Museum of Riace Bronzes

This is the first Italian walk-on roof made up of safety glass and with a structure called  “tensegrity”.  I personally still remember when during a coffee break with Arch. Paolo Desideri we found this solution and fixed it on a paper towel!

The roof covers the courtyard of the “Magna Grecian” museum in Reggio Calabria. The refurbishment includes the construction of this accessible floor in order to both protect the courtyard from the weather and to design a new “roof cafeteria” space. The regularity of the glazing panes is interrupted by the “pseudo-randomness” of the struts and tie rods. The geometry was obtained starting with a clear architectural input and using identification techniques and mathematical optimization. The whole project and installation are a result of 3D techniques that allowed to reduce to a minimum the tolerances during construction.