Rehabilitation Projects of the Areas
of the Decommissioned Barraks in Milan,
2014
Raffaella Neri
Abstract Projects and studies were born from a research and a workshop promoted
by the School of Architettura Civile and continued through master thesis and a
Convention with the Ministry of Defense. The paper deals with the role that these
areas can play in the transformation of peripheral sites through the settlement of
new activities and collective places, parks and residential activities, as well as the
possibility of recovering existing structures. The chapter includes a selection of
projects.
Keywords Barraks · Decommissioned areas · Urban design · Urban composition
Today, the main transformations of historically established systems mostly happen
when large areas are decommissioned and become newly available to the city for
redevelopment. After the decommissioning of large industrial sites that began in
the 1970s and the long process to redevelop them for new programs, other large
areas are now becoming available in Milan and in several other cities as the result of
structural changes in production, transportation, institutional. The guidelines of urban
and territorial plans reflect such changes in ways that generally refer to particular
issues and programs: today, the main strategic areas, in Milan and in other Italian and
European cities, are rail-road yards and military areas, either already decommissioned
or in the process of becoming so. As such, they are the object of a special focus
by the master plans that are expected to indicate their future transformation. When
important programs that usually occupy large sections of the city’s core get relocated,
they usually leave behind valuable buildings or architectural complexes. In any case,
they are often particularly relevant in terms of location and size as they form large
enclaves within the established built fabric between the city core and its suburbs. As
large, enclosed areas, set apart and inaccessible, they are still intact and thus can be
repurposed for a totally different and surprising new life. Their availability represents
an important resource that can potentially redefine, subvert and guide the future life
R. Neri (B)
Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering—ABC Department, Politecnico di
Milano, Milan, Italy
e-mail: raffaella.neri@polimi.it
© The Author(s) 2020
S. Della Torre et al. (eds.), Regeneration of the Built Environment
from a Circular Economy Perspective, Research for Development,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33256-3_17
169
of the Decommissioned Barraks in Milan,
2014
Raffaella Neri
Abstract Projects and studies were born from a research and a workshop promoted
by the School of Architettura Civile and continued through master thesis and a
Convention with the Ministry of Defense. The paper deals with the role that these
areas can play in the transformation of peripheral sites through the settlement of
new activities and collective places, parks and residential activities, as well as the
possibility of recovering existing structures. The chapter includes a selection of
projects.
Keywords Barraks · Decommissioned areas · Urban design · Urban composition
Today, the main transformations of historically established systems mostly happen
when large areas are decommissioned and become newly available to the city for
redevelopment. After the decommissioning of large industrial sites that began in
the 1970s and the long process to redevelop them for new programs, other large
areas are now becoming available in Milan and in several other cities as the result of
structural changes in production, transportation, institutional. The guidelines of urban
and territorial plans reflect such changes in ways that generally refer to particular
issues and programs: today, the main strategic areas, in Milan and in other Italian and
European cities, are rail-road yards and military areas, either already decommissioned
or in the process of becoming so. As such, they are the object of a special focus
by the master plans that are expected to indicate their future transformation. When
important programs that usually occupy large sections of the city’s core get relocated,
they usually leave behind valuable buildings or architectural complexes. In any case,
they are often particularly relevant in terms of location and size as they form large
enclaves within the established built fabric between the city core and its suburbs. As
large, enclosed areas, set apart and inaccessible, they are still intact and thus can be
repurposed for a totally different and surprising new life. Their availability represents
an important resource that can potentially redefine, subvert and guide the future life
R. Neri (B)
Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering—ABC Department, Politecnico di
Milano, Milan, Italy
e-mail: raffaella.neri@polimi.it
© The Author(s) 2020
S. Della Torre et al. (eds.), Regeneration of the Built Environment
from a Circular Economy Perspective, Research for Development,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33256-3_17
169