OMA and Milan-based architecture firm Laboratorio Permanente have won the Concorso Farini competition to transform two disused railway yards North and South of the periphery of Milan. Called Climatic Agents (Agenti Climatici), the masterplan will be led by OMA’s Partners Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli and Reinier de Graaf.

The new masterplan will include the overhaul of two sites of Milan - the scalo Farini (468,301-square-metre) and San Cristoforo sites (140,199-square-metre). 

The Agenti Climatici proposal designates the Scalo Farini site as a green zone and the San Cristoforo site as a blue zone. Both work as ecological filters: the green zone contains a vast park which cools hot winds coming from the south-west, purifying the air of toxic particles; the large basin in the blue zone cleans the groundwater and creates a landscape for both humans and animals. 

These two new zones regenerate the ecology of Milan by providing clean air and water, addressing climate change and pollution on a metropolitan scale. 

In this new value system, public space – including water, greenery and bridges – is fixed, and buildings are residual and uncertain. In Farini, the scale of developments is contingent on the city’s future economic developments, creating an adaptable and resilient spatial framework that can respond to the shocks of national politics and the global economy.

"In a moment of dramatic environmental transformation and permanent economic uncertainty, our priorities have changed. The most valuable currency is no longer ‘brick’ – the built – but rather the climatic conditions that cities will be able to provide and ensure for their citizens," said Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli.

"The city of the twentieth century, with its high energy consumption, must be overcome by reconsidering the principles that have marked urban development since the classical era."

The competition was organized by public transport companies Ferrovie dello Stato, FS Sistemi Urbani S.r.l. and RFI, in collaboration with the municipality of Milan, the Lombardy region and developer Coima SGR. Other finalists in the competition included Baukuh, Arup, Grimshaw and Kengo Kuma and Associates Europe.

OMA’s team consisted of Laboratorio Permanente, Vogt Landscape Architects, Philippe Rahm Architectes, Net Engineering, Ezio Micelli, Arcadis Italia, Temporiuso.net, and Luca Cozzani.

Completion date of the masterplan is yet to be announced.

Project facts

Status: Competition
Program: Masterplan
GFA: 468.301 m2 (Scalo Farini) & 140.199 m2 (Scalo San Cristoforo)

Partners: Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, Reinier de GraafTeam: Massimo Tenan, Paolo Caracini

Collaborators
Local Architect: Laboratorio Permanente
Landscape, Meteorological consultant: Philippe Rahm Architects

Landscape: Vogt Landscape Architects
Sustainability: Arcadis Italia
Social innovation: Temporiuso
Traffic / transportation: Net Engineering
Urban politics & economics: Ezio Micelli

All images courtesy of OMA and Laboratorio Permanente

> via OMA