Urban Training, The Proposal For The Redevelopment Of Lotto Square By Il Prisma

Urban Training concept for Milano 2030. Call for Ideas - Municipality of Milan.

A strong idea to give identity to Lotto Square.
The proposal for the redevelopment of Lotto Square is generated by a large-scale vision of the area. The square is conceived as the piece of a larger green system dedicated to sport. This is highlighted by the design of a circuit for running and training. Trenno Park, Monte Stella, Hippodrome, San Siro, Lido are all put into the system.
The gesture that makes explicit this new opportunity offered to the city is given by a platform for crossing the square, which is also useful for defining the shapes of the area that currently are rarified and disordered. This element takes on the two characters of the square, which is green towards the outside and represents the point of convergence of axes on an urban scale, whereas on the inside it results urban and more compact. The ring-road of the line 90 marks the border between these two worlds.
It is therefore necessary to open a dialogue between the two in order to offer an opportunity for the renewal of the axis, in this area that is perceived as “periphery”. The ring-road should be redeveloped into a preferential lane and a green one, and the buildings facing it, currently on the back, could use the green as a sort of mediation. The building designed by Renzo Piano summarizes this approach: urban on Monte Rosa Stret, green on Migliara Street. Once made passable, it could contribute to the redevelopment of this area and offer a valid reference for public or semi-public buildings of the axis.
The new platform summarizes the approach to the whole area. The neighboring ring-road of the line 90, in fact, marks the border between the two worlds: the urban-compact-recognizable and the extra-urban-chaotic-frayed one. It is therefore necessary to open a dialogue between the two in order to offer an opportunity for renewal and regeneration.
The meeting point between nature and the city
Approach
The area is rarified and poorly defined.
We took the systemic approach of Milan 2030. This is why we considered not only the square, but also a larger area in which it is located. Moreover, we considered it necessary to make converge the planning actions in a single clear direction: building the identity of the square. This very same approach could be adopted for all the squares on the ring-road. In our opinion, the lot has a green vocation connected to well-being and sports.
Evaluation of the state of affairs
The square has two characters: a green one connected to the city-access axes, and a more urban one. The area is rarified and poorly defined. As a gateway to the city, also due to the presence of the metro lines, it is literally besieged by parked cars.
Drawing the connection axes to the square
It is not possible to redevelop the square without intervening also on the access axes. In our opinion, the same macro-strategy can be used: nature + urban. The ring-road of the line 90 in this area marks the border between the two characters. It can be redeveloped (a green lane + a preferential lane for public transport) and could act as mediation between the two areas.


Today, the buildings "turn their backs" on the axis.
An approach of reference could be the property designed by Renzo Piano. It resumes, in miniature, the macro-strategy of nature + urban. AXA IM, the owner of the building, intends to invest in the role of this property in the area by promoting its openness.
The innermost axes (Monte Rosa Street, Monte Bianco Street, Vigliani Street) can contribute to the redevelopment of the area through a redefining of the ground floors. At the base of the buildings, public activities could be favored and the relative road sections could be redefined in order to make the urban space more attractive, especially for the pedestrian and cycle-pedestrian mobility.