Roman Amphitheatre, Nyon, Switzerland

Program: amphitheatre reconstruction and addition of new theatre-support facilities
Size: 3,500 sqm (theatre – 2,200 sqm; public facilities – 250 sqm; theatre facilities – 300 sqm; garden – 800 sqm)
Status: competition; completed in 2001

Our project is inspired on two different concepts: one half is a phantom and the other half is a note on geometry.
The phantom is the partial reconstruction of the terraced seating—only where allowed by the contemporary context and on the up-hill side.). Opaque glass was used in the reconstruction to obtain a particularly illusory effect, as it reflects the sky during the day and, illuminated from underneath, creates a giant lit memory of the past at night.
The note on geometry informs the design of a garden that faces the lake, completing the original shape of the amphitheatre by white stone projections of the ancient terrace seating, dividing the lawn in concentric rings.