Architects: Marco Facchinetti, Luca De Stefani

Category: Building

Date: 2010-2011

City: Inzago (MI)

Tags: Building, Residential, Territory

Urban design

The territorial management plan of Inzago earmarked the area on the northeast side of the centre for the construction of public housing to be carried out by the cooperatives that have historically operated on the territory. The area is characterized by the rich environmental system typical of these contexts with the presence of streams and canals. The proximity of agricultural land gives greater breadth and focuses attention on the need to respect these characteristics.

The plan development completely reversed the customary perspective of cooperatives practices, based on defensive enclave, with building turning their backs on agricultural territory and where green spaces were all fenced-in and private: the architectural project seeks to place itself within broader urban-planning horizon, establishing a dialogue with the territory, the town’s constitutive characteristics and, most of all, the tradition of public housing complexes.

Three main element are the core of the project: the square, the park and the built-up area. The central square attracts buildings to look onto it and share their inhabited and illuminated façades, replacing the area usually occupied by construction with water, trees and urban furniture for seating. The park occupies the southern part of the area, where ecological restoration is envisaged for the streams and canals; it is connected with the square and the built-up system through a cycle track and a pedestrian path. The shapes of the residential buildings are calculated to enhance a more dynamic volumetric composition, highlighting the major angles and heights looking onto the square and sloping away towards the exterior. A project that, through materials and some prescriptive guidelines for architectural and urban aspects, is capable of boosting the quality of the peripheral and marginal northeast sector of Inzago.