History
Felice2 is a tribute to the story of this site, dedicated to the diversity and resiliency of generations of metalworkers, their families and their neighborhood.
impact
Felice2’s
Role in the
Italian
Economic
Miracle
In the 1960s, this site was a metalworks at the heart of Italy’s economic miracle. Its workers built the vertical formwork and the bridge cranes used to raise the bridges and tunnels of the A1 and A14 motorways.
Completed in 1964, the A1, the Autostrada del Sole, joined Milan to Naples and linked the north and the south of the country by motorway. The A14 followed along the Adriatic coast, passing through Fano. The steel made on this site helped shape the infrastructure that put Italy in motion.
For decades, generations of metalworkers and their families made this site part of the life of the neighborhood. Today Felice2 preserves that heritage and stands as a tribute to the people whose hard work helped build modern Italy.
history
Building on the Past
After sitting derelict for more than a decade, the site was acquired by Zeppelin one month before its scheduled demolition. On September 15, 2006, Zeppelin’s founding partners and design team made their first survey of the site.
On that day, a meticulous study of the building began. Led by the Zeppelin design team, the work also involved leading Italian architectural firms. Together, they preserved its original structure and searched for materials that would integrate seamlessly with the old ones, so that the new spaces would sit quietly next to the original.
