The new maritime station in Syracuse, Sicily was conceived not just as a multipurpose building linked to shipping, but as a project of urban public architecture. A complex architecture whose features allow it to play the symbolic role of an urban icon, a new centrality for the waterfront redevelopment of Syracuse’s Great Harbor. Its function as hinge between the Small and Great Harbors, as a node for the development of the city’s Redevelopment Programs, has endowed it with a key strategic role for a long time to come.
The new station was designed as a multi-level soil system, a true building-itinerary which, in direct contact with the dock, shifts this public space onto spacious Piazza Belvedere, raised over the harbor and the sea and offering the traveler a variety of services, a zero quota in close contact with the dock, while its roof, laid out in a series of inclined planes, is transformed into a large public square thronged throughout the day in all seasons.
Credits | design architects: T-Studio | urban planning: R.Pavia