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“The architectural strategy of reconnecting the context through a network of slow mobility that enhances the experience of movement as an opportunity for immersion in the countryside is not only the chance to activate new protected, pleasant, and social routes to offer an alternative to the home-work commutes required by companies and that the Public Administrations of the municipalities of Fiorano Modenese, Formigine, Maranello, and Sassuolo want to implement by including them in the new generation Plans. The ‘Cuore Verde’ of the District is above all the recognition of a historical identity that can become contemporary again; it is the opportunity to restore to urban regeneration the original meaning of the foundational relationship between settlement and nature.”
This is how Dario Costi and Simona Melli, founders of Studio MC2, authors of the regeneration plan together with Studio BScape, which instead took care of the landscape and renaturation aspects., talk about the “Green Heart” project.
A project that began with the first intervention on Via Ancora and the Marazzi boundary wall, and will continue in the coming years. We talked about it with the designers.
This new green and mobility infrastructure will change the urban fabric. At what scale did you work?
In 2023, our studio was commissioned the Masterplan that develops, for the Union’s Municipalities, a strategy to reconnect slow-relations between centers by linking urban green infrastructures, country lanes, less-traveled routes, existing parks, and regeneration areas.
At the territorial scale, the proposed scenario outlines a series of green routes that connect the towns, proposing a network designed in a comprehensive and inter-municipal way, to make moving around the District on foot and by bicycle pleasant, safe, and social, and reconnecting urban spaces with the territory.
The first intervention focuses on the boundary wall of the factory, which becomes a linear park. How did you work on this part of the project?
Starting from the railway embankment of the line to Reggio Emilia, a long green strip will be created to replace the current concrete boundary in a continuous succession of different natural species, studied from a landscape perspective by Studio BScape, to completely change the way the neighborhood relates to it. We have transformed the edge of an industrial facility into a landscape that is both natural and urban, a vision fully in accord with Marazzi’s values as it celebrates its ninetieth anniversary this year. What better opportunity to design the future.
The relationship with the company and its products is also tangible in the installations you will create in the area…
We have designed a series of outdoor installations in which the material and spatial quality of the large ceramic slabs will be the main feature, also in their conceptual dimension.
In particular, “The door of the dairy” will become a pedestrian entrance on the southern edge of the settlement next to the railway embankment, while “The folds of production” will recall the historic entrance of the factory with the presence of some architectural elements.
The large slabs suspended over the linear park, the ever-changing environmental system, the anticipation for the growth of greenery that will be able to approach and even envelop the installations, the reference to the gaze of photographer Luigi Ghirri, and the presence of artworks, are all actions through which, over time, the project can be a living interpretation of this regeneration project.
The masterplan seeks to restore the original conditions of the natural environment with high biodiversity standards. How will the spaces change?
The western edge of the industrial site will become a linear park running alongside the road.
Actions include renaturation by planting many new trees, unsealing the soil by creating a long strip of permeable land, and achieving greater urban and perceptual quality by transforming the rear of an industry into a natural, vibrant edge.
There will also be a noticeable improvement in terms of noise: removing the existing barriers will greatly reduce the noise from vehicles traveling on Via Ancora. Last but not least, new relationships with the residential context and the redevelopment of the road will have positive effects for the neighborhood, local businesses, and the parish.
