The Spine of Lambrate

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

Project idea

Milano city is growing and peripheries are reaching further and further from the city centre. Situation of Lambrate is quite different. It has a close proximity to a city centre, however the area is almost untouched, destroyed and disconnected. It is due to many factors that influence this situation. The area is framed by three elements - railway, highway and river Lambro.
Through some small but rather significant urban changes we are proposing improvement of the area. Our aim is to better connect it with the city centre, within itself and also create more livable neighborhood.

Project description

The Spine of Lambrate is an upgraded road in a very significant position, connecting more equipped area of Lambrate (Northern) with less livable and equipped (Southern). We are proposing to extend a tramline to above all create an urban character. Furthermore we focus on development of the industrial area along the spine, which is not working at all nowadays. We keep some of the buildings to retain its historical purpose of industrial part of the city, however we propose some new residential buildings mainly with mixed function to ensure 24 hours control. Along the spine we propose public functions, facilities for surrounding area, schools etc. Between retained buildings and new ones we spot some potential squares which design we develop into detail. They would serve as meeting points, important spots with tram stops, or simply some of them for people to stop by.
One of the shaping element of the area are also military barracks that we could not touched. They are framed by quite high wall which interferes into the spine. Instead of taking it as a problem we used it as a potential to create an art wall of it, in some places we suggest how the wall can interact with functions along the spine.

Technical information

Above all we were also dealing with different uses of materials in public design. We see a huge importance when changing the materials of pavements in important places. The furniture is movable where needed while stable one is along the spine.

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