MIRC 2022 | Guastalla , Guastalla / Italien

 

The Mantova Campus of Politecnico di Milano and the Municipality of Guastalla, with the patronage of Ordine degli Architetti di Reggio Emilia, Osservatorio del Paesaggio Bassa Reggiana, UNESCO MAB Po Grande and Unione Bassa Reggiana, are launching an International Competition of Ideas in the field of architectural and landscape design, for the identity regeneration of the ancient garden of Guastalla Ducal Palace. 

 

The competition is open to young students and recent graduates from national and international schools of Architecture, Design, Engineering, Landscape and Urban Planning.   

 

The initiative is aimed at enhancing the symbolic and representative role of the garden area enclosed in the compact urban fabric, through reconfiguration projects of the large green space, which will have to take into account the historical and architectural pre-existences and their relations with the city, the stratification of the built environment and the coherence between the identity of the place and the human activities that it will host. 

 

The territory of the Municipality of Guastalla is typically a lowland place, with large agricultural and naturalistic areas. The Po River flows 1 kilometre from the town and the main embankment separates the historic centre from the wide floodplain where the signs of the ancient riverbed are still visible.  

Guastalla preserves archaeological traces from the Etruscan and Roman periods. It was a Lombard garrison for the military control of the Po, hence the origin of the toponym wardistall “guard post”, and a strategic point for crossing the river.  

 

The Gonzaga dynasty, lords of Mantua, ruled these territories for many years, leaving indelible marks on the landscape and the shape of the city. Palaces, churches and reclamation works still tell the story of one of the most important families of the 16th century in Italy. During the Gonzaga era, the city was surrounded by an imposing star-shaped fortified curtain wall, which grew to seven bastions.  

 

 The Ducal Palace and its garden constitute the core around which the urban shape of Guastalla was designed from the 16th century onwards. The building is an austere parallelepiped with a central quadrangular tower that connects to the space behind it used as a hortus conclusus: a place of delight for the lord and his court, hidden from outside view and accessible only from the palace. 

 

Almost all historical memory of the palace garden has been lost. Today it is a bare lawn, bordered on two sides by the remains of the surrounding wall and on the third by the facade of the Ducal Palace. 

 

The Ducal Palace is now a museum and exhibition centre, displaying traditional and contemporary contents through multimedia systems.  The garden is in continuity with the interior spaces of the palace: it is a place of passage to and from the city centre, through the garden and the palace to the main sixteenth-century square.

 

Participants are asked to redesign the large space through a sensitive design that is aware of the historical value of the place. The projects may involve limited alterations to the morphology of the land and evaluate the construction of new volumes, in accordance with the limits established by the competition; and propose new functions to be hosted inside or outside the building. 

 

The design actions will aim to regenerate the lost identity of the ancient garden and square complex, through tactical enhancement of the public space, based on a clear design strategy and in continuity with the characteristics and development of the historic city. 

 

Competition is open to students and recently graduated under 35 (born after April 22nd 1987) coming from or enrolled in a Bachelor’s, Master’s or Combined Bachelor’s degree course at Italian or international Schools of ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN, ENGINEERING, LANDSCAPE, URBAN PLANNING. 

 

Participation may be individual or in groups; each working group may consist of a maximum of 3 participants. 

 

*recently graduate students must have graduated after April 22nd 2019

 

Presentation of the Competition: April 22, 2022

End of Early Registration: May 20, 2022

End of Regular Registration: June 24, 2022

End of Late Registration: July 22, 2022

Work Delivery Deadline: August 26, 2022

Conclusions and Awards: September 30, 2022

 

1st Prize: 4000 €

2nd Prize: 2000 €

3rd Prize: 1000 €

Honorable Mentions: 2x500 €

 

CERTIFICATES: 

MIRC will award a certificate of participation to each competitor. The winners will receive a certificate showing their position in the ranking.

 

PUBLICATIONS:

Winning projects will be published and divulged through exhibition and publishing initiatives promoted by the Mantua Campus of the Politecnico di Milano, the Municipality of Guastalla and the sponsoring bodies.

 

- João Nunes Ferreira, Lisbon (PT)

- Jean-Philippe Garric, Paris (FR)

- Anna Lambertini, Florence (IT)

- Andrea Rinaldi, Ferrara (IT)

- Simone Sfriso, Venice (IT)