Waterfront in Fano
The project reimagines the relationship between the city and the sea through a continuous system of “urban carpets” that reconnect the historic center to the coastline. As the first completed phase of the broader Sassonia waterfront redevelopment, the project introduces new public spaces, a seafront performance square, and a linear park that prioritizes pedestrian mobility, landscape, and social life over vehicular traffic. Inspired by the geometry of the Roman city and the natural character of the coast, the design weaves together paving, greenery, and public platforms into a seamless urban landscape, transforming the waterfront into a vibrant civic space where city and nature converge.
A system of urban carpets reconnects the coastline to the city, creating a woven network of public spaces that reinterpret the squares of the historic center and establish a new dialogue between nature and urban life.
The project constitutes the first completed phase of the broader redevelopment of the Sassonia waterfront in Fano, initiating the comprehensive transformation of the city's seafront. This first intervention introduces a seafront performance square and a continuous sequence of public spaces that redefine the relationship between the city and the coastline. The project originated from the international design competition won by Superspatial in 2022.
The transformation of the waterfront represents a strategic opportunity to re-establish a direct connection between sea and city, reclaiming a historic resource that has profoundly shaped Fano's identity. The objective is to rethink how public space is experienced and shared, replacing fast-moving traffic with slow and sustainable mobility while creating new connections between the urban and natural environments.
The project is conceived as a process of progressive and sustainable territorial transformation, in which each phase contributes to a coherent overall vision. The waterfront is not a collection of functional parts but a continuous system of "urban fabrics" integrating landscape, public spaces, programs, and mobility. Green infrastructure and natural elements play a structuring role, transforming the seafront into an inhabited linear park. Historically, road and railway infrastructures have severed the relationship between the city and the coast, fragmenting the intermediate space and weakening its urban role. The project seeks to overcome these barriers by reconnecting the coastal system to the historic center and the surrounding hilly landscape through a continuous network of public spaces and soft mobility routes.
The Fano waterfront is therefore conceived as a sequence of "urban carpets" that reconnect the city to the sea through paving surfaces, green spaces, and public platforms. The depth of the coastline is expanded to incorporate resting areas, services, and pedestrian paths, shaping a hybrid system in which beach, landscape, and city overlap seamlessly.
In proximity to the historic center, the design draws upon the geometry of the Roman city, creating a sequence of squares and platforms in different materials that host public and cultural activities. The use of paving that incorporates the characteristic Sassonia pebbles dissolves the boundary between city and beach, creating a new continuous public realm that bridges the urban and the natural.
