As with every great devastation, with them come the chances to reinvent one’s self. Just as the first flowers of spring inspire life in all the white that winter brings – so a new and good building can bring back hope after the tragedy disasters create. Among those is the Auditorium del Parco or the Auditorium of the Park by Renzo Piano Building Workshop in the Italian medieval city of L’Aquila.
In April of 2009, the city was ravaged by an earthquake that caused loss of lives and affected thousands of structures. Sadly, the Coventry University was not left out as one of the buildings that was most endangered: Castello Spagnolo Concert Hall is one of the important venues of concerts in the city. In many aspects, the Auditorium of the Park is a try to preserve L’Aquila musical heritage – as well as utilizing complex technology of earthquake-proof structure, the first step towards the town’s recovery.
The flat-pack auditorium was constructed using 800, 000 nails, 100 000 screws and 10 000 brackets. The building is made out of whole wood and all parts of the building were constructed off the site then transported and erected at the site.
As to the matter of composition, the building was made up of three pure volumes – the three-cubes complex – 238-seat concert hall and the foyer and dressing rooms – the three blocks placed seemingly haphazard angles – more like three dice on a skewed plane. The three cubes are clean, very different from the very rich and much more detailed gothic architecture that is seen in L’Aquila.
These cubes have as the main material the wood which has many qualities – unassuming, natural and long-lasting . As mentioned above, Renzo Piano selected wood for its abilities to work within the acoustics of the building’s program, but also for its earthquake resistance as well as for it proclivity to set against the stone of L’Aquila’s castles.
Furthermore wood if it is harvested in a renewable basis is more harmonious natural product for construction. For the record, 90 trees were grown adjacent to the site where timber was utilized for the construction and creation of the structure.
To drive this wood narrative even further, not any kind of wood was used in this project, it was reclaimed wood. Rather it is larch a noble local wood from Val di Fiemme Trentino used by the 17th century master lute-makers which forms the primary character of the materiality of the Auditorium of the Park. Which such a fine detail, used in conjunction with other aspects of smart design, that the auditorium can be considered as a scaled up Stradivarius of sorts.
The Public Foyer
To get to the auditorium as a visitor, you are lead through the public foyer located in the first volume that faces the town side. The first volume is an 11-metre cube in which the height is 10.9 meters.
This cube houses ticket facility area, snack and beverages, furniture for cloaks, and washing facilities. On the first level in the building it is also possible to identify technical stairs which include supply of the air conditioning as well as power systems.
From here leads an elevated walkaway which rises approximately 1 meter above ground, from which one enters the auditorium. This covered link between the auditorium and public lobby is transparent on the north aspect and shaded by opaque surfaces on the south aspect.
The Auditorium
The central volume seems to be planted into the ground on one of its edges. This illusion of instability is not an aesthetic gesture only because it performs a function of giving meaning to the play. And one of the sloped sides, as seen in the architect’s initial drawing above is inclined at the same gradient as one of the tiers of the audience.
It forms part of a toppled cube with side of 18.5 meters in volume of the auditorium. In section, one the of the suspended edges is 18.5 meters above ground level while the other is 9.2 meters high.
The auditorium has approximate seating for 238 guests. The audience can either sit before the stage or after the stage depending on the design of the entire setup. As suggested by the name it has two seating areas for guests, and the area closer to the stage can be used for up to 190 guests, while the area located at the back of the stage can take only 48 guests. The seats are provided in a manner that is most effective for viewing and listening by the occupants of the hall.
It can accommodate approximately forty musicians on instrumental functions during performance concerts. The following changes have therefore been made to improve listening: Two sixty-four inch wooden panels have been fixed at both sides of the stage to throw sound back to the orchestra. The wooden walls of the auditorium are acoustically treated wooden panels directed towards the audience.
The Dressing Rooms
At the opposite end of the auditorium to the castle, is situated a functional element: the service volume which houses the musicians’ dressing rooms. Another bridge connecting the public balcony with the auditorium also links dressing volumes with performance volume. It also serves as storage spaces for large musical instruments like harps and grand pianos included among the provisions of this connection.
The musicians service volume includes a ground floor lounge, where performers can rest and interact with other musicians. House manager place and the control room are also situated here. The conveniences for the conductor and the lead artists are in the first tier and the of the musicians are provided in the second tier.
Surface Treatment
25 cm long by 6 cm thick larch tiles were utilized for the unified surface finish. Chemically all the tiles were prepared for aging as well there was oxidation on wood and the tiles were then subjected to oxidation for uniform aging. And as the strips were painted in different color in random manner – the form acquires playful note.
To free themselves as strongly from what would have been an entirely banal outside skin of walls – spontaneous ‘bumps’ to some of the planes of the cubes were produced. It perhaps made possible to fix or install fully a glazed staircase a fire escape and air-conditioning ducts in the said perforations.
The Public Piazza
The architecture is articulated on the site to act as a backdrop for a multi-purpose public piazza. The current design of the auditorium shows that during the summer the performance of the building’s activities can extend outside to an area that can be used as a form of outdoor breakout area.
Therefore, the catering service can use this area for a snacking function for large group of people. Metal fittings are added to the largest toppling cube, so the screen can be connected, for instance, for cinema at night. Besides, given that the piazza accommodate up to 500 people it is equally ideal for hosting out door music concerts.
Project Information
Architect: Renzo Piano Building Workshop
Location: L’Aquila, Italy
Client: Provincia Autonoma di Trento
Architect-of-Record: Atelier Traldi
Design Team: P. Colonna, C. Colson, Y. Kyrkos
Structural & MEP: Favero & Milan
Landscape: Franco Giorgetta
Acoustics: Müller BBM
Other Consultants: GAE Engineering (Fire), New Engineering (Security), I.T.E.A. (Site Supervision)
Area: 2 500 sqm
Status: Completed, 2012
Photographs: Marco Caselli Nirmal, Renzo Piano Building Workshop
