International design and innovation office Carlo Ratti Associati has revealed design for floating structures using kinetic architecture against the Po River’s recurring floods in Italy.

Called Murazzi del Po, the project - developed as part of the historic embankments of Turin, will be built as innovative floating structures to forecast to become increasingly disruptive with climate crisis. 

The project will be made up of a series of floating structures that rise above the water, providing a blueprint for urban climate change adaptation.

Emerging as part of a waterfront redevelopment project in Turin, the design integrates kinetic architecture solutions to create community spaces that fully withstand the river’s recurring floodings. 

It transforms the arches along the Po River, one of the city's most culturally vibrant areas, into a new hub for education and community. "The project provides local solutions while suggesting universal strategies to enhance the use of urban waterways at a time of climate change," according to Carlo Ratti Associati.

At the heart of CRA’s vision is the restoration of a 450-square-meter space within 7 former underground warehouses of the historic "Murazzi del Po," connected through a single large tunnel.

Responding to the increasingly disruptive floodings of Italy's largest river, the project’s central innovation is a system of floating floors that can go up when the water level rises, securing the interior spaces. 

The studio will build new structures atop these kinetic platforms, and a new River Center will be opened to the public to serve as a community place, along with a café and co-working space.

"Adaptive architecture can make cities more resilient and capable of addressing climate change challenges, including more dramatic floodings and water level increase," said Carlo Ratti, founding partner of CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and director of the Senseable City Lab at MIT in Boston. 

"The floating platforms for Turin offer an example of how urban centers can develop more harmonious relationships with their waterfronts," Ratti added.

The Murazzi del Po, or Po Embankments, are one of Turin's symbolic locations, a riverside area lined with former boat storage buildings for fishermen, which, since the 1980s, has become the center of the city's vibrant nightlife and cultural life. 

In the last decade, the Murazzi have been at the heart of a redevelopment project aiming to rejuvenate the riverfront with co-working spaces, bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and a renewed sustainable navigation service. 

Most recently, these initiatives have become part of a broader plan supported by the EU-funded National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).

In addition to the creation of the River Center, the project will include four new piers for river boat services. "These platforms are designed not only for embarking and disembarking but also as "riverfront squares" overlooking the water," said CRA. 

The plan is completed with a new dock for boat storage. The project is estimated to break ground in early 2024.

Estimated opening, along with the launch of a new fleet of electric river buses, is expected in early 2026. The project is developed by CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati, with Creative Lead, Italo Rota. 

CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati also unveiled design for a business canteen which is set to be built in the countryside near Parma, Italy. Danish firm BIG and Carlo Ratti Associati completed a 280-meter-tall skyscraper in the bustling Central Business District of Singapore. 

CRA, together with architect Italo Rota and urbanist Richard Burdett are working on "the world’s largest urban solar farm" as a result of a bid to host the World Expo in 2030. 

Project facts

Project name: River Center - Murazzi del Po, Torino

Project: CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati

Creative Lead: Italo Rota

CRA Team: Carlo Ratti, Andrea Cassi (Partner-in-Charge), Nicolette Marzovilla, Zeynep Kalaycioglu

Italo Rota Building Office Team: Italo Rota, Francesca Grassi

Single Process Manager: Barbara Salza

Coordinator Designer: Lorenzo Peretti

Office of the Deputy Mayor for Parks and Public Space: Lucia Baima

Landscape Consultancy: LAND srl, Marco Bonanno, Martina Erba

Safety: Studio Venz, Marco Venz, Giorgio Gilli

Structural and Hydraulic Works: Hydrodata spa, Carlo Soldera, Laura Mazzariol, Luca Fresia, Luca Negri

All images courtesy of CRA.

> via CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati

Carlo Ratti Associati flood Italo Rota kinetic architecture