PRECIPIZI DI ARGILLA

The idea is to recreate a microcosm in this place that symbolically brings together the characteristic elements of the region’s natural world: the badlands, the Mediterranean scrub, and olive trees. The entire area has thus been designed as a sequence of clay and soil concretions planted with Mediterranean scrub, which also serve as rest and waiting areas. On the main facade of the station, the only building remaining from the original narrow-gauge railway, an olive tree profile casts a shadow across the entire facade during the day, while at night the same profile is traced with blue light projections. At the center of the square, a “badland” forms a large traffic island and hosts the sculpture Accoglienza, which depicts a large fallen nest, with a broken blue branch caught at one end. The structure is inspired by that of the penduline tit, a passerine bird that builds its hanging pear-shaped nest around a tree branch.

The intervention in the square is part of a larger territorial-scale project developed by Marcella Tisi and Andrea Rolando since 2013 in the Lucanian region, titled Landscapes in Motion. It exemplifies a synergy of various skills: urban planner Andrea Rolando, architect Michele Iacovazzi from Ferrandina, engineer Francesco Onorato, Ferrandina’s mayor Carmine Lisanti, artist Marcella Tisi, and local entities including the Matera National Railway Association, represented by President Nicola Pavese, and cultural event promoter and entrepreneur Paola Saraceno.