The aim of the thesis was to present an analytical, interpretative and design method, as a possible example for the regeneration of a neighborhood starting from an urban empty space.
Design of an urban space in a smart key
This space represents one of the cardinal points for the city of Catania and a great potential in terms of pervasiveness in the functioning of the whole city of Catania.
The work carried out highlights some aspects of different nature (scientific, technological, socio-economic, cultural and architectural) that characterize the digitalization process of the city and show its extreme difficulty.
Acting primarily in the public space represents a possible strategy to transfer the concepts of active citizenship, sustainable development and climate risk to local communities, starting from interventions that allow obtaining significant impacts on the different spheres of urban, social, environmental and safety quality. The analysis of the Masterplan shows how the intervention has affected the entire neighborhood’s urban scale. The design of the green and cycle paths in fact providing the tools enabling a wider design of the entire urban structure.
The project area of the new Sanzio square has been described with the attention of redesigning a piece of city to measure and serves the community, through a design of the paths and stopping points that could accentuate sociality on the one side and personal relaxation on the
other.
During the research phase, the choice of functions required particular attention, as according to the scientific literature, the spaces of the contemporary city today require high flexibility, to be in the same time specialized and adapt to an ever-increasing number of functions, in which coexistence between the private and public dimensions becomes crucial. Functional integration thus assumes a key role in reading the space, which must be able to change during the day, days of the week or periods of the year, becoming the home of markets, of aggregation, of work, assuming always new connotations to depending on the user and the contingent needs of the communities that live in that space.
For this reason, a temporal map was been created to frame all functions and services and ensure their 24-hour activity.
About the economic system, the idea is that works like an “organism”, in which nutrients are processed like in a cycle and autonomous regenerative system capable of creating new value.
As the circular economy theory teaches, a cycle of activities must be completed leaving those who come after the suitable conditions for a new project to start again; these are social, territorial, environmental, economic and financial conditions.
The diagram describes this dynamic and differentiates the sectors that feed the internal economy from the free ones serving the community. The strength of these places stems from their position as a local and urban reference point, and from the richness of the offer provided; in many of them it is possible to book spaces for hours or to use a service for days.
The community gardens have been designed to have a dual purpose, on the one side to welcome and grant the visitor a space in which to relax, on the other hand to create an educational space at the service and care of users. In line with smart principles, the project combines agricultural techniques with an online data collection system, allowing each user to take part in his community garden, cultivate their own plants and follow their growth both offline and online.
Below each bulb, a series of sensors monitor the status of each plant, giving the user the possibility to remain connected with his own even remotely, thanks to the square’s web app.
Numerous scientific research proves that the design of the space has significant effects on behavior and social interaction, it is so that some choices were made to avoiding excessive vertical separation, by using overhanging cantilevered floors to maximize the connection between all users and maximize the contribution of natural light emphasizing comfort and interior design.
The Free Smog Cover is inspired by the project “Free smog tower” of the Studio Roosegaarde, which uses patented positive ionization technology to produce smog-free air in public spaces, allowing people to breathe and experience clean air for free.
It is equipped with environment-friendly technology cleans 30.000 m3 per hour and uses a small amount of green electricity.
The function of the “smog-free tower” has been validated by the results compiled by the Eindhoven University of Technology.
The concept was born from the idea to use this technology for the surface of the building to reduce air pollution in urban environments.
The design of the skin is generated to capture omnidirectional light where light is dense or scarce.
