Planting Seeds

Politecnico di Milano, Polytechnic University of Milan, School of Design

Project idea

Planting Seeds explains an idea of preservation, regeneration and green connection between the identity of the place and the city itself. As it was said the site in which the project is located has its own agricultural atmosphere that has been there along the history of the city and could not be found so- mewhere else in Milano. So, to preserve this particular identity it is necessary to “plant seeds”. This connection will be spread from the agricultural lands reaching the city but leaving in the way seeds of health.

Project description

As in almost all the biggest cities around the world, Milano is a city that suffers a constant expansion. This produces an exponential urban growth, phenomenon which generates that the zones in the periphery of the city get absorbed by the urbanization. The site where the project is located has a particular atmosphere. It is a unique boundary where the city diffuses and merges itself with the agricultural context in the south of Milano. The cascine are the characteristic architectural and social typology of this unique site and due to the urbanisation and the development of agricultural mass production, they are in constant deterioration. The urban proposal reflects the intention of connectivity in different ways of mobility, prioritizing the clean transportation and sustainable mobilization such as pedestrian, bicycle and public transportation systems. Since the new metro line is under construction, after the urban analysis, the connectivity became the first issue to solve. The metro station of San Cristoforo will bring more people to the district and the density will increase. This has a direct impact into the functional proposal of the project that will seek to satisfy this future need of expansion. Saying this, the first seed to be planted is mixed use building units (commerce, housing and offices). Devices that cover the expansion and litigate it as well adding a new functional urban typology to the district.
After the analysis done in the site, it was also noticed that there is a lack of health care services in the zone which means that a new Hospital is needed to be planted. This big seed will provide to this district a new health care atmosphere that in addition with the agricultural identity, gives more strength and viability to the concept, the roots get stronger. To complete the master plan, it was necessary to plant two more seeds in order to fulfill all the ne- eds for the people in terms of health care. The third seed is a Community Hub that includes a Library and a Sport Center. This type of function is also lacking in the site and to have a function like this means to create spaces of interaction and wellness, branches that bring together the rich human diver- sity that Milano has. The branches of interaction will spread creating not just urban connections but human networks.
The fourth seed that completes the project is the Research Center. A space for people dedicated to the study of many health care disciplines. This will supply the site with a high-tech function in which labs, universities, hospitals, industries and many other kinds of technological researches will merge to the study and development of technologies for the human wealth.

Technical information

Master plan, Axonometric views and Drawings, 3D views