MILAN - PORTA GENOVA RAILWAYS

\"Milan - Porta Genova Railways. Experiments on the figure of Urban Catalysts” is an architectural composition thesis of Politecnico di Milano. The project aims to reinvent the so-called Porta Genova Railway through the creation of an open neighbourhood characterized by complex buildings, able to connect it with private and public activities.

The project is developed along two fundamental alignments: one from the Porta Genova station to the north and one from the Naviglio to the south which are connected by a curved building. The entire project is developed in three acts where the figures become protagonists of each scene. The scene grafts onto a soil design that starts from the underground area near the metro station and has a continuous development up to the sports tower that closes the park to the south. Starting from Porta Genova station and heading south, the first figure is the landing, where the tower marks the beginning of the hypogeum. Below the tower there is the metro station and the covered market. On the ground floor there is a supermarket and the basement of the tower that acts as a node between the square and the hypogeum. The tower is divided by three office floors and five residential floors, with a central void. Moreover, the tertiary function is pierced by a diagonal row of offices. At the end of the landing a square change the direction of the hypogeum. The second figure is the cultural hub which consists of two parallel and convex buildings crossed by the hypogeal path. The north building has a linear layout that can be traversed lengthwise, with a severe front on the avenue and an open one to the south in a dialogue with the Naviglio and the park. The south building is the lobe of the library which is located where all the lines of force converge, making it the greatest point of interest. Heading south we find the water pool and an aerial walkway that lead to the third character: the sports tower. It marks the closure and becomes the scenic focal point for the entire project. The base of the tower contains indoor sports fields, accessible by a free lawn. The tower is detached from the square roof of the base and inside it welcomes paths through a system of ramps and terraces that outline the façade. The section presents many variations, with multi-level spaces and smaller service rooms, culminating in a rooftop bar. The basic principle is the view of the city, to observe and be observed.