LE BONHOMME DE LIBARNA
Improving the usability of the archaeological site of Libarna.
Libarna was an old Roman city settled near sandstone quarries in Piedmont, in northern Italy. It was equipped with the amphitheater and the theater. The latter was built in a secluded area, and is now separated from the rest of the ruins by two railway lines flanking it. The project aims to improve the usability of the site and consists in a zinc-plate metal path set at the level of the ancient theater’s floor, connecting the round to the stage and also covering a water pipe. The path respects the site, and its symmetrical shape was inspired by the drawings French physicist André-Marie Ampère used to to explain electromagnetism.
How different can the backstages for our daily life be? If you travel across Italy, one moment your gaze can scan a beautiful, ever-changing natural landscape, and immediately thereafter you may find yourself in the midst of ruins of an ancient Roman city whose structure is a sign of permanence in the landscape itself. Modern and Ancient, temporary and permanent, movement and stability are the opposites related to the backstages of the two scenes, equivalent in length, composing this short film. The last stages a love affair as the pretext to introduce a project aimed at improving the usability of the archaeological site of Libarna.
‘Libarna, una storia’ (a video about the project)
project: 2014
completion: 2015
client: Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici del Piemonte e del Museo Antichità Egizie
design: Valter Scelsi
structures: Francesco Testa
project team: Paola Assereto, Lara Bruzzone, Giulia Repetto, Carrea Giovanni & C. srl (Alessandria)
photographer: Anna Positano