ChorusLife, Bergamo’s Smart District conceived and desired by Cavaliere del Lavoro Domenico Bosatelli and designed by architect Joseph Di Pasquale, has opened its doors to the public.
It is an unprecedented model of urban regeneration, located in a strategic position in the heart of the historic village of Santa Caterina, where the Accademia Carrara and the new GAMeC headquarters are also located.
Architect Joseph Di Pasquale, who signed the project, said: “ChorusLife I believe represents a unicum in the panorama of European urban regeneration projects, born from the encounter between two people, between Cavalier Domenico Bosatelli’s vision of sociality and technology and my vision of the city and architecture. The generating principle is to make space for an inclusive relationality without distinctions and between generations. It has not been a simple project, but a real life path, made up also and above all of people. Over these years we have seen ChorusLife come into being, realise itself and grow to completion, and today we are handing over an exciting urban space to the city. I truly hope that the citizens of Bergamo will love this place as much as I did when I designed and planned it, and as much as Cavalier Bosatelli wished and loved it, inspiring its vision and spirit”.
The project adds value without altering the existing fabric, enriching it with new green areas, new services and an exclusively pedestrian-only surface viability with mostly covered walkways, lifts and escalators connecting the different areas, encouraging people to meet. The squares, joined by uniquely designed arches, recall the concept of inclusiveness of the ancient Roman piazzas.
A distinctive element of ChorusLife is the lighting designed by GEWISS, which enhances the architecture and spaces, guaranteeing a safe, elegant environment in harmony with the identity of the place.
Attention to the environment is one of the cornerstones on which the project is based: ChorusLife will have 15,000 square metres of green space planted with tall trees and shrubs, equipped with advanced technologies that will make it energy self-sufficient, with an expected saving of 1,624 tons of CO2 per year.
57,900 square metres of waterproofed surfaces have also been installed to help collect 42,980 cubic metres of rainwater per year. This innovative approach to the integration of green spaces and hospitality infrastructure earned it the ECOtech Iconic Landscape Award (2018) from Paysage, in the category ‘Technological Green and Hospitality’, as an example of sustainable and advanced architecture.
The project was entirely realised by the POLIFIN Group and its subsidiaries – COSTIM (Impresa Percassi, Gualini and Elmet) and GEWISS – in fruitful synergy.
The Smart District is also the result of an inter-institutional collaboration with the Region, the Province, the Municipality and the TEB Company, which led to the signing of the Programme Agreement in 2018: an urban planning act that made it possible to start the most important private construction site in recent decades.
The imposing intervention reclaimed and redeveloped 70,000 square metres of land, work extended to 150,000 square metres including infrastructure and urbanisation works.
The smart district will be accessible through gradual openings of spaces that will be used, step by step, in the months following the inauguration.
Today, ChorusLife includes a residence with 74 lodgings, a four-star superior hotel, the ChorusLife Arena that can accommodate up to 6,500 people, an Urban SPA and wellness centre covering 8,000 square metres, commercial and catering activities covering more than 10,000 square metres, and a series of squares designed to promote cohesion and intergenerational exchanges.
For more information visit www.choruslife.com.
