Monteluce former hospital, strategically located on top of one of the hills in front of the historical city of Perugia, was dismissed in the late 90’s. In 2005, BNL Fondi Immobiliari and Europa Risorse organize an international competiton for the renovation of this area with a total surface of approximatively 75.000 square metres. The intervention fits into a period of major changes for the city with the MiniMetrò project by Jean Nouvel and the San Francesco d’Assisi Airport extension, designed by Gae Aulenti.
Luca Molinari sides the competition promoters to shape and fulfill the process till the selection of the most relevant masterplan design. The selection of invited architects includes Abalos & Herreros, Massimiliano Fuksas, Lacaton & Vassal, MVRDV, Dominique Perrault, Italo Rota and Bolles + Wilson. The offices are requested to develop a proposal closely related to the surrounding context to eventually question the urban fabric of the city which is strictly organized into separate neighbourhoods, starting from the juxtaposition between the upper and lower Perugia.
The urban regeneration provides, on the one hand, to restore some existing buildings, such as the church, the former convent complex, one neoclassical pavilion and the chapel of the former hospital, on the other to demolish and introduce new functions (residential, social housing, commercial and offices) for 65.000 square meters. The competiton brief also asks to provide 10.500 square meters of public green spaces and 9.500 of pedestrian walks and piazze.
Besides the public and private players from Perugia Municipality, Superintendent for Architectural and Urban Landscaping, BNL Fondi Immobiliari and Europa Risorse the jury includes: Axel Sowa, editor-in-chief of L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui, Andrea Branzi and Luis Hortet, director of Mies van der Rohe foundation.
The winning entry is the masterplan by the Munich-based studio Bolles + Wilson that is acknowledged for “its respect and sensitivity to the scale of Monteluce, its morphological compatibility wih the historic structure of Perugia and its sympathetic relationship with the surrounding Umbrian landscape”.