CEM Il Maggiore Theatre, Verbania

The project for the New City Theatre of Verbania develops an architectural complex with a contemporary, sculptural and highly expressive character, capable of containing a large hall with five hundred seats, a small hall with two hundred seats, a large entrance and distribution foyer, service and support functions, dressing rooms, offices, rehearsal rooms, bar, restaurant and a panoramic terrace for shows overlooking the lake.

The building is located along the coast of Lake Maggiore at the mouth of the San Bernardino river near the historic Villa Maioni, home to the Civic Library, in a panoramic position, with a view of the surrounding landscape, redefining a new configuration of the area in relation to the presence of the lake, the beach and the Villa.

The project includes the external arrangement works of the area immediately adjacent to the new theatre building that allow the intervention to be extended to the surrounding context and also to create an open-air performance space.

The external steps allow for wide panoramic visibility of the lake in all directions, a better connection with the beach, with tourist activities, bathing.

This area will support the organization of outdoor events and demonstrations in the presence of a large number of spectators, also partly located inside the building.

The new building is located in front of the lake, with a panoramic view, with a view towards the surrounding landscape and with continuity between inside and outside. In consideration of the lake view, the foyer roof is defined by a slight staircase intended as a panoramic terrace where it is possible to go out and appreciate the surrounding panorama.

The whole constitutes a contemporary cultural center and connected to the external green arrangement and to the landscape of the place where the building represents the catalyst element of a redevelopment of an area much larger than that strictly connected to the construction of the Theater, urban and landscape redevelopment at the same time.

MATERIALS AND COMPONENTS

The main materials used, in addition to reinforced concrete, are stone, wood, rubber and zinc. The type of materials used responds to bioclimatic criteria and, consequently, satisfies fundamental requirements such as local availability, non-harmfulness and that they have not been made polluting by structural transformations, distorting their chemical composition.

Furthermore, in each phase of construction of the work, they will constantly maintain their bioecological nature and their character of recyclability and environmental sustainability.

THE SOLUTION

For the external arrangement, naturalistic engineering solutions were preferred with the use of fascinates and geotextiles to contain the sloping terrain, integrated with plantings of native species, while for the construction of the steps and to contain the differences in level, wire mesh gabions filled with local stone pebbles were used. Above the gabions,

a serizzo slab, sawn surface, was fixed with a mechanical lock, to allow users to sit.

The connections between the differences in level are solved with steps in granite blocks (which also incorporate a step lighting).