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Piazza del Plebiscito is a space defined as much by its proportions as by its architecture. Broad and open at its centre, framed on one side by the stately façade of the Royal Palace and embraced on the other by the sweeping semicircular colonnade of the Basilica of San Francesco di Paola, it has an instantly recognisable geometry — one far removed from that of a conventional sports venue.
For the opening of the CEV EuroVolley 2026 Men, that geometry was temporarily rewritten.
A volleyball court, grandstands and an extensive technical infrastructure became part of the monumental fabric of the square, creating an open-air arena for around 6,000 spectators. On September 10, reigning World Champions Italy faced Sweden in the opening match of the European Championship, attended by the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella.
The court, however, was only part of the evening.
The opening unfolded through different languages and rhythms: institutional speeches and ceremonial moments gave way to entertainment, live music and a performance by Planet Funk, before attention shifted entirely to the match. Within the same production, the audio system therefore had to move from the precision required by the spoken word to the dynamics of a live show, and finally to the immediacy and energy of international sport.
In such a context, accurate sound reproduction was essential. Every speech had to retain clarity and intelligibility across the full extent of the audience area; music required scale, definition and low-frequency presence; and transitions between the different phases of the event needed to feel natural and seamless.
The architecture itself added another layer of complexity to the project. Piazza del Plebiscito does not offer the predictable boundaries of an arena: its vast open surface meets monumental façades, porticoes and the pronounced curve of the colonnade, creating a complex relationship between distance, reflections and coverage. The sound design therefore had to read the square almost as an architectural plan, working with its proportions and irregularities to create a coherent listening environment within a space conceived centuries before amplified sound existed.
Responsible for the technical production, L’Altroservice approached the project with an extensive distributed dBTechnologies configuration, deploying different VIO systems to shape coverage according to the individual areas of the temporary arena.
A total of 78 VIO L210 line array modules formed the backbone of the sound reinforcement system, complemented by 24 VIO L208 modules and 10 VIO X205 point-source loudspeakers. Rather than relying on a single acoustic perspective, the configuration allowed coverage to be articulated throughout the venue, bringing definition and consistency to listening areas positioned at different distances and angles from the court and stage.
The low-frequency section combined 8 VIO S218 and 8 VIO S118 subwoofers, providing the extension and physical presence required by the live programme without compromising the intelligibility needed during speeches and ceremonial content. Six VIO W15T monitors completed the stage setup, supporting the artists throughout the musical segments of the opening.
The scale of the deployment required an equally structured control architecture. Four RDNet Control 8 units provided the management infrastructure for the dBTechnologies network, allowing such an extensive system to operate as a coordinated whole.
On site, the project was handled by the L’Altroservice technical team, led by crew chief Francesco Fontanella alongside Mario Plaitano, Maurizio Cincotti and Esther Mastrominico, who were responsible for implementing and managing a deployment shaped by the scale and distinctive characteristics of this exceptional location.
Overall, Piazza del Plebiscito hosted 134 dBTechnologies loudspeaker systems: 78 VIO L210, 24 VIO L208, 10 VIO X205, 8 VIO S218, 8 VIO S118 and 6 VIO W25, supported by four RDNet Control 8 units.
What made the project distinctive was not simply the number of systems involved, but the relationship they had to establish with the space around them. A monumental square became an arena without ever ceasing to be a monumental square. Its architecture remained present from every perspective, while speech, music, ceremony and competition alternated within it.
For the opening of EuroVolley 2026, sound became part of this temporary architecture: precise enough to carry a voice across the square, powerful enough to convey the full scale of a live performance, and carefully distributed enough to allow Piazza del Plebiscito itself to remain the most remarkable presence of all.