni and the local authorities.