CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and The Blossom Avenue Partners have won the international competition for the architectural and urban design of X-Change, one of the biggest multimodal logistics hubs in Southern Europe, which is situated on the site of a former railway yard in Alessandria, Italy.

CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati (urban planning and architecture), The Blossom Avenue Partners (land development and logistics planning), LAND (landscape architecture), GET Consulting (sustainability), and Mobiliter (transport and mobility) collaborated to create the masterplan. 

Gruppo VLD/Fabrizio Bertola will work with Prelios S.p.A. and CLF-Costruzioni Linee Ferroviarie S.p. A. to develop X-Change. By serving as a renewable energy plant and incorporating green public areas, cultural centers, and civic hubs for connectivity, the proposal reimagines Italy's logistics infrastructure and makes room for all forms of transportation.

Thanks to new, planned, rapid rail freight links, the site—once a large, zoned-off railyard—is now being redesigned as an innovative, intermodal logistics hub that supports Alessandria's potential to become Genova's backport. 

The proposal envisions an essential public space in addition to infrastructure development, converting a site intended for rail distribution into a creative one that is intended for all freight links, accessibility, and urban life. The design project's focal point is a two-kilometer (1.25-mile) photovoltaic solar canopy that covers the region, producing clean energy and offering shade. The logistics hub will be powered by one of Europe's largest photovoltaic-powered parks.

However, there is more, X-Change serves as a link between the rail yard and the adjacent cities by fusing the industrial dispatch center with its natural surroundings. 

With more than five kilometers of bike and pedestrian paths, a new park for locals enhances the agricultural landscape along the Tanaro River, reviving surrounding communities and enhancing urban mobility. 

Bike path

"X-Change is not just a logistical hub"

Additionally, offices and incubators will be built on the site of the former Trenitalia Officine shed, which will be an extension of the university campus.

"X-Change is not just a logistical hub—it’s a new way of thinking about how different types of infrastructure can be integrated," said Carlo Ratti, founding partner of CRA and curator of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025. 

"Logistical hubs, like rail yards before them, are typically introverted developments. Here, we are trying to open them up to the city. By reconnecting Alessandria with its surroundings, we aim to create new spaces for innovation, experimentation, and community life," Ratti added.

"Alessandria shows its potentialities thanks to its unique location: the innovative logistic hub highlights its crossroads position, from south to north, connecting Genova’s port with the Alps and northern Europe, and from east to west, reaching Piacenza and its large logistic region," said Marco Facchinetti, CEO and founder of The Blossom Avenue Partners. 

"The hub becomes a contemporary interface to foster exchanges and intermodal transit, reducing journeys on roads and boosting freight travels on tracks, joining the most sustainable European trends and unifying into a larger, inter-regional rail network the most relevant logistic hubs of northern Italy," Facchinetti explained.

Alessandria Hub, PoloCulturale

"X-Change develops along a green-blue infrastructure"

"X-Change develops along a green-blue infrastructure offering a chance for ecological reconnection and the reintegration of this historically railway-divided part of the city with Alessandria and its surrounding area," said Andreas Kipar, CEO of LAND, leading the landscape project. 

"Our Parco del Movimento merges nature with energy, fostering a green continuity enriched by vibrant functions and spaces. The new hub is held together by a Nature-Positive, productive landscape, serving as both a development opportunity and a community catalyst," Kipar added.

The project is the latest example of CRA's dedication to rethinking urban infrastructure, especially with regard to the energy of the future. An ancient refinery in Trieste is being converted into a park for sustainable energy by Water Batteries. 

The foundation of Helsinki's decarbonization initiative, Hot Heart, is an archipelago of thermal batteries that store thermal energy for the city's clean energy supply while also serving as a gathering place for leisure activities. 

Alessandria Hub, Aerial View

Recently, together with Italy's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Italy's Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, CIHEAM Bari, the World Bank Group's Connect4Climate program, Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Bloomberg Philanthropies, CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and Höweler + Yoon unveiled AquaPraça, a floating cultural plaza that will serve as the focal point of COP30 in Belém, Brazil. 

In addition, CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati revealed an earthy and sunken business canteen for Mutti, global leader in tomato-based products.

Carlo Ratti is the curator of the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, themed as Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective. The exhibition addresses modern term "intelligence", and expands into a broader context that includes "art, engineering, biology, data science, social and political sciences."

Read more about the pavilions, exhibitions from the Venice Architecture Biennale on this page. The 19th International Architecture Exhibition takes place from 10 May to 23 November 2025 at the Giardini, the Arsenale and various venues in Venice, Italy. 

Project facts

Architects: CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati

Team: Carlo Ratti, Monika Loeve (partner-in-charge), Chiara Borghi, Günes Idil Altun, Iratxe De Dios, Luca Antonio Liddonici, Gabriele Sacchi, Sonia Simone, Gary Di Silvio, Pasquale Milieri, Gianluca Zimbardi

TBAP-The Blossom Avenue Partners

Team: Marco Facchinetti with Marco Dellavalle and Alessandra Balletta, Lorenzo Gorrasi, Francesca Manzoni

LAND Italia: Andreas Kipar, Matteo Pedaso, Martina Erba, Eleonora Boffano, Arianna Finatti

GET Consulting: Daniele Guglielmino, Elia Lupo, Elisa Sirombo

Mobiliter: Ivan Genovese, Veronica Indelicato,

Collaborators: Tea Consulting, Dils, Nicola Bassi, Livio Dezzani, Alessandro Gentile, Sebastiano Grasso

All images courtesy ıof CRA. 

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