Piazza Verdi
Bernard Huet
Trieste
In historic cities by the sea, especially when the coast is held within limits by hills and mountains, homogenous slices of urban expansion come across one another, creating areas of organic geometry. This is the case in Trieste with its network of open spaces comprising the present Piazza Verdi, Piazza Gianni Bartoli, del Teatro Street, and Piazza della Borsa crowding around the Piazza Unità d'Italia. An ensemble design was necessary and a close, detailed study was carried out and resolved by Bernard Huet and associate architects, Ceschia and Mentill.
In continuity with a seaside square, slabs of flamed Colombino and bush-hammered Aurisina 8cm thick are used. The bedding is in 5cm of sand on light structural concrete that is another 20cm deep, and finally aggregate and quarry chippings add a little less than 30 cm in depth.
Piazza Verdi is constructed as a sort of chessboard, whose principal lines are in Aurisina, with a background in engraved Colombino laid out to overlap along the center-line. The central layout of the square is emphasized with triple inlays in Aurisina at the edges. To the sides, particularly on Via del Teatro, streets open up in flamed Arenaria. Arriving at Piazza della Borsa, the enclosure of the ground surface takes on different significance, taking its geometric origin from the center of the monumental presence in front of the Borsa, aligning along the cardinal axes. Close to the southeast side of the public space, a brief section of almost trapezoid geometry is inserted, housing alternately benches and islands of trees with cast-iron surrounds.
Painstaking work excavating the Aurisina slabs created specific stonework dedicated to the collection of floodwater, with water traps at the edges. Their positioning inside the square, in a straight line, in the direction of the streets, considerably helps the orientation and reading of the space.
In continuity with a seaside square, slabs of flamed Colombino and bush-hammered Aurisina 8cm thick are used. The bedding is in 5cm of sand on light structural concrete that is another 20cm deep, and finally aggregate and quarry chippings add a little less than 30 cm in depth.
Piazza Verdi is constructed as a sort of chessboard, whose principal lines are in Aurisina, with a background in engraved Colombino laid out to overlap along the center-line. The central layout of the square is emphasized with triple inlays in Aurisina at the edges. To the sides, particularly on Via del Teatro, streets open up in flamed Arenaria. Arriving at Piazza della Borsa, the enclosure of the ground surface takes on different significance, taking its geometric origin from the center of the monumental presence in front of the Borsa, aligning along the cardinal axes. Close to the southeast side of the public space, a brief section of almost trapezoid geometry is inserted, housing alternately benches and islands of trees with cast-iron surrounds.
Painstaking work excavating the Aurisina slabs created specific stonework dedicated to the collection of floodwater, with water traps at the edges. Their positioning inside the square, in a straight line, in the direction of the streets, considerably helps the orientation and reading of the space.
