gmp and sbp New roof over the Arena in Verona

The project by architects von Gerkan, Marg und Partner (gmp) and engineers Schlaich Bergermann Partner (sbp) has won an international competition for ideas held by the city of Verona to give the Arena a new roof.

The Arena in Verona, symbol of the city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the world’s best-preserved Roman amphitheatre. Built in A.D. 30, the building has been repeatedly maintained over the centuries and now hosts very prestigious and popular opera and concert performances. The new roof by gmp and sbp will therefore not only protect the construction but allow performances to be held on rainy evenings. One of the basic requirements of the competition was minimising work on the Roman structure and visual impact so as not to alter the Arena’s image in the city. gmp and sbp’s roof consists of a retractable membrane and a fan-shaped system of steel cables. The system as a whole is supported by a hollow ring around its perimeter which is detached from the Roman structure of the amphitheatre and used to support stage lights and scenery. The type of moving roof designed by gmp and sbp has successfully been used to cover stadiums in Frankfurt, Warsaw and Bucharest and will be developed and adapted specifically for the Arena in Verona.

(Agnese Bifulco)

Design: von Gerkan, Marg and Partners + schlaich bergermann partner
gmp Prof. Volkwin Marg & Hubert Nienhoff + Martin Glass & Nikolai Reich www.gmp-architekten.de
sbp Knut Stockhusen & Knut Göppert + Daniel Gebreiter & Chih-Bin Tseng www.sbp.de
Location: Verona, Italy

Images courtesy of gmp, credit by © gmp/a-promise, © sbp/gmp
Masterplan © Google Earth/gmp

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