194
R. Neri and T. Monestiroli
The development is surrounded by green spaces—partly landscaped and planted,
partly lawns surrounded by rows of trees—open to public use. The presence of green
spaces and the definition of the relation between buildings and open and landscaped
spaces is an unavoidable issue in the construction of the modern city. From the
relation between city and rural areas to the definition of the character of urban green
spaces (parks, gardens, courtyards, or squares), it implies the precise definition of
how green areas contribute to the design of a new development, how buildings define
open spaces. In more general terms, the main issue is the role of green spaces in the
use and composition of places.
The plan concentrates the buildings in a portion of the area in order to create an
extended forest-like park which connects the districts separated by the railway. The
pedestrian routes and bike lanes in the park establish the relation between the two
city sections. Long rows of trees border the thoroughfares that articulate the district,
highlight their importance and define the lawns that accommodate the new buildings,
and replace the old urban blocks. As defining elements of the new development, the
green spaces have different qualities, layouts, and characters based on their relations
with the buildings, size, and treatment. The green spaces include the urban ground
from which the buildings rise, divided into "rooms" for private housing and collective
facilities, as well as the park, gardens, lawns, and rows of trees typical of Lombardy’s
landscape.
Another hub of collective activities is located in the decommissioned customs
across from the main square and accommodates the primary schools and sports
facilities, public gyms, and swimming-pools.
The two hubs are connected by a central green thoroughfare that runs alongside
the railway tracks and articulates the entire district as a sort of Rambla along which
the main commercial and collective facilities are located: a pond, an 18-storey bridge
building for studios and workshops, a garden that straddles the tracks and connects
the development to the park and the section south of the railway. Other collective
and commercial facilities for the district are located on another axis alongside the
Rambla.
The definition of housing as made of minimum repeatable units based on the
development of a rule and its possible variations are a thread that runs through
the history of the city—the development of the block bordered by roads, in everchanging shapes based on the same principle, guided the construction of cities up
until the twentieth century.
Can the block be replaced in the fabric of the modern city? Is it still necessary to
define a settlement principle for housing, the most relevant urban element in terms
of quantity in the development of the city, as a principle that can match, or at least
point to, the diversity of places that was typical of the ancient city?
The housing proposed in the plan looks out onto green spaces, the open courtyards’
lawns, the tree-lined roads, and the park. The old enclosed blocks open up and acquire
a new character and a green heart—a collective area with different facilities measured
by the relation between the houses.
R. Neri and T. Monestiroli
The development is surrounded by green spaces—partly landscaped and planted,
partly lawns surrounded by rows of trees—open to public use. The presence of green
spaces and the definition of the relation between buildings and open and landscaped
spaces is an unavoidable issue in the construction of the modern city. From the
relation between city and rural areas to the definition of the character of urban green
spaces (parks, gardens, courtyards, or squares), it implies the precise definition of
how green areas contribute to the design of a new development, how buildings define
open spaces. In more general terms, the main issue is the role of green spaces in the
use and composition of places.
The plan concentrates the buildings in a portion of the area in order to create an
extended forest-like park which connects the districts separated by the railway. The
pedestrian routes and bike lanes in the park establish the relation between the two
city sections. Long rows of trees border the thoroughfares that articulate the district,
highlight their importance and define the lawns that accommodate the new buildings,
and replace the old urban blocks. As defining elements of the new development, the
green spaces have different qualities, layouts, and characters based on their relations
with the buildings, size, and treatment. The green spaces include the urban ground
from which the buildings rise, divided into "rooms" for private housing and collective
facilities, as well as the park, gardens, lawns, and rows of trees typical of Lombardy’s
landscape.
Another hub of collective activities is located in the decommissioned customs
across from the main square and accommodates the primary schools and sports
facilities, public gyms, and swimming-pools.
The two hubs are connected by a central green thoroughfare that runs alongside
the railway tracks and articulates the entire district as a sort of Rambla along which
the main commercial and collective facilities are located: a pond, an 18-storey bridge
building for studios and workshops, a garden that straddles the tracks and connects
the development to the park and the section south of the railway. Other collective
and commercial facilities for the district are located on another axis alongside the
Rambla.
The definition of housing as made of minimum repeatable units based on the
development of a rule and its possible variations are a thread that runs through
the history of the city—the development of the block bordered by roads, in everchanging shapes based on the same principle, guided the construction of cities up
until the twentieth century.
Can the block be replaced in the fabric of the modern city? Is it still necessary to
define a settlement principle for housing, the most relevant urban element in terms
of quantity in the development of the city, as a principle that can match, or at least
point to, the diversity of places that was typical of the ancient city?
The housing proposed in the plan looks out onto green spaces, the open courtyards’
lawns, the tree-lined roads, and the park. The old enclosed blocks open up and acquire
a new character and a green heart—a collective area with different facilities measured
by the relation between the houses.