Competition for the Aosta-Pila Gondola | Aosta Valley
The project :
The valley station was designed to connect aesthetically to the existing one and optimize the functionality of user flows, avoiding crossings or slowdowns between the staff, skiers and hikers coming from Aosta and those who leave or arrive in Pila. As suggested by the competition, it was considered appropriate to move the road to create an easier entrance to the area, which from the square welcomes visitors through the information point and the entrance to the ticket offices until the direct arrival at the cableway, through a covered path and accessible also to users with disabilities. The design proposal considers the stylistic aesthetics of the existing, proposing the use and recovery of the same materials, creating a direct aesthetic and functional connection with the arrival station of the "Aosta-Pila" cable car. The volume of the double "skin" covering the new cableway creates a different and new linearity that breaks the rules of perpendicularity and gives a new identity to access to the area, which will be found again in the mountain station, creating a strong identity image. A functional improvement of the internal spaces reserved for staff was deemed necessary, maintaining the same structural structure as the presence but optimizing the sizes for the changing rooms, bathrooms and service areas. The new toilet block is located in a position accessible from the various functional areas, ensuring good accessibility for different users. The functional study also ensures a certain linearity in the management of pedestrian flows, through a protected and pleasant route that acts as an accumulation for the queue of passengers going uphill, avoiding the intersections of users coming / directed in different areas.
