UNFORMED DESIGN's proposal, "Ground of Descent," is structured around three interrelated layers that reconnect the city with the void, while maintaining its spatial identity. Exhibition spaces, educational facilities, artists' studios, and public areas are organized as a series of volumes within the site, framing the exposed earth and vegetation and creating an immersive spatial experience defined by depth and atmosphere.
The first layer introduces a sequence of descending urban gestures that link the surrounding urban fabric to the site. A second access point from Boulevard San Stefano reinforces this connection, transforming the void into an active part of the city's daily life. At the lower level, the cultural program is fully integrated within the limits of the excavation.
Rendering. "Ground of Descent" by UNFORMED DESIGN.
Only a portion of the void is occupied by architecture. The remaining area becomes a lower-level park, offering an intimate landscape for public gatherings, events, and exhibitions. Above ground level, a compact cubic volume emerges as the project's only visible structure, acting as a subtle urban landmark while maintaining the dominance of the horizontal cityscape.
The project is constructed using reinforced concrete retaining systems integrated with rammed-earth facades, expressing a layered tectonic language that reflects the site's geological character and transforming an abandoned urban space into a civic landscape where memory, nature, and contemporary culture converge.
