Via San Nicolò
Comune di Trieste Ufficio progettazione
Trieste
Via San Nicolò is today a pedestrianized street joined to a system of squares and monumental public spaces in the center of Trieste, running parallel to Corso Italia, between Via Dante and the sea. The same pavement used in these squares, 8cm-thick flamed Colombino and bush-hammered Aurisina, is extended along the Via San Nicolò.
Placement of the stone slabs follows a clear, bi-chromatic, geometric pattern, which joins the two background constructions to provide a dark façade of stonework running orthogonally into the distance. The dimensions clearly prevailing in the street, and the more or less constant and rigid width, encourage the designers to slow the visual appreciation of the space with geometric insertions continuously repeated in a regular rhythm. These, bordered by a façade in Aurisina, are distinctive, in that their centers contain other geometric forms, either lines or shapes of Arenaria. The cut of the slabs and the stonework fill of darker Arenaria mark the center of the design.
The same engraved Aurisina is used in the two borders running along the entire street, with carved grooves providing a compluvium for collecting rainwater.
The geometric framing appears occasionally to allude to ornamental motives in walls placed at eye-level in the buildings close to the riverside. The typically bi-dimensional paving is bestowed with a reference to the dimension of height, adding to the temporal dimension linked to the distance of the path traveled by the pedestrians, each according to his own pace, obtaining architectural space.
The points of interest of Via San Nicolò, at the junctions with other pathways, are marked by the same type of stone elements, for the purpose of indicating crossings into accessible streets and especially for the use of the visually impaired.
Placement of the stone slabs follows a clear, bi-chromatic, geometric pattern, which joins the two background constructions to provide a dark façade of stonework running orthogonally into the distance. The dimensions clearly prevailing in the street, and the more or less constant and rigid width, encourage the designers to slow the visual appreciation of the space with geometric insertions continuously repeated in a regular rhythm. These, bordered by a façade in Aurisina, are distinctive, in that their centers contain other geometric forms, either lines or shapes of Arenaria. The cut of the slabs and the stonework fill of darker Arenaria mark the center of the design.
The same engraved Aurisina is used in the two borders running along the entire street, with carved grooves providing a compluvium for collecting rainwater.
The geometric framing appears occasionally to allude to ornamental motives in walls placed at eye-level in the buildings close to the riverside. The typically bi-dimensional paving is bestowed with a reference to the dimension of height, adding to the temporal dimension linked to the distance of the path traveled by the pedestrians, each according to his own pace, obtaining architectural space.
The points of interest of Via San Nicolò, at the junctions with other pathways, are marked by the same type of stone elements, for the purpose of indicating crossings into accessible streets and especially for the use of the visually impaired.
