Roberto Collovà, born in 1943 in Corleone, is an architect based in Palermo whose work draws on other creative fields such as the visual arts and photography. His experimentation in the area of public architecture projects has always been accompanied by his photography and notes illustrated by drawings. In his work, however, photography and drawing are not mere tools of observation and analysis, but full-fledged means for the development of a personal form of expression and narration. Collovà has also worked in the field of landscape and garden architecture, installations for open spaces, furniture, lamps, objects of various kinds and ceramic works.
Giardino di giardini. Azioni sulla Costa Sud, 2018
Intervention in the public space, mixed media
The mise-en-scène of a studio, the workplace of the architect, who puts on display models, detritus, collages, experiments, photos, drawings and maps that express a living archaeology of the south coast. The intervention is a reflection on the changes in the geography of the coast between 1950 and 1980. The habit of pouring rubble from the northward expansion into the sea created artificial promontories and wide beaches of detritus all along the coast. The popular tradition of “bathing establishments” along the 5 kilometers of the coast came to an end due to the pollution of the water and the dangerous state of the sea-beds. The two coasts, one visible and the other buried, merge into a single strip of new land. Is it possible to imagine it, from one end to the other, as a park? Part of Giardino di giardini. Azioni sulla Costa Sud becomes the project for traditional illuminations, Ponte Luminaria, that design the crossing on the stone pylons of the old railway bridge.