Milano Stadt Krone 2030 / Studio Shift

Jul 2010

By Karen Cilento — Filed under: Urban Design ,Urban Planning , Italy, Milano, Studio SHIFT

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Studio Shift’s Stadt Krone proposal is one of twelve that offers a conceptual solution for the densification of Milano. The proposals were required to inject 25,000 inhabitants into the existing urban fabric of Milano, and Studio Shift’s proposal addresses the strain that this increase will have on the existing infrastructure and the social and economic well-being of the population. Their comprehensive strategy creates “a self-sustaining community and one that seeks to integrate programmatically and physically with the existing city.”

More images and more about the project after the break.

As the population increases, the Italian regions responsible for the country’s food production will be met with increasing demands, yet, the amount of arable land will decrease. Studio Shift has created a raised and angled agricultural surface that will provide the necessary farm land, while also allowing the new residential components to slip under this plane.

Exploded Farm Facade © Studio Shift

Agricultural wise, this “arable façade” will promote growth for different plant species. Crops that flourish in drier soil conditions are located higher on the façade while those that require more moist conditions are found in the lower region. An integrated mechanical movement system allows workers to traverse the agriculturally laden façade/farm in carts that travel along a network of rails and facilitate the harvesting of crops.

Section © Studio Shift

The residential component features varied housing depending upon their position along the agricultural surface. Toward the south, courtyard apartments are inserted while the north-facing apartments consist of modules arranged in a large, glazed mosaic.

A public space was developed in the void that resulted from the ground manipulation. This multi-level, sunken piazza connects to a proposed extension of the existing rail line, new offices, commercial and museum program on the northern edge of the site, a new sports facility to the west, and the existing urban fabric to the east. It is at these points of connection that the sunken piazza passes below the streets and slopes back up to the established ground plane.

Existing verse Intervention © Studio Shift

This vision integrates a new system of pedestrian movement with green space, while adding agricultural production nodes to support the growing population. Cultural activities are proposed to line the outer edge of the city as a way to expand the inner historical heart of Milano. “With a disproportionate number of key cultural institutions in the historic center of the city and the city center’s resulting lack of green space, the proposal seeks to respond to these deficiencies by creating an inversion of the existing predominant program as it occurs between the center and the new development,” explained the architects.

The total exhibit will be displayed at the Politecnico di Milano. View other projects by Studio Shift on AD here.