At this competition it was asked to design a wellness area for the visitors of the F.I.CO food expo taken place in Bologna, willing to discover both nutrition and body care. F.I.C.O. Wellness center for us was a space where the body and mind would relax, a place that would inspire elevation and balance. One of the first goals, while designing the project, was to emphasize the meaning of the water, having always in mind that the aqua zone was the core of the project and that every space has been in a close relationship with it.                                           

The architectural design is based on the solid volumes and the way they relate to the water. The way they are arranged is inspired from the typology of Bologna’s medieval city, the atrium, which was the core of the building and in which every space was in close relationship to it, in which our project the atrium is translated as the main aqua zone, in which the solid volumes surround it. In addition to that, we were interested in creating atmospheric spaces having in mind light and shadow contrasts. This was achieved in two ways: firstly by arranging the volumes in such way that we controlled the amount of light entering and secondly by the choice of the material used for the volumes, which was Barites (also known as Bologna stone). This is a local material plentiful in the area and it is natu­rally found in hot spring deposits. We decided to mix it with granite, which is a very famous material used in spa relaxation areas. The combination of these two factors gave a cave-like atmosphere which can be related to hot spring caves and inspires the human being in initiation of relaxation and wellness.