A new lease of life for Piazza Garibaldi
Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi in Mandello Del Lario, a town on the shores of Como Lake in Northern Italy, has a new look. Thanks to the creative use of a coloured topcoating, a new connection has been created between the town centre, gardens and lakeshore, with a more extensive area of parkland. The aim of the redevelopment project, stipulated by the Local Town Council, was to improve the town’s spaces to make them more welcoming and functional by converting parking areas and portions of asphalt into creative solutions for pedestrians.
Through the use of coloured coatings, the space was reconfigured to create real islands for people to meet and socialise.
In order for this intervention to be effective not only did aesthetically excellent “paints” have to be used, but the treatments had to also, and above all, be durable and resistant to the aggressive action of the surrounding environment, as well as to wear caused by its actual use.
Durable, resistant coatings with high aesthetic impact
This aim was achieved to the full thanks to the application of MAPECOAT TNS EXTREME coloured epoxy-acrylic resin, which is used to coat and colour surfaces used by vehicles – with intense levels of traffic – as well as pedestrian zones and cycle paths, with mechanical characteristics suitable for this type of use and high resistance to potentially aggressive chemical agents such as de-icing salts, oil and fuel.
Also, because it is available in such an extensive range of colours, interventions can be carried out based on the concept of tactical urbanism, whereby public spaces are enhanced and improved to make them more suitable and pleasant for those who frequent them, while also consolidating the aspects and features typical of that particular territory or community.
Unlike normal paints, MAPECOAT TNS EXTREME dries very quickly: this enables work to be carried out more quickly and limits the amount of disturbance to traffic and pedestrians, particularly important for shops and commercial activities in general that operate in the area.
From an aesthetic perspective, Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi has a much more attractive look and, thanks to MAPECOAT TNS EXTREME coloured topcoating and the special selected fillers contained in the product, the surface has excellent slip-resistance, even in wet conditions.
These characteristics help make it safer for pedestrians when crossing the square and during all the other social events that take place in the area, such as the Mandello del Lario local market held every week across the whole square.
What is more, MAPECOAT TNS EXTREME creates a protective coating for concrete certified according to European standard EN 1504-2 that is able to maintain – with routine maintenance work – its performance characteristics over time and improve the durability of the paving.
Unlike traditional systems for colouring urban surfaces, such as asphalt and concrete pigmented throughout the entire mass, MAPECOAT TNS EXTREME allows you to work directly on the surface layer, thereby avoiding having to completely demolish paving no longer aesthetically homogeneous, reducing costs and enabling partial areas of the surface to be refurbished more quickly.
Today, Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi has much more innovative surfaces compared with traditional public spaces, surfaces that blends in perfectly with the new urban interpretation of the lakeshore and the public park in the area.
