Edoardo Tresoldi: ‘Opera’ in Reggio Calabria

Edoardo Tresoldi: ‘Opera’ in Reggio Calabria


Facing the Sicilian coasts and with the imposing presence of Mount Etna in the distance, forty-six freestanding columns stand eight meters tall along the waterfront promenade of Reggio Calabria, forming an orthogonal grid over the sinuous scheme of the park on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Built with electro-welded galvanized wire mesh, they have a diffused, ethereal presence in keeping with the optical phenomena known to take place in the mythical Strait of Messina.

The industrial nature of the material and its transparency – which together result in what the author calls “absent matter” – are used to concoct a reinterpretation of the language of classical architecture and create new ties with the place, all in a sort of ‘mental agora’ that encourages one to contemplate the landscape and seascape and figure out new poetic meanings.