Starfish Square by Schiavello Architects Office

The guiding principle behind the design for the Plaza Schiavello Starfish Architects in Tropea, Calabria, Italy, was to create a symbolic for the city that could bring together different social groups. The project uses a starfish as a basis for design.

Starfish was selected as a starting point for the formal organization of the project, and that Tropea is strongly connected with marine life. The city is located in the Italian province of Calabria, where the sea is critical, and full of life. Being an element with 5 points of interaction and a single focal point, the distribution in Starfish has a central disk from which radiate all the other points.

Schiavello Office Architects chose this as the center of the square, around which the five “arms” are scattered among the streets. These drive visitors from distinots points to the heart of the space created by the architects. The striking elements in the soil are a kind of lure for tourists to go to this space that changes from day to night. During the day the circular marks lead the way, while at night, lines of LED lights create a dramatic effect to amaze visitors.