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The elements that make the Villaggio Artigiano a privileged project area today
derive mainly from two sets of issues: one of an urban, economic and social nature,
related to the ongoing problems of the area, and the other linked to the context of the
Villaggio Artigiano and its strong, untapped potential.
In a nutshell, the themes considered in the redevelopment plan are:
– Identity value of the Villaggio Artigiano: it is a “piece” of the city history and
an example of that “model Modena” that mainly contributed to the economic and
social development of the city. For this reason, it is important, from the perspective of identity and business, to promote the renewal of the Village without compromising on its productive nature, and to boost the vitality of the area that seems
to derive from the building typology and flexibility, which combines “home &
shop” with very particular architectural languages.
– Economic and entrepreneurial value: seen in retrospect, and with a modern perspective, Villaggio Artigiano was a major help in what today is called the start-up
of new businesses. To this one should add, the opportunity for artisans to have
their houses built in the vicinity of their workshop, thus reducing significantly
their personal and family costs of residence and transport. This particularly
applies to the early settlements
– Urban planning value: with regards to urban design and urban planning, the
Village, located next to the Old Town, but also well connected to the extra-urban
transport axes, is a center of gravity as far as the redevelopment of the whole
western sector of the city is concerned. This feature will be greatly enhanced by
new road connections and new forms of public transport. In fact, the Village is
highly affected by the planned diversion of the railway line bounding the area,
which will leave a large “diagonal” line of interconnection to the city center for
new public spaces and transport services.
These features make the Village an ideal testing ground from the point of view of
urban sustainability through the recovery of the existing fabric, ground-saving oriented, and the increase in the functional mix.
One of the main goals of this redevelopment plan is to renew the buildings in the
Village, by means of a deep restructuring of the existing edifices, respecting the size
and volume relations among them and producing a new estate body, which carries
on and updates the typical evolution process of the Villaggio Artigiano (Fig. 6.5).
Therefore, the proposed regulatory actions are aimed at promoting the transformation of the Village, increasing the functional mix among production, which
remains prevalent, services and residence, the latter to be rethought in new and
experimental ways (home studio, new types of home-workshop, residential complexes with shared facilities etc.). In addition to these possible changes, on the public side, the main object of the redevelopment Plan is to redesign public spaces for
meeting and socializing: rethinking and reorganizing the street mobility, creating
parking areas and green spaces (using, for example, the large diagonal line on which
the Village is grafted), signposting the presence of trade and services as an opportunity to generate significant spaces for urban quality of the neighborhood.
6 UHI in the Metropolitan Cluster of Bologna-Modena...
The elements that make the Villaggio Artigiano a privileged project area today
derive mainly from two sets of issues: one of an urban, economic and social nature,
related to the ongoing problems of the area, and the other linked to the context of the
Villaggio Artigiano and its strong, untapped potential.
In a nutshell, the themes considered in the redevelopment plan are:
– Identity value of the Villaggio Artigiano: it is a “piece” of the city history and
an example of that “model Modena” that mainly contributed to the economic and
social development of the city. For this reason, it is important, from the perspective of identity and business, to promote the renewal of the Village without compromising on its productive nature, and to boost the vitality of the area that seems
to derive from the building typology and flexibility, which combines “home &
shop” with very particular architectural languages.
– Economic and entrepreneurial value: seen in retrospect, and with a modern perspective, Villaggio Artigiano was a major help in what today is called the start-up
of new businesses. To this one should add, the opportunity for artisans to have
their houses built in the vicinity of their workshop, thus reducing significantly
their personal and family costs of residence and transport. This particularly
applies to the early settlements
– Urban planning value: with regards to urban design and urban planning, the
Village, located next to the Old Town, but also well connected to the extra-urban
transport axes, is a center of gravity as far as the redevelopment of the whole
western sector of the city is concerned. This feature will be greatly enhanced by
new road connections and new forms of public transport. In fact, the Village is
highly affected by the planned diversion of the railway line bounding the area,
which will leave a large “diagonal” line of interconnection to the city center for
new public spaces and transport services.
These features make the Village an ideal testing ground from the point of view of
urban sustainability through the recovery of the existing fabric, ground-saving oriented, and the increase in the functional mix.
One of the main goals of this redevelopment plan is to renew the buildings in the
Village, by means of a deep restructuring of the existing edifices, respecting the size
and volume relations among them and producing a new estate body, which carries
on and updates the typical evolution process of the Villaggio Artigiano (Fig. 6.5).
Therefore, the proposed regulatory actions are aimed at promoting the transformation of the Village, increasing the functional mix among production, which
remains prevalent, services and residence, the latter to be rethought in new and
experimental ways (home studio, new types of home-workshop, residential complexes with shared facilities etc.). In addition to these possible changes, on the public side, the main object of the redevelopment Plan is to redesign public spaces for
meeting and socializing: rethinking and reorganizing the street mobility, creating
parking areas and green spaces (using, for example, the large diagonal line on which
the Village is grafted), signposting the presence of trade and services as an opportunity to generate significant spaces for urban quality of the neighborhood.
6 UHI in the Metropolitan Cluster of Bologna-Modena...