The La Spezia Arsenale 2062 Architecture Competition launched in 2012 has its winner now. The first rank among five contesters has been assigned to Erdem Architects by the jury committee, which based its decision on several criteria including plan, original detail, design, creativity and gulf landscape.
La Spezia Arsenale started to be built in 1857 by Napoleon and entered into service in 1862. Blown up in World War II, the arsenal, after being repaired, hosted warships. Losing its functionality afterwards, it remained as a dysfunctional area in the city of La Spezia. Aiming for producing an idea about reusing the area and reintagrating the Italian arsenal to the city, the La Spezia Arsenale 2062 Architecture Competition, opened to everyone throughout the world, has been won by two Turkish architects, Günay Erdem and Sunay Erdem.
“Although wars continue around the world, La Speazia has had no functionality for a long time. Sooner or later, peace will prevail. We considered that La Spezia could be a symbol of this. We designated a very simple idea, and decided to transform the area, well-known for its military reputation, into peace islands representing the peace itself” said Sunay Erdem, speaking to WA. Günay Erdem summed up the project in similar terms: “The arsenal harbour gets a new lease of life after being transformed into three peace islands: The first island is a place of agoras, cafes, restaurants, cinemas, pubs and bookstores where people socialize, not make war. The second island is a zoo island with animals representing peace. And the third island is a place where plants, the most representative of a peaceful life, grow”.
Architecturally, La Spazia Arsenale might become the first on earth to transform itself from an area of war into a beautiful and fruitful area of a peaceful life. Assuming the area to regain its functionality in 2062, with an entirely peaceful perspective and landscape, this is going to be the success of Turkish architects at the end of the 21st century. It is the first time Erdem Architects has won a contest in Italy, and they already have 47 awards in similar contests across the globe.