The Council Room of the Municipality of Catanzaro shines again after an important redevelopment project, which became necessary following the partial collapse of the false ceiling in February 2018. The resulting unusability, combined with the age of the systems, required a complex architectural, structural and plant renovation project, now completed with a total investment of 900 thousand euros, financed with Urban Agenda funds.
The intervention involved the restoration of the roof slab and the remaking of the false ceiling with sound-absorbing panels with modern lines, designed to guarantee optimal acoustics and recall the geometries of the large painting on the wall. The redevelopment also included new flooring, coverings, fixtures and furnishings, as well as polishing the parquet and maintenance of the councilors’ desks.
Great attention was paid to energy efficiency: the air conditioning system was completely replaced with a high efficiency heat pump system, powered exclusively by electricity and supported by a photovoltaic system integrated on the roof, capable of producing approximately 7 kW of electricity. The special photovoltaic sheath, made with BIPV technology, also acts as a waterproofing element, guaranteeing high performance and a low visual impact.
The new Council Chamber is now accessible and technologically advanced, thanks to the installation of a modern audio and voting system which also allows the streaming of the sessions.
Finally, the restoration of the large wall painting by Tarcisio Bedini was carried out, taken from a sketch by Ugo Ortona, which decorates the upper part of the hall and depicts scenes from the city’s history. The intervention, carried out by restorers Isabel Tornaquindici and Salvatore Minervino, returned the masterpiece to its original splendor.
With the conclusion of the works, the Council Chamber of Catanzaro thus returns to being the renewed symbol of the democratic life of the city, with a modern face but respectful of its history.
Fiorita: “The Aula Rossa is the civic heart of Catanzaro”
Here are some of the passages from the speech given by mayor Nicola Fiorita:
“There are places that are not only made up of the material used to build them. There are places that breathe, that retain the words and passions of those who have spoken, discussed, dreamed there. And for me, for all of us, this place – the Red Room – is one of those.”
“I have witnessed the return of the house of municipal democracy to its best form, but only today, in sitting among these finally full benches, in seeing the assembled Council, the people, the expectant silence of those who feel that history is being made even in the details, only today do I fully understand the privilege of being here.”
“The Aula Rossa is not just a council chamber: it is the civic heart of Catanzaro. It is here that democracy becomes a voice, that ideas take shape, that dissent is heard and discussion becomes growth.”
“I would like to remember the words of Piero Calamandrei: ‘Freedom is like air: you realize how much it is worth when it starts to run out.’
This classroom, with its history and its memory, reminds us that freedom is defended every day, with the effort of dialogue, with the courage of choices, with the coherence of gestures.”
“The restoration that we celebrate today is not just architectural: it is a restoration of the civic soul.
Thanks to the funds from the Urban Agenda program of the POR Calabria 2014/2020, the Aula Rossa has returned to being a lively and contemporary place: more accessible, more sustainable, more efficient.”
“In the center of the floor, our imperial eagle, symbol of Catanzaro, returns to supervise the work of the Council: an emblem of pride and responsibility, which reminds us that governing is not a privilege, but a service.”
“This room must live up to that lesson every day. Here we must not seek easy consensus, but possible truth; not sterile division, but discussion that improves decisions, not personal interest but the common good.
Because politics, when lived with dignity and passion, is a very high form of love for the community.”
“When, in a few years, someone enters this room for the first time, as a citizen or as a councilor, they will not only have to find a modern or technologically efficient room. They will have to breathe the sense of a city that still believes in democracy, that does not give in to disillusionment, that considers politics not a profession but a civil mission.”
“From tomorrow in this room we will return to compare ourselves and inevitably divide ourselves. But if we know how to live up to this shared moment we will all be better, and we will be better in a precious place, ours, not because it is efficient but because it is capable of making us listen to the heart of the city and of speaking to that same heart.”