The state exam at Firenze

A sealed envelope with three alternative design themes (Section A, first 2025 session), published in synthetic form by the commission and paired with the first written test justifying the structural or settlement sizing of the practical exam. THEME 1 — the design of a permanent public pavilion. THEME 2 — the recovery and consolidation of a barn altered over time. THEME 3 — the masterplan and implementation-plan scheme for the Polyvalent Food Centre in the former Mercafir area of Florence. The three themes test very different registers of the profession: the new public building, the intervention on a rural existing structure between recovery and structural consolidation, and the urban scale of the implementation plan with its standards and facilities.

A sealed envelope with three alternative design themes (Section A, second 2025 session), published in synthetic form by the commission and paired with the first written test justifying the structural or settlement sizing. THEME 1 — the design of a public neighbourhood library, with the layout of parking, greenery and paths. THEME 2 — the recovery and consolidation of a Tuscan barn altered over time, with a new residential use. THEME 3 — an urban-transformation design in the Soccorso district of Prato, with the regeneration of the built fabric and public spaces. As in the first session, the three themes span the public building with its outdoor facilities, the recovery of a rural existing structure with a change of use, and the urban scale of a neighbourhood's regeneration.

A sealed envelope with four alternative practical-exam themes (Section A). TRACK A — a small tourist information centre along the Via Francigena (stage 31, Gambassi Terme area), replacing the existing one: a modular, replicable, aggregable proposal with a modern, recognizable look; maximum dimensions 9.60×6×3 m; steel or timber structure with reversible, demountable dry systems (except foundations); functions including front desk, exhibition, sheltered waiting, device charging, videowall, bike stand and charging, water dispenser, accessible toilet. TRACK B — restoration of an early-1900s lighthouse at the edge of Capo d'Orlando (northern Sicilian coast), in very poor condition and listed (art. 10(1) Legislative Decree 42/2004), to be converted into an artist's residence with studio/workshop, gallery and living space: from diagnostic surveys to technological choices, following contemporary conservation principles (recognizability, reversibility, compatibility). TRACK C — a single-family house in Signa (Florence plain), in the historic centre (zone A) within a landscape-protection area (art. 136 Legislative Decree 42/2004), on a lot facing piazza Cavour and the Romanesque Pieve of San Giovanni Battista, abutting the 18th-century Palazzo Scaffai, with a listed "wall screen" (the "Cinema Giardino Michelacci" sign): after demolishing precarious structures, a single 160 sqm dwelling, max 2 floors plus semi-basement, height 6.50 m. TRACK D — a recovery plan for a former productive area (a disused agricultural consortium) at the edge of Sorano's old town (Tuscany), reconverting it to residence and retail with public greenery and parking: site area 5,530 sqm, in-line buildings with 1,100 sqm residential floor area, 400 sqm neighbourhood retail, max 2 floors/7.5 m, minimum 1,060 sqm public greenery, at least 25 public parking spaces, with pedestrian and cycle paths.

A sealed envelope with four alternative practical-exam themes (Section A, "senior architect"). TRACK 1 — a single-family house in the hamlet of Chianni (Gambassi Terme, Florence), on a sloping lot in the historic fabric less than 300 m from the Romanesque Pieve of Santa Maria (a Via Francigena stop recorded in 988): after demolishing worthless outbuildings, a single 140 sqm dwelling above ground, 2 floors plus an optional semi-basement, max height 7.5 m, parallel to the white road to be kept, parking to the north-west, with attention to the context's typology and materials. TRACK 2 — the recovery of the ruins of a 16th-century coastal tower (referencing the Torre S. Giovanni la Pedata at Gallipoli), reading its decay and designing the consolidation and reuse of the historic structure. TRACK 3 — a temporary exhibition pavilion on the terracotta pavement of the Belvedere Franco Zeffirelli, below Piazzale Michelangelo in Florence, for a show on the history of the ancient walls: 90 sqm, max height 3.60 m, demountable and reversible, dry-assembled, without foundations, lasting three months, with visual permeability toward the city and the walls and accessibility requirements; the site must not be altered. TRACK 4 — the urban design of a residential block (a disused area fronting via Roma) through an implementation plan: an in-line building, private and public parking (850 sqm), total residential and commercial volume 2,500 cubic metres (20% commercial), max height 7.5 m, with the stages of the implementation-plan procedure and the regulatory references.