The winners of the Parco Solar South Competition to design Vertical Villages for ‘European Snowbirds’ is a team that includes OFF architecture, PR Architect (Philippe Rizzotti) and Samuel Nageottech. The plan sheds light on creating abode for snowbirds within viaducts in Calabre. The plan aims to construct a ‘solar highway’ by re-using sections of the Salerno-Reggio Calabria highway.
A look at the project in detail clarifies that it serves well the motive of exploring the possibilities of enhancing the value of the area. Obviously, feasibility is one of the main requirements. The team understood well the potential of the site as well as the basic qualities of the viaducts. It was necessary to understand all of these to formulate a plan that gels well with their basic nature. Since the bridge was built to deal with the heavy traffic flow, the load is higher than normal. Plus the lanes are very well connected because they were being used as roads.
The aim of the structure, which can be called a ‘pile & deck structure’, is to utilize minimum possible materials and go as far as possible. The Tyrrhenian Sea is visible from the site, thus giving it a significant quality. Also presence of Etna, an active volcano, indicates a strong geothermic potential. An additional feature is the presence of ‘Bergamots’. Calabre is the source of almost 96 per cent of world’s Bergamots production. According to the designers, the viaducts’ morphology inspired them to plan ‘vertical villages’.
