Italian architect Stefano Boeri has designed a prefabricated and timber-framed vaccination pavilion for Covid-19 to be distributed to 1,500 public squares of Italy.

Boeri's vaccination pavilion, developed with Domenico Arcuri, Rome’s special commissioner for the Covid-19 emergency, will first be distributed to 300 Italian sites, and later the installations of the pavilions are expected to reach almost 1,500 once the vaccination campaign is at its peak, Arcuri told Reuters. They plan to vaccinate the majority of Italians by September.

As Arcuri said, Italy plans to begin "vaccinating socio-medical staff and residents of homes for the elderly with 1.8 million doses in mid-January." 

Developed as a big campaign for the Covid-19's vaccination period, Stefano Boeri Architetti together with a team of consultants collaborated with Domenico Arcuri on this project, which is developed as free of charge. 

The project contains a communicative concept and architectural design of the pavilions. The integrated proposal includes three elements: the campaign logo in its various forms; the design for the temporary pavilions to be used for administering the vaccine in the main Italian squares, and a mobile information totem to be set up in public places.

"With the image of a springtime flower, we wanted to create an architecture that would convey a symbol of serenity and regeneration. Getting vaccinated will be an act of civic responsibility, love for others and the rediscovery of life," said Stefano Boeri.

"If this virus has locked us up in hospitals and homes, the vaccine will bring us back into contact with life and the nature that surrounds us."

For the vaccination pavilions, Boeri created a circular structure so that the pavilion can be easily dismantled and re-assembled for various sites. The pavilion will rest on a prefabricated wooden base which will also be used for supporting the various systems in the internal rooms. The supporting frame will made of structural wood.

For its external cover, Boeri will be use textiles featuring a combination of different recyclable and natural biodegradable water-resistant materials. The roof will be made of a system of photovoltaic panels designed to generate enough electricity to meet the needs of the entire pavilion.

In the interior, there will be partitions which will be created using prefabricated textile systems - they are used for their light weight, flexibility, sound absorption and transparency.

"The organization of the interior spaces of the pavilion include both the spaces necessary for the administration of the vaccine and those for acceptance and waiting after vaccination," said Stefano Boeri Architetti.

The central core of the circle will house service areas for operators such as administration, storage, changing rooms, dedicated toilets. The same elements in the layout of the pavilions will also be found in the administration points identified within existing structures.

On top of the pavilions, there will be a flower shape, which is used as an icon for not only of the tremendous biodiversity found throughout Italy but also a symbol of the natural cycle of life and continuous rebirth.

As the studio explains, the inspirational flower takes cues from the Primrose, the first to blossom after the long winter and announce the re-awakening of Nature and the arrival of Spring.

"This flower is the element that will link every aspect of the campaign since it shares the same circular pattern as the layout of the pavilions that will be erected in Italy’s squares and public spaces," added the studio. 

"It will be clearly visible from above as large versions of it will be printed on the pavilion roofs, side walls and information totems."

"Italy’s squares will then visually blossom with a flower. The pay-off for the identity campaign is inspired by this element: "With a flower, Italy comes back to life"."

Project facts

Project: Stefano Boeri Architetti / Stefano Boeri Interiors 

Coordination: Maria Chiara Pastore 

Planning/design team: Francesca Cesa Bianchi, Giorgio Donà, Marco Giorgio, Jacopo Abbate, Pietro Chiodi, Maria Lucrezia De Marco, Federico Godino, Anastasia Kucherova, Simone Marchetti and Martina Mitrovic

Consultants:

Graphic design: anchora, Mario Piazza

Materials and technologies: Ingrid Paoletti

Energy supply and installations: Niccolò Aste 

All images courtesy of Stefano Boeri Architetti.

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