Firm： ZOA Studio

Type： Cultural › Cultural Center Museum Government + Health › Community Center Landscape + Planning › Public Park

STATUS： Concept

The prestigious development, Viva Virgolo, with its location being at 450m above sea level won’t just be a fancy selfie spot from where you can take breathtaking snapshots of the city of Bolzano and the surrounding mountains. It will also create a new cultural hub with a restaurant, shops, cafés, two concert halls, and most importantly, a new natural history museum which will be the resting place for the famous Ötzi, a Tyrolean Iceman who lived in the area 5300 years ago and is known for having been naturally mummified under the ice for thousands of years.

The international design competition sparked interest all over the world from the most well-recognized architectural design firms and it was truly exciting to see how these concepts were competing against each other until one came out on top and was selected out to be the most suitable for Bolzano’s beloved locals. After this initial victory came the tedious and lengthy journey with its rises and falls during which we, hand in hand with Snøhetta were holding up the hope that this project could start to materialize at last.