Cells of Regeneration — Saba Seighali

A landscape structure to protect and re-activate

The study area is located between Milan and Varese provinces in the Lombardy region, north of Italy. The transect stretches from the Olona River and its associated parks to the Bossente torrent and the Lura torrent.

After its industrial era, the territory's natural elements are slowly being re-invested in. Among a patchwork of urban and industrial clusters, a transversal clearing made of semi-natural components brings legibility in this otherwise undifferentiated landscape. Large surfaces of agricultural lands remain as the territory foundation. A centuries-old woodland stands out, while some quarries dig in and punctuate the land. These qualities and potentials call for a protective gesture.

Added · Adjusted · Erased · In 50 years

Objective 1
Added
- It is proposed to quickly "frame" (protect) those green spaces by creating a landscape infrastructure made of a linear mass of trees.
- In doing so, it opens opportunities for what is inside the frame, setting the conditions for a regeneration.
Objective 2
Adjusted
- Inside the frame is proposed a productive scenario.
- The agriculture is at a local scale, diverse and experimental, the quarries are providing water and the forests ensures a healthy ecological system.
Objective 3
Erased
- Industry clusters interrupting the clearing are re-localized outside, joining an existing cluster, while the agricultural practices turn towards a smaller scale.
Objective 4
In 50 years
- In 50 years, the protective frame provides an active, fluid experience through a new, productive landscape.
- It has become a landmark by its imposing scale, a destination for its diverse possibilities, and a local park by its familiarity, all at once.

The study area

Regional map between Varese and Milan showing built-up areas in grey, remaining green land, rivers and streams, and the roads and railways that cut across them, with the study area outlined by a dashed green frame — The study area, between Milan and VareseProject team

Typical Landscape Sequence

The sequence is made of homogeneous urban areas, vast industrial clusters, two barriers (a highway and a railway), extensive open agricultural fields, a centuries-old woodland, and quarries filled with water and vegetation.

Analysis

Legend: Urban settlement · Industrial area · Agricultural land · Borromeo wood · Wooded area · Quarry.

Analysis map in which the surviving green clearing is outlined with a dashed line and filled green, in three separate patches, among the grey built territory — And a green clearingProject team

Analysis map overlaying the green clearing on the urban and industrial patchwork, showing that the clearing meets them with no transition between — Absence of transitionProject team

Inferences

The clearing standing out of the actual landscape offers the opportunity to create a new system of green spaces at the fringe of the urban fabric and the industrial areas.

Inference plan tracing the transversal green clearing with a white dashed outline across the urban and industrial territory — InferencesProject team

Master Plan

Legend: Urban settlement · Industrial zone · Threshold · Frame pathway · Quarry · Forest · Interior connections.

Diagram of the planted frame in several greens, one for each fringe, with green arrows leaving the site and woodland texture inside — FramesystemProject team

Plan of the productive system inside the frame: a patchwork of fields in many greens, small colourful farm plots clustered around three settlement nodes, two quarry lakes, and woodland — InFrame Productive SystemProject team

In 50 years

In 50 years, the protective frame provides an active, fluid experience through a new, productive landscape. It has become a landmark by its imposing scale, a destination for its diverse possibilities, and a local park by its familiarity, all at once.

Green System Evolution

Legend: Frame — Urban fringes · Industrial fringes · Agricultural fringes · Forest fringes. Inside — Existing Forest · Quarry Park · Pine park · Restored Cascina nodes · Sustainabe local farming · Fields. Also — Future extension · Threshold entry · Green pathway · Ecological bridge.

Plan at five years: the frame is a thin planted line and the quarries and fields are only beginning to change — Green System Evolution / 5 YearsProject team

Plan at twenty years: the frame is a thicker band of woodland, the quarry lakes are planted and green fringes start to extend outside the site — Green System Evolution / 20 YearsProject team

Plan at fifty years: a dense mature frame of trees surrounds the site and green fringes extend out into the neighbouring fields — Green System Evolution / 50 YearsProject team

Detail Plan

A closer look at part of the master plan, where the frame, a quarry and the farmland meet.

The frame is a planted band with a pathway (the red line) that runs beside the railway.

The quarry becomes a landscape of two lakes, planting and looping paths.

Small farm plots gather around the existing settlement.

Detail plan enlarged from the upper-left part of the master plan: a planted frame with a red pathway beside the railway, a quarry turned into a landscape of two lakes with looping paths, and small farm plots gathered around a settlement — Detail PlanProject team

The System

Axonometric of the whole system: a frame of trees around open farmland with four labelled planted fringes (Industrial, Existing Forest, Agricultural and Urban), a central farm settlement, red-edged tree-lined paths crossing the fields, a river, and green arrows leaving the frame in every direction — The SystemProject team

Urban Fringe

The framework with a trail running through the center, surrounded by public plazas and community farming spaces inside the grid orchards for residents.

Plan of the urban fringe showing the tree grid, the trail running through the middle, a public plaza and community farming plots — Urban Fringe · planProject team

Agricultural Fringes

The trail continiues through a more distantly spaced tree grid with active public areas and high canopy coverage for uninterrupted views of the agricultural landscape.

Perspective of the agricultural fringe: a pink trail runs straight between two rows of tall trees with open meadow and public seating areas on either side — Agricultural FringesProject team

Plan of the agricultural fringe showing the trail through a widely spaced tree grid beside smaller productive plots — Agricultural Fringes · planProject team

Industrial Fringes

The trail passes through a very dence yet orderly tree grid, providing a buffer from the industrial fringe on one side and agriculture on the other with public spaces.

Perspective of the industrial fringe: a dense, orderly grove of trees around a square stone seat, with winding paths and people walking through — Industrial FringesProject team

Plan of the industrial fringe showing a very dense grid of trees acting as a buffer along the trail, with small public clearings — Industrial Fringes · planProject team

Bosco Fringes

The trail is lead through organically planted trees and shrubs which acts as the continoution of the surrounding Bosco which pocket spaces with in.

Perspective of the Bosco fringe: a curving gravel trail through an organically planted birch wood with tall grasses, boulders and a person under an umbrella — Bosco FringesProject team

Plan of the Bosco fringe showing loosely planted trees and shrubs along the trail with small pocket spaces among them — Bosco Fringes · planProject team

Project credits

Project team: Saba Seighali, Émilie Bielen, Abhinand Krishnakumar Menon, and Betül Güner
Guidance: Prof. Antonio Longo, Prof. Andrea Oldani, and Prof. Mara Gabbrielli