The garden, which is protected at the cantonal level, is being restored - preserving the existing trees in good condition - and expanded to include the areas currently used for parking. The new City of Music is planned to be built within the surrounding park. From a landscape perspective, three distinct zones have been identified: the agora, the gardens above the parking lot, and a nature park that surrounds the entire complex. The agora serves as the building’s main entrance plaza. Paved with brick and green grout, it features a water fountain that underscores the building’s public and prestigious character. Access is via a brick-stepped ramp. Access for people with disabilities is provided by a path that crosses the surrounding park and reaches the level of the agora from the west, where the new hall is located. This access route starts at the new public transit stop on Via Canevascini, north of the perimeter.
On a lower level, above the underground parking garage, a landscaped plaza accommodates the loading and unloading area, provides pedestrian access to the parking garage, and offers an outdoor space for the café. The gardens feature extensive landscaping with a wide variety of perennials that bring color and blooms to this lower plaza. The café features an outdoor terrace overlooking the gardens and a courtyard that leads to the nature park surrounding the entire complex, allowing customers to enjoy gardens of various styles.
The park surrounding the renovated and expanded building is the Città della Musica’s major contribution to this built-up area of the city, which lacks recreational spaces. It serves as an oasis and a recreational space for residents. Designed as a landscaped garden in the classical sense of the term, it incorporates the existing garden and expands its green areas to replace the existing parking lots. A network of paths and trails allows visitors to explore the entire park. Wooded areas and flower-filled meadows alternate with mowed lawns, providing spaces for play and relaxation on the green space. Two new landscape features stand out in the new park: the green amphitheater and the new pond.
The green amphitheater bridges the elevation difference between the agora and the park. It offers the possibility of hosting outdoor events and concerts, as it faces the new lawn that covers the larger existing parking lot. The pond, located further south, on the other hand, provides a setting for rest and contemplation, separated from the previous space by the existing trees. From the pond, the path continues through the park to the café’s outdoor terrace and finally to the landscaped plaza, crossing it to end at the stepped ramp leading to the agora’s main entrance. Next to the public transit stop, there are bicycle parking spaces and access to a loading and unloading area.
The existing tree population is almost entirely preserved and selectively integrated. New plantings are designed to complement the existing trees. The appealing theme of trees and shrubs extends throughout the park and offers the opportunity to actively experience the changing seasons. During the hot summer months, the cool shade of deciduous trees provides a welcoming refuge. The structurally rich green mass provides ecologically valuable green structures that serve as key nodes in the larger-scale network. The selection of tree species is tailored to the requirements of the existing site and helps create a beneficial microclimate.
The goal of the open-space design is to foster a positive relationship between water-permeable green spaces and functional hard surfaces, while promoting biodiversity. Conscious rainwater management creates ecologically sound cycles that have a lasting effect on the microclimate.
