Shaping a new civic landmark in Bologna

The Polo della Memoria Democratica is part of the wider regeneration of Bologna’s Ex Scalo Ravone district, contributing to the development of a new “City of Knowledge” through a public cultural building designed to strengthen the area’s civic, cultural, and social life.

The building features a compact, monolithic volume with a diagonal cut that acts as both a symbolic gesture and a spatial device, shaping light, internal organization, and visual connections with the surrounding neighborhood. Its façade reinterprets local building traditions through a ceramic brise-soleil system, combining architectural identity, solar control, and indoor comfort.
Inside, flexible spaces host co-working areas, a library, offices, information points, and community workshops, emphasizing accessibility, inclusiveness, and engagement with the local community.

From an environmental perspective, the building is designed as an NZEB, integrating a high-performance envelope, rooftop photovoltaic system and green roof. External areas are developed with permeable surfaces and Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems, contributing to rainwater management, climate adaptation and the mitigation of urban heat island effects, in line with CAM and DNSH principles.

Developed for the @comunedibologna with @sperispa and @alcotec.spa, the project brings together architectural expression, environmental performance and public function within a single intervention.

Luca Felicetti, Franca Francescucci and Letizia Bernabei