BRINGING SHADE TO ANCIENT AMPHITHEATRES
06 Feb 2017
When faced with the challenge of modernising Verona’s amphitheatre roofing but continuing to preserve its historical facade GMP Architekten has proven to be capable of melding modern with ancient through its crowd-pleasing design.
German firm GMP Architekten has won the commission to realize the proposal of fitting a folded roof cover for the historic and well-known amphitheatre in Verona, Italy. The international competition saw 87 proposals withered to one winning scheme; a retractable roof that can be automated to open and close in case of bad weather.
Working with the engineers from Schlaich Bergermann and partners (SBP), GMP Architekten’s roof covering will feature a cover sheet of approximately 12,000 sqm installed on a single side sliding of a fabric material.
The innovative engineered element will see cables being stored underneath the compression ring cantilever, allowing the arena to be fully open or closed with the cables completely out of sight. The streamlined design is perfect for the multiuse arena which is still a popular choice for concerts and events in the modern day.
Dating back to 30 AD, the characteristic venue is still used to this day for music concerts, performances and shows whilst housing a range of events throughout history, most notably as a combat arena. For this project, the choice of cloth for the roof allows for a subtle intervention that will not take the focus away from the architecture of the historical arena, fundamentally preserving the Roman amphitheatre from future damage caused by the weather.
The cables and roof covering will be able to be completely hidden when not in use preserving the historical design whilst updating its modern functionality.
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