Via Savona
Milan
The recovery of a disused production area
We are facing a recovery in a disused production area, which is located in Via Savona, a strategic position in Milan affected by a reconversion phenomenon.
The redefinition of these spaces in the role of the city represents both a necessity and a resource, as well as an extraordinary opportunity to give a second life to the areas of the abandoned industrial heritage, hosting functions different from those for which they were originally conceived.
On the other hand, it represents a great opportunity for the development of a more sustainable architecture. Working on abandoned areas means confronting the memory of places and the image of these that has settled in the collective imagination.
A first operation that is necessary and the verification of the historical-identity value and the memory threshold to be maintained in an attempt to prevent the intervention strategies on these courtyards from coming into conflict with their history.
The existing complex consists of a single building that, however, due to its architectural characteristics, can be identified in two well-defined elements.
One that is located immediately to the right entering from the access from Via Savona is characterized by architectural elements typical of industrial architecture of the ‘900 whose elements were taken as a design cue by reproposing them in a contemporary language for the reorganization of the body of the left factory that did not present in fact any architectural value of relevance but constituted as a sort of elements added over time for the purpose of service to the productive activity.
This building was marked by the insertion of exposed brick walls that not only re-propose the verticality of the lot, but constitute for the material used a unique reference to the architectural history of the area, and scan the vision from the entrance from the courtyard in a succession and alternation of spaces.
The use of bricks allows to give a unified and homogeneous reading of the intervention as well as the realization of a gutter channel in pre-painted anthracite grey sheet metal unifies horizontally the two bodies of the factory.
Particular importance has been given to the choice of all materials and finishes also in their shades.
The type and color of the windows and windows has been maintained by adapting it to regulations in respect of sustainability, considering aluminum a suitable material for energy efficient buildings.
Also in the flooring of the courtyard there is the industrial appeal, both in the choice of color and material: gray cement interrupted by green areas where we have chosen “Festuca” type shrubs, low to avoid shadows and visual obstacles.
