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PUJ: Mercato Coperto
Customer
Comune di Prato
Location
Prato, Italy
Services
Architecture, Biophilic Design
Year
2021 - 2023
Award
Urban Innovative Action
Biophilic Design for a Covered Market Bistro
In August 2019, the European Union selected the Prato Urban Jungle project among the 20 winners of the 4th call for Urban Innovative Actions (www.uia-initiative.eu), a program that funds pilot projects promoting sustainable urban development. The project’s goal is to test green solutions, or Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), in pilot buildings across Prato, creating a scalable model that can be replicated in other European cities (www.pratourbanjungle.it).
In a previously renovated industrial building turned covered market, the bistro area—spanning 250 square meters—was redesigned using biophilic principles to create an immersive indoor garden. Plants take center stage, serving aesthetic and functional roles as natural dividers integrated into furnishings and as acoustic dampeners. Additionally, two Fabbrica dell’Aria units, botanical purifiers developed by Pnat, were installed to filter indoor air contaminants, making plants the core of a unique, technology-driven design.
In this space, plants serve both aesthetic and functional purposes, acting as natural dividers integrated into the furniture and as acoustic dampeners. Additionally, two units of the Fabbrica dell’Aria, the botanical air purifier developed by Pnat, have been installed to cleanse indoor air of contaminants using plants. Here, plants go beyond decorative elements to become the technological heart of a new design concept, enhancing both the environment and the experience.
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