Matera urban garden

The complexity of the brief, the transportation requirements and the environmental quality of this site close to Sassi di Matera - Unesco world heritage site - led to a subtle topographical strategy based on precise ground manipulating operations in the attempt to avoid a generic building intervention. The ground as a material experience, as a geological fact, participates in the geographical identification of the site, giving it specific qualities. The main idea is to give the area a unitary plan, defined by the sequence of rectangular terraces following the ground section and articulating the different themes of the botanical garden. As in the nearby village of Laterza or in typical constructions in Matera known as Lamon, cultivated roof gardens articulate spaces and define plans for human activities. The tourist reception spaces is linked with the underground bus terminal and with the urban garden circuits on the surface. In a big excavated void then, it meets a new underground foyer for the city. The experience of this space will be memorable for tourists and visitors and, thanks to the shaded spaces and presence of water, it will be a perfect place for meeting and resting.