Liviano Complex, recovery of former library spaces

The recovery project of the Liviano Complex in Padua is configured as a careful intervention of mediation between the value of historical memory and the needs of contemporary university life. The operation concerns the relationship between two important testimonies of twentieth-century architecture: the building designed by Gio Ponti in the thirties and the extension built by Giulio Brunetta in the sixties.

The intervention aims to restore legibility and coherence to the original spaces, eliminating the superfetations and alterations accumulated over time, with the intention of recovering the compositional rigor and essentiality of Ponti's language through a conservative and philological approach.

The redeveloped rooms will house the Department of Historical, Geographical and Antiquity Sciences (DiSSGeA) on the second floor, while the remaining levels will be allocated to the Department of Cultural Heritage. The spaces will be organized into study rooms, seminar rooms, common rooms, administrative offices and studies dedicated to teachers.

The new configuration guarantees brightness and transparency thanks to the inclusion of glass and oak partitions, designed to dialogue with the existing architecture without compromising its perception. Plant adaptations, fire-fighting solutions and accessibility interventions have also been discreetly integrated, highlighting their reversible and non-invasive nature.

Particular attention has been paid to environmental sustainability and user comfort, through an LED lighting system inspired by the historic design and the improvement of energy performance through the recovery of the original fixtures.

The result is a space in which the different temporal stratifications coexist in balance, transforming a significant monument of modern architecture into a dynamic and contemporary place, capable of continuing to transmit Gio Ponti's design quality to future generations of students, researchers, technical-administrative staff and teachers. The completion of the spaces is expected by 2026.