THE RENAISSANCE OF VERNAZZA PROJECT
Piazza Marconi in Vernazza reborn thanks to teamwork: “The piazza that love (re)built!”
A revitalized Piazza Marconi was officially inaugurated on May 25, 2015. The Renaissance of Vernazza Project is a symbol of the extraordinary cooperation and support Vernazza has received from institutions and people all over the world following the October 25, 2011 disaster. Thank you Save Vernazza supporters for joining us to make this dream a reality: Together we are making a difference!
The Renaissance of Vernazza Project designed by architects Lord Richard Rogers and Ernesto Bartolini restores Vernazza’s public spaces with new stone paving, landscape design, street furniture and energy efficient lighting to increase safety, simplicity and beauty for residents and visitors.
Richard Rogers generously donated the Preliminary Project for the restoration of the public spaces in Vernazza, from the Fontanavecchia zone through Via Roma and to Piazza Marconi, to the town of Vernazza, a place he and his family have frequently called home over the past 50 years. Rogers played an active role in the design and build phases of the revitalized Piazza Marconi project. Rogers is a winner of the Pritzker Prize (the Nobel of architecture) and designer of London’s Lloyd’s Building and Millennium Dome and Paris’s Centre Pompidou with Renzo Piano.
A sincere thank you for their generous support to:
- Architect Richard Rogers
- Architect Renzo Piano
- Architects Ernesto Bartolini and Roberto Castellani
- Carispezia Bank
- ACRI (Associazione di Fondazioni e di Casse di Risparmio Spa), and
- Fondazione Carispezia
- L’Associazione “PER VERNAZZA FUTURA ONLUS”
- Save Vernazza supporters
Details of the Renaissance of Vernazza projects include:
- Paving: Local sandstone will pave Vernazza like a fluid stone “sculpture”, connecting the principal areas of the village in an exceptional, continuous pattern. The project makes vital corrections to the drainage system to keep Vernazza safe during heavy rains.
- Landscape Design: New trees improve the public spaces’ landscape and environment.
- Street furniture: Durable, simple fixed and mobile benches encourage social interaction.
- Lighting: Energy-efficient LED lighting (“UFO” designed by Renzo Piano) exalt the beauty of Vernazza’s colors.
The entire restoration project for Vernazza’s public spaces is subdivided into phases and lots, with Piazza Marconi representing Phase 1, Lot A. Save Vernazza is grateful to the Town of Vernazza, under the leadership of Mayor Vincenzo Resasco, for making this project a reality.
After years of planning, work began to restore Piazza Marconi in October 2014. A revitalized Piazza Marconi was officially inaugurated on May 25, 2015.
In January 2014, Save Vernazza donated the Executive Project of Phase 1, Lot B of the Project to rebuild Fontanavecchia, the area of Vernazza most affected by the flood of 2011.
Over the last 10 years, Ruth Manfredi, President of Save Vernazza, and Architect Roberto Castellani have met with the Town of Vernazza to discuss how to proceed with this important restoration project from Fontanavecchia through via Roma to complete the rebirth of Vernazza.
In December 2017, the Town of Vernazza finally decided to move forward with updating the project. We continue to remain hopeful for the project’s completion.
