A contemporary commercial destination serving the Bergamo metropolitan region — integrating retail, dining, and public gathering spaces within a landscape of sculpted white volumes and glass towers set against the Italian countryside.
Developed for the Percassi Group and sited at the edge of the Bergamo metropolitan area, the Azzano Retail Development occupies a threshold condition between the dense urban fabric of Lombardy and the open agricultural landscape of the Po Valley. The design leverages this transitional setting, organizing the program as a dramatic architectural landscape that engages the scale of the surrounding countryside while serving as a regional commercial anchor.
Form & Massing
The complex is organized as a series of interconnected volumes that rise and fold across the site, creating a dynamic roofscape of curving white surfaces punctuated by angular glass towers. The massing establishes a dialogue between horizontal retail platforms and vertical landmark elements, producing a silhouette that reads as both a cohesive composition and a collection of distinct architectural moments.
Facade & Materiality
Perforated white cladding panels wrap the primary volumes, creating a continuous skin that modulates between opacity and translucency. Triangulated glass curtain walls define the tower elements, their faceted geometry reflecting sky and landscape throughout the day. The interplay of white metal and glass establishes a material language that is at once contemporary and contextually sensitive to the Lombardy light.
Interior Experience
The interior retail concourse is conceived as a series of fluid spaces organized around glass pod-like retail volumes that hover above polished floors. Escalators and open galleries connect multiple levels, creating visual connections across the full depth of the complex. The spatial sequence moves from compressed entry lobbies into expansive double-height halls flooded with natural light from the sculpted roof above.
Public Space & Landscape
Generous pedestrian plazas, landscaped pathways, and water features establish a network of exterior public spaces that activate the perimeter of the complex. Stone pathways lead visitors from parking areas and transit connections through planted borders to the main entrance pavilions. The landscape strategy extends the public realm from the surrounding Bergamo countryside into the heart of the retail experience.
Design Team
The project was designed by Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture with the Asymptote Architecture team.
