A small integrated sports center is located a short distance from the historic center of Comacchio, on a large open space surrounded by a suggestive maritime countryside that speaks of a close proximity to the coast.

The project is part of a more complex sports district, partially completed, where an indoor swimming pool, a stadium for football and athletics, a skate park and an indoor beach tennis and volleyball facility are already in operation.

A line building, in the form of a thin bar lying on the ground, houses the reception services, changing rooms and technical spaces, designing an element of protection from coastal winds and prevailing breezes. The architectural body, wrapped in a bright light blue, is carved by a very long band opening that turns the interiors to a large green area (in the future similar to a shady forest) for running, stretching and outdoor body building.

On the opposite side, beyond the building, tennis, basketball, volleyball and five-a-side football fields can be reached by crossing a three-dimensional “threshold” made of metal elements that protects systems and equipment for the operation of the pressure switch covers installed during the winter months. Architectural body and technical body, arranged parallel to a short distance from each other, generate an unusual “road” of movement for sportsmen, a narrow distribution alley open on the bottom to the view of the marine horizon.

Chronology: 2016-2017 project, 2019-2020 construction

Category: Public Spaces, Sport Facilities

Design Team: Tomas Ghisellini, Alice Marzola

Collaborators: Lucrezia Alemanno, Daniele Francesco Petralia

Photographs: Tomas Ghisellini