Case - Città - Paesaggio. Progetti di spazi domestici e luoghi collettivi

The research examines the topic of changes affecting both the house as 'home' i.e. a safe environment where privacy and roots prevail, and as part of a building with its complex relationship between individual and collective and internal and external, which determines the character of the urban design both in consolidated contexts and in new development areas. In Milan the most recent transformations and their associated environmental and landscaping impacts fit into a stratified system of infrastructure and polarity, with a fixed multi-centre model. In that context the housing plan is seen as a template for the city to rebuild environments through new relationships with the surrounding area. The projects here presented are located in areas of high potential in Milan (a decommissioned railway yard in Scalo Farini, a peripheral area in via Cenni and the Figino suburb) and try to afford the challenge of new mixed developments and - in order to reach a total sustainability - seek to balance architecture and nature, existing and new buildings. Key features are multiplicity and integration of different activities. This multi-functionality implies the articulation of public and private spaces, able to define new local identities. Generally speaking cities today are demanding types of housing which are non-standard i.e. versatile, easily accessible for transport and service infrastructures, with decent household fixtures and shared facilities conceived for renewed social interaction. As such the projects relate to: determining the core principles for construction in a new part of the city; identifying the basic units of the residential development; alternatives to the standard city blocks, building types; identifying common areas and their features, the relation between buildings and open spaces, the role of grassy areas, the relationship between services and residential buildings, business and other activities. In that sense the projects here presented - from the scale of the building to the field of urban design - aim to give a new interpretation of different types of spaces and to focus on the forms of community and social inter-action which have become enshrined over time into urban culture. Architecture is expected to take on technical, ethical and aesthetic (i.e. civic) responsibility for the project and related transformations, using a broad range of solutions which bring in contributions form other specialist sectors. Thus the architect's plan is the key tool for action: environmental quality is related to the choice of building materials and the desire for well-being and a healthy environment cannot be separated from choices regarding morphology, typology and technology.