Architecture giant to redesign Parma home

Article posted by Coliseum, March 2^nd, 2021

Image: Parma Calcio

Serie A football club Parma Calcio, a top-flight soccer club based at Parma, Italy, has initiated the first step for an overhaul of its residence – Stadio Ennio Tardini – by roping in innovative architecture firm Studio Zoppini to redesign its home.

Parma Calcio 1913, commonly referred to as Parma, is an Italian professional football club based in Parma, Emilia-Romagna. It currently competes in the Serie A, the top flight of Italian football.

Built in 1923, the sixth oldest arena in Italy, the Stadio Ennio Tardini, with a capacity of 27,900, has been the home of an even older football club the Parma Calcio, founded in 1913. The stadium is named after one of Parma’s former Presidents, Ennio Tardini, who died during its construction. The stadium is the 19^th largest football ground in Italy and the second largest in Emilia-Romagna.

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Studio Zoppini, an internationally renowned designer architecture firm founded by Pino Zoppini in 1961, is headquartered in Milano, Italy.

The Parma Calcio website stated that the firm specializes in technically complex design of public sports facilities, with 15 sports venues and over 50 other facilities in its kitty. The strength of the Studio lies in great attention to the development of technologically advanced buildings, which do not conform to a predesigned model but are tailored to the expectations of users and the community in which the building is located.

Kyle Krause, President, Parma Calcio, stated, “We are enthusiastic and totally convinced with the choice we’ve made, the ability in the world of sports and beyond, expressed worldwide by Studio Zoppini, is exactly what we were looking for.”

“Studio Zoppini has a unique approach and methodology. They’re environmentally conscious and by extent conscious of the City and its citizens, of businesses and the local area,” he added.

The Parma Calcio website added that the proposal for a revamp of Tardini Studio had begun during previous owner Nuovo Inizio’s time. The proposal was scrapped after the new owners, the Klause Group, took over the arena in September 2020 with a fresh project proposal being outlined which would enhance the capacity of the facility to more than 31,000 and the top-notch club is hoping that work would start by summer of 2022.

Klause, in a recent meeting with Parma Mayor Federico Pizzarotti and Deputy Mayor Marco Bosi, affirmed that the renovated Stadio Ennio Tardini remained an essential part of the Parma Calcio project regardless of results on the pitch. Krause was accompanied by a delegation from the club.

“We are a team rooted in passion and resilience. We are facing difficult odds but we are committed to staying in Serie A,” said Krause.

“However, I want to be clear that regardless of where we end the season, we are committed to moving forward with the enhancement and update of our stadium. Tardini is iconic and its renovation is significant not just to us but to the entire City of Parma. It was important for me to communicate this personally to the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor, and to reiterate our commitment to Parma Calcio and Stadio Tardini for the long term,” he explained.

A partner in the firm since 1996, Alessandro Zoppini whose portfolio boasts the Olympic Games in Turin (Italy), Sochi (Russia) and Pyeongchang (South Korea), the places where the Studio designed three different award-winning arenas, will lead the team at Parma.

“Coming first in this selection process is a success, which makes us extremely proud,” said Alessandro Zoppini.

“Taking part in the first sustainable redevelopment project for an Italian stadium is an unquestionable honor for us, and participating in its realization will mean playing a role in a fundamental shift in the world of football as well as in environmental sports engineering and architecture,” he elucidated.

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