CITY SIDES

The thesis analyses some peripherical areas in the urban scenario of Milan. Outskirts show some recurrent phenomena of fragility of both social and environmental balance. The aim is to re-define the urban border with a set of operational strategies that can be adopted to face future challenges (as environmental, economic, social and climate changes)

Starting from Porto di Mare, the thesis aims to design a prototype masterplan for Milan peripheries. Considering the scenario of climate, economic and social changes, we revised the "Ciam grid", intersecting the scales of intervention with the topics about the future of the city. In each scale, it’s defined a set of resilient operations, through territorial policies and a circular economy approach as sustainable devices. The first scale analysed is the "Territory" that deals with the regeneration of disused infrastructures. Here the reconversion of an abandoned railway into a greenway connect the area with some relevant nodes. It converges on Rogoredo station, a hub in the periphery. A new relationship is defined with the landscape integrating ecological corridors that promote biodiversity and connect the site to the open countryside. The "Settlement" scale defines urban design for the new food policy in Milan. Here, the local production chain is a vital factor to restart the metabolism of the peripheries in relation with the food processing. The strategy is specified through temporal steps, starting from the reclamation of the soil, followed by the identification of buildings that can be reused, and finally becoming a local productive area for slow food associations. In “architecture” projects aim at a sustainable growth, achieved by reducing the soil consumption and through some guidelines. Buildings have minimum ground footprint and, if possible, it’s preferred the reuse of pre-existing buildings. For a circular economy approach, technological aspects, i.e dry construction systems, support the reuse of materials and further modification to the project. Resilience is intended through the disposition of shared public spaces for social cohesion, while environmental value is given through the design of draining spaces preventing floods damages and boosting the reuse of collected water. In conclusion, the project focused on the questions of how architecture can answer to changing issues, and whether a sustainable circular approach can rethink fragile areas within the urban scenario.