Architecture and sculpture in Pavia between the two wars

Musei Civici del Castello Visconteo
Viale XI Febbraio n.35, Pavia
April 7th –  May 15th 2022

With the intention of collecting innovative design proposals aimed at the recovery of Pavia’s hydroplane base, in September 2021 TerraViva Competitions launched the architecture competition entitled “Hangar Ticinum”. The ambitious goal of the initiative was to collect high quality projects capable of imagining a new life for this extraordinary 1920s building that has been abandoned and in disuse for decades. Sponsored by the municipality of Pavia, the competition turned out to be a great success both nationally and internationally.

Designed by the famous rationalist architect Giuseppe Pagano – designer of the Bocconi University in Milan, among many other important works – the Idroscalo represents a real hidden gem within the cultural heritage of the city. The unquestionable value of the artifact, the uniqueness of the architectural typology and the panoramic position overlooking the Ticino have made the building a perfect case study for an ideas competition open to students and professionals from all over the world. The jury in charge of the projects’ evaluation, composed by internationally renowned designers and critics, has been carefully selected involving prestigious architectural firms and top institutions: Stefano Boeri Architects, Piuarch, Politecnico di Milano, Untitled Architecture, TSPA, Degli Esposti Architetti, Comune di Pavia, Operastudio.

Participants were asked to present creative proposals focused on the recovery of the structure, currently in critical decay and extreme deterioration. The competition explicitly required full attention to the social and cultural aspects of the project, encouraging competitors to work on a program linked to an everyday use, open particularly to the youngest generations and generally to the entire local community.

Over the course of three months, the competition collected a total of 208 proposals, arousing the interest of architects from all over the world (53 countries involved) and promoting the city of Pavia and its historical heritage on a global scale. The set-up of the exhibition displayed the works of the thirty finalist teams, revealing itself as the ideal opportunity to discover the infinite possibilities of reusing the building. The hope is that this initiative represents the first step along a path that, as part of the “Pavia City of Water” program promoted by the Municipal Administration and financed by the European Union, may over time lead to the long-awaited renovation of the Idroscalo and the regeneration of an area so important to the city.