In a team with Ana Maria Soto Chavez, Maria Fernanda Garcia, Vasiliki Fragkaki we developed the project of the Upside Down Navigli for Bee Breeders competition of Milan Navigli Canal Challenge, Italy
The task of the contest was to create an urban strategy for the reopening of the Navigli Chanel in Milan and reimagine the existing urban environment. Our team saw a big potential in recovering public spaces that were hidden and disarticulated due to modern development. Our idea was to reclaim these patches and turn them into the exaltation of each character of each section that belongs to the Navigli, passing through the Natural, Cultural, Historical, Touristic, Business, and Commercial. In this way, the whole channel will reclaim its self and provide functional services used by citizens on a day-to-day basis.
The expression of the given characters was established in the idea of the Toolbox, which is giving a collection of the tools needed as a solution for one or another section of the Navigli Chanel.
Idea was to use modular system that can be maintained or modified easily. This system would be modified accordingly to the particular character of the neighborhood and its needs.
Idea was to use modular system that can be maintained or modified easily. This system would be modified accordingly to the particular character of the neighborhood and its needs.
The Navigli Chanel is used as another tool to activate or reinforce public spaces on the whole its length. The concept of the responsive flow introduces the idea of deviations of the chanel to create pockets with the additional surface area that can be used by existing public functions (like cafes and restourants, etc.) or to create anchor points for potential active public zones (like crossroads and public parks, etc.)
One of the tasks of the contest was to choose one of the smaller defined sections of the channel and reinvent it, developing further. In our case, it was San Carlo Square which is just in front of San Marco's church. Historically
it was one of the loading ports with the small lake. So the proposal was to reinterpret the historical reference and introduce the current uses of the surroundings.
it was one of the loading ports with the small lake. So the proposal was to reinterpret the historical reference and introduce the current uses of the surroundings.
As a result few solution were proposed for the selected area:
Re-invasion of “uncomfortable voids” to provide services for long-time periods and protect the users within the public reach.
Behind San Marco’s church there are unused spaces that crave for attention, so by turning this backyard into a low-impact on-going interactive use, architecture takes life again in the least expected place.
Re-engagment of the community in a multiple-level piazza, giving opposite characters in the same space, divided by the channel, in order to allow the user to chose which ambience it needs for the interaction of the day, by confronting loud, active and engaging uses (near the commercial lane) with peaceful, relaxing and introvert spaces (in front of the church).
Re-insertion of an unexpected population, by extracting the educative use into the channel, bringing students and staff into the water by creating a soft edge flow from the school lane, changing the pace of movement and sectioning the characters.
Re-interpretation of the original wet dock of the site, modernizing the historical reference and introducing the current uses of the surroundings. As a result, a multi-level dock appears, to engage the user in different heights, with different function.
The fact that we had to develop one of the sections of the Navigli Chanel in more detail allowed us to emphasize the previously established ideas of the toolbox and responsive flow.
Thank you!
