Floor fountain
Piazza Bracci, San Lazzaro di Savena, Bologna

Luciano Bracci Square in San Lazzaro di Savena is the new green heart of the Emilian city, the result of the regeneration of public spaces project promoted by the Municipal Administration and created by Open Project Studio of Bologna. Nature is the protagonist, through the element of water, given by the floor fountain, and the greenery, with newly planted trees and large filter beds.
Respiro is the concept created by Open Project to transform the city center of San Lazzaro di Savena through a project that aims to organically mend the square and the main street of the historic center, with the creation of a single large urban space with a strong green footprint. Hence the name Respiro, is intended for the dual objective of improving air quality and creating a decompression area. Overall, this is a radical transformation of the public space, with the extension towards the city of the square, overlooked by the town hall, the parish church, and the numerous commercial activities: in this way, the square will be opened to the public use and can be experienced by citizens throughout its entire extension.
The floor fountain is located in the center of the square, it has 10 linear jets divided into geometric groups of 4 + 4 + 2. Each nozzle is illuminated by an RGBW LED spot, both installed in an AISI 316L steel box, whose upper surface is covered with the same material as the surrounding flooring, to give stylistic and aesthetic continuity. The fountain always reuses the same water, which is collected, filtered, balanced in pH and Redox values, and put back into circulation. Following the slopes of the paving of the square, two solutions were implemented for the correct construction of the fountain:

• An 8mm slot along the perimeter of each box;
• Three lines of AISI 316L steel channels along the geometric designs that make up the nozzle groups.

Thanks to these solutions, it is possible to recover and therefore reuse all the water used by the ten nozzles (replenishing it automatically only when needed), to guarantee its functionality, safety, and aesthetic result.
The filtration system is housed in the aboveground technical compartment, which is composed of an Astralpool Victoria Plus Silent 3/4 pump and a glass grit filter connected to an EMEC panel with a double dosing pump for the automatic acidification and chlorination of the water, with also control probe, automatic in-line replenishment, and remote control. The technical compartment is a design element designed, and built to host the toponomy with the name of the square: the entire volume was liquid painted in Corten color and the writing is white. Furthermore, in the back and sides of the technical compartment, there are ventilation slots, they cannot alter the aesthetic harmony, leaving the front part smooth.
Forme d'Acqua also took care of the choreography and programming of the water and light shows, tailor-made and based on the scheduled time in which they will be shown, to give greater dynamism and attractiveness to the entire project.
The main characteristic of floor fountains is their active interaction with people, as they emerge from the flooring, placing themselves on the same level as the users. At the same time, if turned off, they make the area completely walkable or accessible to vehicles and without architectural barriers, to be able to make full use of it, maintaining flexibility and openness to different uses of the square.