Ravenna’s Darsena is changing from a former port area into a new public landscape. Completed in 2024, the extension of the waterfront promenade follows the Candiano Canal towards the movable bridge, creating a continuous pedestrian and cycling route where movement, vegetation and public life meet.

The project does not define the waterfront as a single space. Instead, it unfolds through a sequence of different environments: more active and urban towards the city, progressively greener and quieter towards the bridge. Areas for play, fitness and socialising alternate with planted spaces and places designed simply for stopping and enjoying the water.

Within this changing landscape, Metalco’s ALTEREGO collection plays a central role in defining the spaces for relaxation. Chaise longues and shade structures are positioned along the promenade as invitations to pause, transforming the relationship with the canal from something experienced while passing by into something that can be enjoyed at a slower pace.

Designed by Massimo Tasca, ALTEREGO combines seating and shading in a flexible system that responds to different ways of inhabiting public space. Along the Darsena, its presence is deliberately informal: the chaise longues are oriented towards the water, creating small places to rest, read, talk or simply observe the changing atmosphere of the canal.

The collection is accompanied by SPENCER litter bins and SPYRA bicycle racks, completing the everyday infrastructure of the promenade. Together, the elements support a public space designed for both movement and permanence, while maintaining a coherent visual language throughout the different sections.

As the route progresses towards the movable bridge, vegetation gradually takes over from the more intensely programmed spaces. The promenade becomes a linear park, and the furniture marks moments where visitors can stop and inhabit this transition.

The transformation of the Darsena is therefore not only about reconnecting the city with the water. It is about creating the conditions to stay there. With ALTEREGO, the waterfront gains a simple but important new function: a place to pause, look out over the canal and experience the landscape at a different pace.