Lugo's Pavaglione Square Wins S-Arch Award 2018, Honoring Luigi Ghirri

The international S-Arch Award 2018 in the Urban Design category has been won by the project for the new Piazza del Pavaglione in Lugo di Romagna (Ravenna), conceived as a tribute to photographer Luigi Ghirri. The winning team, led by stARTT studio (Simone Capra, Claudio Castaldo, Dario Scaravelli) with P’ARC (Enrica Dall’Ara, Matteo Zamagni, Sara Angelini) and botanist Paolo Rosetti, won a two-phase competition organized by the Municipality of Lugo and the Union of Municipalities of Bassa Romagna in November 2012. Completed in July 2017, the intervention reimagines a large urban void protected by an 18th-century quadriportico, on the site of the ancient Roman forum and medieval fairground. The 6,200-square-meter pavement is incised like graffiti to reveal historical stratifications, with a tree-lined relaxation area separated along the Roman centuriation cardo, monolithic seating constellations, and nighttime luminous traces referencing Ghirri's work. The S-Arch Award 2018, now in its fifth edition, was presented in Venice during the 2018 Architecture Biennale. The jury included Toyo Ito, the late Will Alsop, and Viviana Muscettola of Zaha Hadid Architects. The Lugo square was the only Italian project shortlisted in its category, beating two Spanish projects (including the Maritime Park in the Canary Islands) and Singapore's Windsor Nature Park. The 2019 International Conference on Architecture & Built Environment will take place in Havana, Cuba, from March 5 to 7.