Memory and innovation find their balanced dialogue in the project in the name of a new and contemporary scenario of urban landscape. The project redefines the entire area of the square, reconquering this place of the historic center of Pistoia for its vocation and public use. The Firenzuola stone floor that connects the three churchyards, with three types of workmanship (diamond saw wire for the extensive part, brushed silk to frame the linear lights on the floor and striped for the area south of the intersection with Via del Ceppo) composes a dominant iridescent grey color on which the monumental buildings stand out.

The regulation of rainwater is structured on the system of linear canals and with two underground tanks that collect water and allow reuse for irrigation purposes. The grids are integrated into the floor texture. Ancient and modern have a close dialogue by harmonious contrast; functionality and ecology are combined.

The new green system assumes fundamental importance both for the ecological and environmental aspects, representing a very large area of incidence on the entire area and therefore guaranteeing excellent soil permeability (far greater than the pre-existing flowerbed) and a consistent reduction in CO2, and for the spatial definition of visual escapes and the structuring of micro-areas of social relations. The greenery is structured by the system of row trees, by the surfaces with shrubs and perennials. In this project they designed the urban space with the aim of creating a “domestic” public space so that it would become the “garden of the city”.

The shrubs arranged within the sequence of large flowerbeds are organized as in nurseries, that is, by homogeneous thematic bands; here the quincunx planting layout contributes with the choice of plants with a dynamic and open habit, to the visual movement of the new green landscape. The relational areas created between different flowerbeds are characterized by the system of linear WPC seats arranged to create “urban living rooms” where people of all ages can spend free time in complete freedom and safety.

The choice of plants was aimed at the least possible maintenance to ensure sustainable management costs for the administration, a total of 68 new trees of the following species were planted: Acer campestre L., Acer japonicum, Erythrina, Ginko biloba grafted male, Liriodendron tulipifera, Schinus molle, Fraxinus oxycarpa ‘Raywood’, Malus ‘Profusion’. Starting from the west side along the former hospital “del Ceppo” there is a row of Liriodendron tulipifera with two large beds of Cistus salvifolius at the base. These two flowerbeds configure a circular area “square within the square” with two arched seats made of travertine that mark the presence of the Pistoia Sotterranea route (floor skylight).

On the east side, an articulated system of rows structures the sequence of spaces dedicated to relaxation and meeting. The tree species are: Ginko biloba, Liriodrendon tulipifera, Acer campestre, Fraxinus oxycarpa ‘Raywood’, Acer japonicum. On the perspective backdrop, to screen the ordinary modern building, new instant impact Acer campestre are planted.

The shrubs, planted for a total of 4666 specimens, are the following: Festuca glauca, Heuchera, Pennisetum setaceum, Bulbine frutescens, Myrtus communis ‘Microphylla’, Lavandula dentata var. candicans, Cytisus multiflorus, Cytisus scoparius, Cistus albidus, Cistus ladanifer, Cistus salvifolius, Cornus alba var. sibirica.

Maximum attention has been paid to both the aspects of functional general lighting and architectural light aimed at enhancing the three monumental facades present. The three facades are on perspective planes staggered in depth, this led the designers to interpret the lighting theme as static-dynamic light (with variation in flux and color temperature between 2700 K and 4000 K) and to create dynamic lighting scenarios that combine with the floor lights.

The area north of the square, located east of the large church of San Lorenzo, has maintained its vocation as a parking lot for residents. They have reconfigured the margins with the identification of rows of trees and flower beds, a new zigzag-shaped sidewalk where the Malus ‘Profusion’ tree system appears. The colors of the plant essences planted, even in their seasonal variation, will create a perceptive dynamism that will characterize the urban public space in a place of unexpected things, where the eye will move between different colors and habits. The parking space were designed in agreement with the municipal police, identifying white bands in the maneuvering spaces in order to attract the attention of motorists and pedestrians, but also as a reference to the graphic theme of black and white bands of sections of the bell tower of the city cathedral, also visible from here.

The sculpture, made Flavio Bartolozzi in 1993 in memory of the citizens shot during the Nazi-Fascist massacre of 1943 that took place in the square, has been relocated to the area north of the square, in front of the plaque set in the side wall of San Lorenzo that commemorates the event. Here the monument is visible from all positions and is a visual link between the southern and northern parts of the square.

A pair of travertine seats marks the limit between the new flooring and the pre-existing historic terracotta floor in the churchyard of the San Lorenzo. Finally, the public space is completely accessible to all users, as there are no architectural barriers.