Assembling Thresholds

Abstract

For the location of my design I considered the old city wall/retaining wall of Genoa. This old defense/retaining wall is in itself a colossal architectural structure. It forms an enormous boundary as it was made to defend and close off the city. Now the city has outgrown its walls and does not need them for defence anymore. Devoid of its original purpose the wall is now a mostly underused structure. While in horizontal direction it functions as a road the vertical direction has barely been touch and just forms a barrier now. It is in this place the old city, fast traffic(Sopraelevata) and the big works of the port lie very close together yet there is no relationship between them. The height difference of the wall and the elevation of the Sopraelevata function as borders in a city where height differences and elevations usually are exploited to the fullest. The port itself functions also as a border, but of a different kind, because of customs the port needs an administrative border. However, they maintain this border throughout the whole port but exceptions can be seen, the Fiera for instance, an exposition and event area does not reside within these borders. Through a series of interventions along the wall I strive to redefine the relationship between the orography, the port and the old city. The city wall will start acting as a plinth, •mediating between the different conflicting programs. •While at the same time qualifying or revitalizing the bufferzone in between and •open up the borders to make the spaces operational. Because of the different grain size of the urban fabric in the old city and the port there are no straight connection possible between the void spaces in these spatial systems. In the residual space between the port and the city the points of entry from these different systems are connected. This causes a shift in the route. Because of these not immediately apparent connections this in-between zone becomes a destination on its own. Next to connecting port and city these intervention create an area meant to be explored and discovered. While the interventions on their own can be used to create a fast route to the fiera for instance, the interventions can also be experienced in sequence offering a parallel route along the wall instead of only lateral movements. The interventions themselves fulfil different functions •some are clearly defined, like a bus stop or an extension of a museum •others host a more informal program open to the interpretation of the user. These interventions consist of excavations and additions, where the excavations have a more rigorous space creating character the additions are more precise and really pinpoint locations to connect to the local urban conditions.