700-LORENZINI

Porta Romana Rail Yard and its surroundings are the hotspot of ‘Milan in transition’ towards future urban development. The new building on Via Lorenzini 8 plot has the opportunity to answer development and urban design questions which are not even clearly articulated yet coming from the sheer fact that the surrounding developments are just about to start. The prominent neighbour; Prada Foundation and the new developments in close proximity demonstrate the potential of the area. With our building we have a chance to set the architectural tone of this new developing neighbourhood.

The aim of our proposal is to create a building which fits and reacts on it’s current surrounding, the reminders of the past urban and infrastructural elements and new inventive developments and elements. Meanwhile it’s ready for the large scale changes coming in the next decade. This duality is key to our design. It leads us to solutions where we always balance between protection and connection, openness and privacy. 

To achieve this we have created a lower volume with courtyards and terraces bringing daylight, natural ventilation and vegetation into the building and thus allowing for energy efficient and healthy indoor and outdoor areas. The volume reacts on all the urban elements around it and creates breathing space around and within the building itself. The purpose of the external and internal space sequence is to introduce a building typology which has versatile and human scale proportions, exterior and interior is present on every level and accessible for all users.