precedents; Zighizaghi, a multisensory urban garden

Favara, Italy

Zighizaghi is a multisensory urban garden designed by OFL architecture in Favara, Italy. Inspired by the natural, yet geometrical form of honeycomb, Zighizaghi brings together a missing recreational  component in the city by combining wood and vegetation. 

The project is defined by two components; the floor and the lighting system. The floor was created with phenolic plywood and knots of Okume with some prisms functioning as planter. The lighting system consists of six red prisms that act as lighting systems as well as loudspeakers. 

The combination of these elements bring together an interactive,multi functional and mutli-sensory urban place where music and sounds are as fundamental as the aesthetic side of a design. Zighizaghi could be a precedent to take as inspiration for a design that wants to promote the importance of sensorial elements. I really like the idea of using louspeakers in a site, music definitely reshapes a space,especially considering that we need to include an arena and that the music academy is close to the site. 

Another element that is essential in a sensory garden is vegetation and the power of scents. Zighizaghi adapts mediterranean plants,specifically selected to fit with the environmental contex, equipped with an automatic irrigation system. A similar system can be used for Blackfriars, using a sensory-garden system which I will be explore to take my ideas to the next stage.

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