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G O O D ...N
E W S ...A G E N C Y
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BOLOGNA
DECIDES TO ERASE UGLY BUILDINGS FROM ITS CENTER
Sergio
Cofferati, the new Mayor of Bologna, has decided to erase the two
controversial modernist buildings from the very center of the city
-the Piazza Maggiore area- and the demolition has started on February
2005.
Built in 2003 as architectural icons of the modernist ideology to
match similar interventions in other European cities, the two glass-boxes
immediately encountered a strong opposition from thousands citizens.
Despite the approval from the "Soprintendenza ai beni architettonici"
-the Italian National Directorate established in 1939 to protect historic
buildings and cities- the project to insert the two boxes was highly
criticized. In
fact, the controversial decision by the Soprintendenza to give way
to the glass-boxes was set against a law from the Municipal Building
Rules which called for "new buildings in the Piazza Maggiore
area to be stylistically and formally harmonoius with the historic
context".
Sergio Cofferati promised in 2004 to erase the two modernist buildings
if elected mayor, and now that he has taken office, the works of demolition
have started to be completed by April 2005.
After the removal of the two boxes, the area behind Palazzo Re Enzo
will get back to its traditional role of open public room for citizens.
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Bologna, the two glass-boxes in Piazza maggiore area |
The two glass-boxes in Piazza maggiore area
(February 2005) |
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It
is the second time that citizens in Bologna vote against modernist
interventions in the city.
In 1997 130,000 people voted with a majority of 66% against the proposal
by the National Company of Railway -FS- to demolish Bologna's historic
railway station and build a new brutalist megastructure with 2 skyscrapers
taller than the famous medieval Asinelli tower.
The first vote to save Bologna's historic station led the way to the
victory of the right in the municipal elections.
Now, the vote against the glass-boxes has supported the election of
a left-wing majority.
Apparently, modernist architecture costs a lot in terms of political
elections.
Politicians should better watch out before imposing modernist buildings
to citizens!
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Bologna, Piazza maggiore area WITHOUT THE TWO
GLASS-BOXES !
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The
brutalist megastructure with two skyscrapers proposed in
1997 for the new Bologna station |
The Bologna historic station
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The 1997 S.O.S
message : SAVE THE BOLOGNA HISTORIC STATION !
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