TIMETRAVEL2026

I DECIDED TO INCLUDE THIS PROJECT IN MY PORTOFOLIO AS I CONSIDER THE REPLANNING OF CITIES AN IMPORTANT TOOL THAT AN ARCHITECT HAS TO CHANGE THE URBAN AND SOCIAL SITUATION OF A PLACE. THE TERM MASTERPLAN, FOR ME, CONTAINS A MULTITUDE OF MEANINGS, TRANSLATABLE INTO PROCESS. PLANNING A CITY MUST NOT BE JUST AN OBJECTIVE BUT A CONTINUITY OF ACTIONS IN CONSTANT TRANSFORMATION. FOR THIS REASON I CONSIDER EVERY URBAN PROJECT AS A METHODIC PROCESS CONSISTING OF ANALYSIS, DESIGN ACTIONS, IDEAS, CONSIDERATIONS ON THE TERRITORY AND ON THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE THERE.

THE URBAN PROJECT CARRIED OUT IN THE AREA OF SCALO PORTA ROMANA IS A RESEARCH THAT STARTS FROM A REFLECTION ON THE PHYSICAL AND PERCEPTUAL ASPECTS THAT DEFINE THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE RAILWAY AND THE URBAN STRUCTURE AND ARRIVES AT THE DETERMINATION OF NEW STRATEGIES FOR THE SITE DURING THE COURSE OF TIME, WITH THE FINAL OBJECT TO FUNCTION AS THE OLYMPICS VILLAGE IN 2026. THIS IS THE PLACE OF CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE LOCAL DIMENSION OF THE URBAN STRUCTURE AND THE DEGRADED RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE - THAT OPERATES ON METROPOLITAN AND REGIONAL SCALE. THESE CONTRADICTORY CHARACTERISTICS MAKE IT A HYBRID SPACE OF ENORMOUS POTENTIAL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL RESOURCES, BUT ALSO FOR THE EXPERIMENTATION OF INNOVATIVE PRACTICES FOR A NEW RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CITY, GREENERY, ENERGY, MOBILITY AND METROPOLITAN COMMUNICATION. WHAT WE HAVE CHANGED WITH THE PROJECT IS THE VISION OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE, THE MEANING IT INTENDS TO COMMUNICATE.THE PLACE IS A SPACE OF POSSIBILITIES IN WHICH EVERYTHING IS POTENTIALLY IN AN UNDERGOING TRANSFORMATION.

THE IDEA IS TO COMPLETELY RENEW THE AREA AND MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE, KEEPING ITS CHARACTERISTICS AS A WHOLE. THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT IS TO BUILD AN ISOTROPIC AND CONTINUOUS PUBLIC SPACE. ISOTROPIC MEANS HOMOGENEOUS IN EVERY DIRECTION, A SPACE THAT IN EVERY PLACE CAN OFFER THE SAME DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL. CONTINUITY IS A BASIC FEATURE FOR DESIGN AN ACTIVE AND PRODUCTIVE PUBLIC SPACE THAT CAN TRULY IMPROVE THE LIVING CONDITIONS, ALLOWING A HIGH FLEXIBILITY OF SPACE AND A HIGH LEVEL OF SHARING. THE MASTERPLAN DEFINES A HIERARCHY OF FLOWS BASED ON DIFFERENT SPEEDS RATHER THAN FUNCTIONAL SEPARATIONS. THIS STRUCTURE LEAVES OPEN THE POSSIBILITY FOR USERS TO TEMPORARILY SUBVERT THIS ORDER BY TAKING POSSESSION OF THE SPACE. GREEN AND SUSTAINABILITY REPRESENT THE FOCUS OF THE MASTERPLAN, WHICH AIMS TO INTEGRATE A CONTEMPORARY URBAN AND ARCHITECTURAL VISION WITH A DEEP ATTENTION TO FLEXIBILITY OVER TIME. THE DESIGN FOR THE FUTURE OF THE PORTA ROMANA RAIL YARD INVESTIGATES A COINCIDENCE OF ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS. THE PROJECT PROPOSES THE REINTRODUCTION OF GEOGRAPHY AND ECOLOGY INTO THE CONTEMPORARY CONFIGURATION. SO THE TOPOGRAPHY WILL EMBRACE A MORE ORGANIC THREEDIMENSIONAL EXPERIENCE OF THE LAND. BY EXTRUDING AND INFLECTING THE PRESENT MORPHOLOGY INTO FLUID FORM, AND TRANSFORMING SURFACES FROM PAVED HARDSCAPES TO SOFT GREEN-SCAPES, A PROVOCATIVE DIALOGUE AND CONFRONTATION BETWEEN THE NATURAL AND THE ARTIFICIAL GENERATES A MORE ECOLOGICALLY ORIENTED FUTURE FOR THE PLACE. AREAS OF THE SITE BECOME A DIALECTIC BETWEEN THE NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL, AND TRANSFORM THE RAIL YARD PROGRAMMATICALLY, INTRODUCING MUCH NEEDED PARK SPACES, LOCAL AGRICULTURE, AND ENERGY RESOURCES, GENERATING A NEW TOPOGRAPHICALLY SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPE. THE PROJECT USES THE PLACE’S POTENTIAL TO GENERATE A NEW CONDITION OF ENERGY. IF WE UNDERSTAND THE WORLD AS A CONTINUUM OF ENERGY AND INFORMATIONS THAT INTERACT IN ECOSYSTEMS OF VARIOUS KINDS, THAN THE LANDSCAPE, THE TOPOGRAPHY AND THE UNBUILT TERRITORIES CEASE TO BE A MERE GROUND ON WHICH TO CREATE AN EVENT: RATHER, THEY ARE THE PROJECT ITSELF. WE COULD IMAGINE THAT AFTER MILLENNIAL OF EXPANSION OF THE ARTIFICIAL OVER THE NATURAL, THE BASIC ELEMENT OF A TERRITORY – ITS GEOLOGY, TOPOGRAPHY, BOTANY, CLIMATE – ARE NOW A PERFORMATIVE MATTER CAPABLE OF BEING DEVELOPED IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION AND OF ACTING BOTH BY TRANSFORMING THE HISTORICALLY CONSTRUCTED ARTIFICIAL ECOSYSTEMS AND BY CREATING NEW HYBRID NATURES THAT EMERGE ACCORDING TO A NATURAL LOGIC. WE USE THE IDEA OF THE NATURAL TO REFER TO THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THINGS OR PLACES, WHICH ARE IN MANY CASES RELATED TO GEOLOGICAL OR BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES, AND IN OTHER CASES TO RELATIONAL, SOCIAL OR CULTURAL ISSUES GOVERNED BY LOGICS THAT WE FIND IN NATURE. THE PROCESS OF THE PROJECT THUS PROPOSES TO OPERATE ON THE BASIS OF A MATERIAL THAT IS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN ORGANIC AND GEOLOGICAL, BY WAY OF A SET OF STRATEGIES THAT RANGE FROM THE REFORM OF THE TOPOGRAPHY AND OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND THE CREATION OF NEW SETTLEMENTS ON THE BASIS OF NATURAL LOGICS. THE FIRST TRANSFORMATIVE ACTION IS THE RIDEFINITION OF THE SITE EDGE. THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE EXISTING PERIMETER WALLS GIVES TO THE BOUNDARY SPACES A CRUCIAL ROLE IN DEFINING THE VALUE OF THE TRANSITION OUTSIDE/INSIDE, IN ADDITION GIVE IT THE POTENTIAL TO DEFINE PLACES OF CONNECTION BETWEEN THE URBAN AND THE NATURAL, AND ALLOWS ACCESS TO SPORT AREA, CULTURE AND LEISURE. FURTHERMORE THE NEW BORDER CONNECTS FLOWS THAT OPEN UP RELATIONS BETWEEN PEOPLE AND MAKE USE OF SPACES RICH IN NATURAL ATTRIBUTES, USED BY CITY DWELLERS AS PARKS. FINALLY TREES - AS IF THEY WERE LIVING BEINGS, ARE ELEMENTS THAT DEVELOPED AND EVOLVED IN RELATION TO THE LOCAL GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS. THERE ARE AS MANY TYPES OF TREE AS THERE ARE CLIMATES, LANDSCAPES AND TERRITORIES ON THE EARTH.