SADAR+VUGA, NOVA GORICA RAILWAY STATION UNDERPASS VRTACA
SADAR+VUGA, an architecture firm set up by Jurij Sadar and Boštjan Vuga based in Ljubljana, has completed a landmark renovation of the Nova Gorica railway station underpass, a highly symbolic location marking the border between the two cities of Nova Gorica (Slovenia) and Gorizia (Italy), now only separated by the seemingly invisible line of a national border. The project transforms this threshold into a congregation space, rethinking this railway infrastructure as a connecting platform that turns a passageway into an identity-driven architectural space linking people and their city.
The underpass, which extends 36.6 metres in length and 8 metres in width (partly for bikes and partly for pedestrians), opens up at both ends onto lowered elliptical plazas that absorb daily flows while also encouraging informal usage: sitting, congregating, taking a break.
Materiality plays a key role in defining the nature of the space. The brick-red paving defines motion flows and continues into the plazas, where it contrasts with green slopes and rain gardens.
Aesthetics and performance from Marca Corona’s surfaces. Marca Corona’s ceramic surfaces are at the heart of this urban regeneration project: the Multiforme flooring ensures aesthetic continuity, durability and safety, while the Miniature Soda façade running along the tunnel reflects natural light with artisanal elegance, creating interaction between materials and motion and bestowing dignity on the public infrastructure.
The result is a public work that combines technology and design, drawing on Italian ceramics as a means of enhancing urban space that pays testimony to a new way of experiencing the city.
Project: Sadar+Vuga, Team Project: Jurij Sadar, Boštjan Vuga, Miha Čebulj, Petko Grabljić, Belén Villán Fernandez, Urška Linda, Bauermann, Nicholas Hartman; Floor tiles: Marca Corona - Collection Multiform; Facade Cladding: Marca Corona - Collection Miniature Soda. Photo: Anna Skobe
