(Square) At the Big Church, Rijeka

Building, filling up the space, tailoring the city to suit its needs over a long period of time, when something is expanded, repaired, added along the way, results in, as a rule, remnants of space, residue, the precedence of the full over the empty; but just as in the stories about relics, the hand of St. Marcian remains an indicator, and a more important part of the dichotomy in the valorisation by the community. Thus, this square – an intimate space in terms of its dimensions, and dynamic in terms of its irregularity and movement – presents an almost interior space, a theatrical, public living room of the neighbourhood, where the superposition of elements – wood, stone, glass and metal – reveals and sets trajectories for historical evaluation. The ‘surrealist’ leaning belfry intensifies the dramatic effect. The new urban space is formed not just by the facades of buildings and the surrounding streets, but also by a careful treatment of the horizontal plane and respect for the existing values; through the selection of materials it is ‘softened’ and made unique in its complexity. As artisans of urban change, we open archaeological layers and add new readings, looking into the full and the empty, from stem to stern, building in a unique manner, but, in doing so, subtly varying the topic according to the specific features and needs of the micro-location. On the side facing the sea, the alteration is in metal, on the side facing the city, it is in stone. The equipment is designed as a variation, with a subtle shift in elevation.

Navigare necesse est. To sail is necessary.
Piazza pia mater, effectus, accumulare.