Regium Waterfront project designed by London practice Zaha Hadid Architects for the Municipality of Reggio Calabria in southern Italy. The project composed of 3 separated elements that will house a museum of Mediterranean history and performing art center, serving a gathering place for all ages.

+ Project description, Zaha Hadid Architects

The project aims to define the city of Reggio Calabria as a Mediterranean cultural capital through the realization of two characteristic buildings: a museum and a multifunctional building for performing arts.

The location of the site on the narrow sea strait separating continental Italy from Sicily offers an opportunity to create two unique buildings, visible from the sea and the Sicilian coast: a Museum of the Mediterranean History and a Multifunctional Building.

The form of the museum draws inspiration from the organic shapes of a starfish. The radial symmetry of this shape helps to coordinate the communication and circulation between different sections of the museum and its other facilities. The Museum of Mediterranean History will house exhibition spaces, restoration facilities, an archive, an aquarium and library.

+ Architect’s statement, Zaha Hadid

I am absolutely delighted to be working in Reggio Calabria. The project will be a gathering place for people of all ages – presenting the Mediterranean’s rich and diverse history with visual and performing arts to enhance the cultural vitality of the city; providing an essential venue for discussion and discourse where the public engages with the spaces and with the exhibitions. This connection between culture and public life is critical; as what differentiates museums of the 21st Century from the previous century is that the client is no longer simply one patron. The client is the public – it’s many people, which makes this project really exciting.

+ Project credits

Project Design: Zaha Hadid & Patrik Schumacher
Project Architect: Filippo Innocenti
Client: Comune di Reggio Calabria
Design Team: Michele Salvi, Roberto Vangeli, Andrea Balducci Castè, Luciano Letteriello, Fabio Forconi, Giuseppe Morando, Johannes Weikert, Deepti Zachariah, Gonzalo Carbajo
Structures Adams-Kara-Taylor: Hanif Kara
M&E Max Fordham: Neil Smith
Fire safety: Macchiaroli & Partners

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