Masterplan Old Dockyard-Vecchia Darsena
Old Dockyard Area, SavonaThe project to redevelop the old Darsena is to rewrite a new chapter in the history of the relationship between industrial buildings and water. Until 1867 the city of Savona was enclosed between its old medieval walls and the port consisting of the old dock, the old pier of the “casse” and the square built after the filling of the port by the Genoese. Poorly connected, the quickest way to trade was by sea and the economic activities present were mainly related to port activity, in the districts around the old dock. Industrialisation arrived after the unification of Italy and intensified during the 20th century, and in the 1970s the causeway for access to the port was built next to the Italsider factory and Zust-Ambrosetti built a large “autosilo”, which was converted into a public car building at the end of the century.
The plan is part of the Savona City Council’s Programme for the Rehabilitation and Sustainable Development of the Territory (PRUSST) and envisages the demolition of the car park building and the construction of new residential, tourist accommodation, craft and commercial activities, in accordance with the project to restore the old port. The new complex makes it possible to stitch together and rethink the urban fabric in its relationship with the sea. The buildings are arranged to form a sequence of squares, pedestrian spaces and green areas, the first enclosed by the new buildings is divided into two areas (“upper square” and “lower square”), the second allows the reconnection as a hinge with the existing buildings facing the dock. The two buildings that enclose the courtyard are the same height as the surrounding ones; the tower building facing the sea faces the ‘skyscraper’ at the end of Via Paleocapa, framing the marina and the Priamar fortress in the background like a new ‘door’ from the sea.
