Reconstruction of the former Chiesa di San Giuseppe Amatrice

The architectural image of the new cultural complex proposes an analogical rewriting of the former church ‘as it was’; a design choice aimed at critically reinterpreting the construction methods, compositional rhythms, architectural figures and details of the pre-existing building. The outline and layout of the façade are re-proposed in such a way as to evoke the memory of the old building, but at the same time mark the inevitable diffence, given the almost total destruction of the building. The new architectural figure, through its material-formal characteristics, intends to restore an abstract, almost archetypal image of the original building which had already, prior to the earthquake, undergone changes in form and function, and of which it would therefore be impossible to reconstruct an image that is not, in fact, unprecedented.
The choice of materials for the external façades – exposed concrete for the podium, lime plaster for the upper floors – responds to the construction choices on which the building is based, i.e. a reinforced concrete structure for the ground floor and glulam for the first and second floors and the roof.