Savelli Public Gardens

Landscape Architecture: Enrica Dall'Ara and Matteo Zamagni
Design date: 2008
Location: Cesena, Italy

This project is for the regeneration of Savelli public gardens, located just outside the walls of Cesena in Italy. Its aim is to bring coherence and unity to the urban space on a functional as well as a landscape/perceptive level, and to highlight its existing historical and contextual features: its line of walls, the continuity and sense of open space given by walking along them, the site’s special strategic location and its ease of access.
The general design of the proposal clarifies and reinforces the presence of two main sections with complementary uses, which can be identified by their different surface types. The first is covered with grass and features a number of concrete paths.
This is the innermost section of the gardens, and defines a versatile space in which it will be possible to carry out the typical activities of a public park and to put on open air shows and events. The stage is designed as an architectural element which is contextualised by its relationship to the walls but remains non-invasive.
The second section of the garden is an area paved with stone, which provides continuity with the pedestrian and cycle path. This area, while also conceived as a recreational space, has a more urban character: it is a sort of garden/square in which stone paths of varying width alternate with strips of grass. This design improves accessibility and increases visual perception between the cycle lane and the inner part of the gardens, but it also constitutes an area of transition, where its role as an urban square co-exists with its function as a public park. This alternation also helps to make the surface more permeable.