Intended for school use and for sports associations, the new gymnasium in the Fiera Catena district, in Mantua, is part of a regeneration project for the eastern suburbs of the city.
Mantua: new gym hall in Fiera Catena

The gym hall in Mantua, in the Fiera Catena District, was inaugurated in May 2024, intended for use by schools in the morning, with priority given to the nearby Mantegna Institute, and sports associations in the afternoon.
The gymnasium was named after Gianni Usvardi, journalist, Mantuan politician and Mayor of Mantua from 1973 to 1985.


The new gymnasium, with its simple lines and rigorous volumes, includes spaces for sports activities on the basement level; spaces for support services on the basement and ground floor (changing rooms, toilets, offices, first aid room, storage, technical rooms, service rooms, access, etc.); spaces for the public on the basement and ground floor (reception, toilets). The public has 80 seats in the grandstand, 24 standing places and 2 places for the disabled.
In detail, the building consists of two volumes: one for the sports area, with 12 reinforced concrete load-bearing baffles and a double-pitch roof, sup- ported by glulam beams; another lower volume for the changing rooms and support activities, with a pillar structure and a flat roof.




The playing field and the changing rooms of the gym hall in Mantua are located at a level of -3.50 m above the outside level. The design choice of constructing the building by placing the playing surface at a lower level than the street is aimed at creating the lowest volumetric impact with respect to the profile of the urban framework in which it fits.
The external volume of the gymnasium, in the emerging part, has large windows on three sides of the ground floor.
The location and typological layout of the gym hall of Fiera Catena in Mantua, as well as the conscious search to orient the building to favor and emphasize the connection with the surrounding fabric, realize the intention of giving an urban value to an area that is currently marginal, and to create, in addition, the opportunity for the creation of a new urban space, and place of aggregation for the neighborhood.



