Ideas competition for the redevelopment of Piazza Università

PRESS RELEASE

SASSARI. A Piazza Università without cars, open to pedestrians and bicycles, with the shade of trees surrounding an area that can be transformed into a market if necessary. The redevelopment of Piazza Università has been talked about for some time and today in the Aula Magna of the University of Sassari the awards ceremony for an ideas competition for students enrolled in the university courses was held.

The winners were Greta Cabras and Riccardo Cubeddu, enrolled in the final year of the master's degree in Architecture, with the project "Simbiosi urbane"; the second prize went to the PhD student of Architecture Matteo Carmine Fusaro for the project "Piazza Culleziu"; the third place went to Gaia Sebastiana Ferrario, Fabio Auci and Giulio Pinto for the idea entitled "Turritanae", respectively PhD student, enrolled in the final year and recent graduate also in Architecture. They received three grants totaling 10 thousand euros.

The competition was promoted by the DADU-Department of Architecture, Design and Urban Planning and the Student Orientation and Services Office. This morning, the Rector Gavino Mariotti and the Director of the DADU, Emilio Turco, delivered the certificates to the winners. The event was made possible thanks to the 5X1000 funds of 2022, which the Academic Senate and the Board of Directors decided to allocate to three competitions of ideas open to the participation of students, including one dedicated specifically to the redevelopment of Piazza Università.

During the ceremony, the Rector Gavino Mariotti underlined the University's commitment to restore new centrality to the heart of the city:

“The University has strongly expressed its desire for a car-free square, capable of restoring light and space to the historic building. We are working to bring all the administrative offices back here, a process that began with the inauguration of Palazzo Porta Nuova. We want to make a concrete contribution to the enhancement of the historic center and its relaunch as the beating heart of the city.”

The Mayor of Sassari, Giuseppe Mascia, also expressed his appreciation for the initiative:

"The projects go beyond the vision of the square as a widespread garage. We agree, but first we need to identify a nearby area to be used for parking. Today the square serves a function, but we need to rethink the city and reverse the urban, social and economic trend".