| From ruins to light |

The project idea for the new Theater within Palazzo San Francesco stems from the need to engage with both the history of the complex through a dialogical relationship with the existing structure, and its evocative, religious, and urban significance. In this sense, the Theater acts as a counterpart to the Church of San Francesco, becoming a secular temple dedicated to events and performances, with the intent to restore the political value of this place, while harmoniously integrating into the broader Palazzo complex.The space to be used as a multipurpose hall is bounded by perimeter walls that are largely collapsed. The rubble itself constitutes an irreducible, immanent trace on which the new Theater must be grafted, finding its inhabited dimension. The project idea develops around three foundational elements:

Ground
The zero level is a palimpsest of historical traces and engravings, which are preserved to welcome the present without erasing the past.

Forest
Fourteen wooden columns define the theater space, supporting the new roof and creating a hypostyle space, crowded by the tight step of the vertical structures that direct the gaze towards the sky.

Sky

Light filters inside through the large glass roof, suspended on the lateral walls through delicate supports. Earth and sky meet in the space of the new Theater..