Regeneration of the Ex Lavatoio and Largo San Giacomo
From urban divide to diffused museum hub: the reconnection project between the historic city and the canal port of Cesenatico.
The project stems from a fracture. The ex Lavatoio building, a heritage-listed historical structure overlooking Largo San Giacomo, had for years separated the consolidated fabric of the historic city from the Leonardesque canal port and the Maritime Museum. A neglected urban backdrop, off-center relative to the main flows, lacking a functional mix, and vulnerable to seasonal flooding. The project, awarded through a European tender to the joint venture comprising Pier Currà Architettura, DodiMoss, and Marco Peroni Ingegneria, transforms this divide into a connecting infrastructure.
The core feature is the reactivation of the ex Lavatoio’s nave as an open workshop for the restoration of traditional vessels. The transparency of the building envelope allows the craftsmanship to be freely observed from the outside: the shipwrights at work become an integral part of the museum itinerary, ensuring vitality and social presence in the area year-round, well beyond the tourist season. Inside, an elevated walkway made of larch slats defines the visitor flows; operable walls crafted from traditional nautical timbers (oak, elm, pine) serve as a vertical xylotheque and as a flexible element for events and exhibitions.
On the exterior, a second skin of perforated and folded Corten steel clads the short facades of the building: the degree of perforation is parametrically modulated to render, like a filigree, the profiles of the historic lug sails. Bioclimatic, identity-driven, and low-maintenance, this choice transforms the ex Lavatoio into a recognizable landmark that engages in a dialogue with the port without imitating it.
In the public space between the building and the canal, a system of sculptural steel installations, La Flotta di Terra (The Land Fleet), recreates the silhouette of the sails, fixed and tangible in contrast to the seasonal ones on the water. These structures also act as markers for an Augmented Reality system, allowing visitors to access historical content superimposed onto the physical space. The museum becomes a diffused entity, with neither walls nor closing times. A natural stone narrative ribbon, integrated with tactile paving, leads along the 130-meter pedestrian path connecting the ex Lavatoio to the Floating Section of the Museum. The green area of Largo San Giacomo is redesigned around two generative elements, Water and Air, featuring an infinity pool that restores the memory of the site, a flush-to-ground fountain, a sports ground, and a themed playground. Environmental sustainability permeates every scale of the project: integrated photovoltaic roof tiles on the pitch, a heat pump, rainwater harvesting, permeable paving, and native greenery, all verified according to Minimum Environmental Criteria (CAM) and an LCA/LCC methodology applied right from the feasibility phase.
The project stems from a fracture. The ex Lavatoio building, a heritage-listed historical structure overlooking Largo San Giacomo, had for years separated the consolidated fabric of the historic city from the Leonardesque canal port and the Maritime Museum. A neglected urban backdrop, off-center relative to the main flows, lacking a functional mix, and vulnerable to seasonal flooding. The project, awarded through a European tender to the joint venture comprising Pier Currà Architettura, DodiMoss and Marco Peroni Ingegneria, transforms this divide into a connecting infrastructure.
The core feature is the reactivation of the ex Lavatoio’s nave as an open workshop for the restoration of traditional vessels. The transparency of the building envelope allows the craftsmanship to be freely observed from the outside: the shipwrights at work become an integral part of the museum itinerary, ensuring vitality and social presence in the area year-round, well beyond the tourist season. Inside, an elevated walkway made of larch slats defines the visitor flows; operable walls crafted from traditional nautical timbers (oak, elm, pine) serve as a vertical xylotheque and as a flexible element for events and exhibitions.
On the exterior, a second skin of perforated and folded Corten steel clads the short facades of the building: the degree of perforation is parametrically modulated to render, like a filigree, the profiles of the historic lug sails. Bioclimatic, identity-driven, and low-maintenance, this choice transforms the ex Lavatoio into a recognizable landmark that engages in a dialogue with the port without imitating it.
In the public space between the building and the canal, a system of sculptural steel installations, La Flotta di Terra (The Land Fleet), recreates the silhouette of the sails, fixed and tangible in contrast to the seasonal ones on the water. These structures also act as markers for an Augmented Reality system, allowing visitors to access historical content superimposed onto the physical space. The museum becomes a diffused entity, with neither walls nor closing times. A natural stone narrative ribbon, integrated with tactile paving, leads along the 130-meter pedestrian path connecting the ex Lavatoio to the Floating Section of the Museum. The green area of Largo San Giacomo is redesigned around two generative elements, Water and Air, featuring an infinity pool that restores the memory of the site, a flush-to-ground fountain, a sports ground, and a themed playground. Environmental sustainability permeates every scale of the project: integrated photovoltaic roof tiles on the pitch, a heat pump, rainwater harvesting, permeable paving, and native greenery, all verified according to Minimum Environmental Criteria (CAM) and an LCA/LCC methodology applied right from the feasibility phase.
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