Redevelopment of the Fausto Coppi Mausoleum

The green oasis of the cycling champion who knew how to fly

The design for the redevelopment of the Mausoleum of Fausto Coppi has provided an opportunity to rethink the organization of the urban space of the village of Castellania.

The access to the current mausoleum is close to what is now the arrival and departure line for all the cycling events that pay homage to the Myth of Coppi and that populate the village with life. This is the place that already represents the true centrality of the small town and where the link to what we could define as its lay patron, Fausto Coppi, is renewed.

On the urban scale, therefore, the project defines a public space/place that is physically barycentric with respect to the morphology of the existing village and with respect to the potential agricultural park that is generated concentrically on the hills near the built of the same village. The park defines, through the vegetation in rows and slight earth movements, an infrastructure of cycle and pedestrian paths that intend to interconnect the places of memory of Coppi: the Museum House, the Great Heron, the Mausoleum.
The design of the square insists on two areas. The main one is the current square of the town hall and the public weigh station, upstream of Via G. Marconi. The main focus is on the modeling of the ground covered with a new stone pavement in local materials and the inclusion of tree species as a tool for microclimatic control. The square is developed on an inclined plane that regains the share of the entrance to the municipal building and consequently generates a podium that serves as a grandstand in major events. The same floor also serves to overcome the architectural barrier of the steps leading to the church and the mausoleum present today.

The accessibility of the Mausoleum is therefore reshaped, enhancing the experience of the cyclist visitor who can reach the destination of his pilgrimage on two wheels, the main instrument of the story of which the Village of Castellania is an ambassador.
The second area on which the square stands is now represented by the public car park, downstream of Via G. Marconi. The modelling of the ground, its cladding in pietra serena and the tall vegetation are the architectural tools used. To characterize the space for its function, are inserted umbrella structures for shading closed. This area of the square is in fact intended to accommodate temporary structures during sports events, fairs and municipal markets.

Client: Municipality of Castellania Coppi
Project: Mario Cucinella Architects
Team: Mario Cucinella, Michele Olivieri, Francesco Visco, Antonio Nardozzi. Models: Francesco Visco, Antonio Nardozzi
Visual: Alessia Monacelli
Photographs: Mario Cucinella Architects

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