Piazza Kennedy renovation
Ravenna, Italy, 2011
The opening of Piazza J.F. Kennedy in Ravenna is an intervention of the first half of the twentieth century and is the result of the demolition of an entire block, anciently composed of the garden of Palazzo Rasponi delle Teste and several other smaller buildings, including a house that contained fragments of the walls of the ancient church of Sant'Agnese known as the Ninfei, memory of the fountains that in Roman times celebrated the arrival in the city of the waters brought by the aqueduct of Trajan.
With the opening of the square of the Fascist era, which was dedicated to the Market, the contemporary Palazzo del Mutilato was also built, which however does not occupy the entire north side, a rather unfortunate design choice.
This anomaly of the square suggested a project proposal that actually draws two squares, mediated by a "Loggia" building that distributes two places: a square piazza that frames the facades of the Rasponi Palaces of the Heads and the Mutilated, and a rectangular square, smaller, between the Loggia and the side of the Palazzo Rasponi Murat. The piazza, due to its shape, more suitable for rest, the rectangular one more than passing, and destined to act as a link between the system of Piazza del Popolo and the monumental complex of the Cathedral. Large fountains and trees recall on one side the ancient Ninfei and on the other create a shady and cool place.
