Competition: Bagnoli UrbaNAture

The International Ideas Competition for the Bagnoli area is intended to design the new landscape of the former industrial area of Naples, which covers an area of 250 hectares, transforming it into one of the largest and most fascinating international urban parks.
The future of the Bagnoli site, as in the Environmental Rehabilitation and Urban Regeneration Programme, is to make the most of geographic, landscape, environmental, social and cultural resources, restoring the quality of life and a general well-being of places for citizenship and for future users of this area.
We intend to realise this vision through a low-density settlement project, with a high-quality environment whose key elements are green areas and a range of new residential, commercial and tertiary activities.
Its core is the large urban park of about 120 hectares which is expected to develop into a new green heart of Naples. An attraction, which will host industrial archaeology artefacts, research spaces, leisure and sporting activities and that, through its 2 km of waterfront, is an ideal link with the Gulf of Naples.
This call will help to define the future park design, outlining the overall planivolumetric plan of the area for better enhancing landscape and natural heritage.
Invitalia, the National Development Agency based in Rome, has launched this competition.
The deadline is set for January 7, 2020 at 11:00am.
Competition theme
Project ideas shall include a creative proposal in order to create an overall plan of the new Bagnoli area, whose beating heart will be the largest urban park linked to the public beach and the sea.
The former industrial area shall be discussed on a perspective of territorial continuity between the already urbanised area (the Bagnoli and Cavalleggeri districts, the Posillipo Hill, the archaeological site of Posillipo, etc.) and the future settlement. Close attention will have to be paid to the issue of accessibility and connections within and outside the area.
Those ideas shall have to ensure maximum integration between the new features (residences, green areas, accommodation, commercial activities, infrastructures, etc.) and industrial archaeology artefacts, the park and accessibility system, favouring the best functional and typological mix.
Proposals shall also realise the Smart City Bagnoli, which integrates systems, technologies and infrastructures to aim for the maximum environmental, economic and social sustainability of all the interventions, both in implementation and management.
The site
The Bagnoli site is an exciting and unique place.
The sea, the beach, the Posillipo hill and the Nisida island and the enviable weather conditions, provide a context of great environmental and landscape value that for centuries has been a tourist destination, exercising a great attraction as a place for spa treatments.
From the beginning of the twentieth century, the neighbourhood became the headquarters of one of the most important industrial settlements in Italy; in particular, of Ilva steelworks, which were then abandoned starting from the Nineties. Since that moment, a journey of conversion began to give back to Bagnoli all its beauty.
Currently, the area is in the middle of one of Europe’s most important recovery and enhancement operations, supported by the Government and local institutions, with the involvement of citizens and local organizations. The goal is to give back to population and to collective use, a huge area completely redeveloped, which has the potential to become one of the most attractive places in the country.
Audience
The competition is open to Italian and international architecture firms specialising in urban park and waterfront design.
To participate, each candidate must set up a team competition, composed of at least: one architect with architectural, landscape and urban planning expertise; an engineer with hydraulic, structural, geotechnical, plant engineering, environmental and territorial skills; an agronomist or a forester; and a geologist.
Young professionals shall also be in the competition team; graduates who have been qualified for less than 5 years, as designers, are subject to scoring scales during the pre-selection stage.
Each participant shall indicate additional professional figures to support team members, with the objective of integrating expertise: graduates in sociology, in economics, in natural sciences, in archaeology (one for each field).
For foreign citizens requirements are met if they hold a degree, certificate or other evidence of professional qualifications, as laid down in Directive 2005/36/EC. The participant shall demonstrate the equivalence of its qualification with an appropriate document.
In the case of participating as partnerships or consortia, an agent/leader/group leader shall be identified, as a single contact point for Invitalia.
How it works
To take part in the competition, register on gareappalti.invitalia.it by clicking on the link “Registration in the portal”. Following registration, a confirmation message will be sent to the PEC address provided to start operating on the web platform and send tenders.
The competition consists of two stages: the pre-selection and the proposals submission by the selected competitors.
Pre-selection is open to all operators who meet the requirements specified in the Tender and will take place publicly. The 20 competitors, who pass the pre-selection with the best score access, will be invited to present their project ideas.
In order to submit their project ideas, competitors shall carry out a mandatory inspection in the areas covered by the competition.
The official language of the competition is Italian.
Here you can find an unofficial English translation of the contest specifications.
The total amount of prizes is € 325,000, of which:
€ 150,000 to the first place, € 100,000 to the second place, € 75,000 to the third place
Invitalia reserves the right to entrust the 1st classified with the task of carrying out additional design levels, which have an estimated amount of approx. € 4,000,000.
Published on December 10, 2019