Redevelopment of Old Psychiatric Hospital

In the simplest and most common meaning of the word “re-using” a building refers to a change in its purpose, sometimes connected with a change in structural layout and, almost always, an intensifying of its functions. This vast building, covering approximately 11,000 square metres of built-on area and courtyards, comes from the old Domus Dei Hospital, later known as S. Antonio Abate Hospital, built between 1296-1320, and used as a civil hospital, orphanage and asylum. The project identifies a transition phase from being a “closed” connective system to an “open” network by setting up “penetrating links”; the interior spaces on the ground fl oor will interact with the outside spaces of the city, thereby creating a unifi ed set of inseparable relations. The areas look different in terms of their centrality, nature and quality, but will actually form a set of public spaces.

LOCATION: Teramo, Italy
YEAR: 2001