COMMENTED WALKS Area: Via Paolo Sarpi
CONTEMPORARY CITY: DESCRIPTIONS AND PROJECTS [ URBAN PLANNING AND POLICY DESIGN ] Prof.Laurent Gilles Jacques Devisme, Assist. Alice Buoli, Assist. Mario Paris, Assist. Matteo Del Fabbro
GROUP 11-Hala Abuelgassim, Claudia Arriaga, Letizia Cavalli, Sharon De Andrade
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION
1
DEFINITION OF CONDITIONS
2
ANALYSIS
4
INTERVIEWS
5
COMMENTED WALKS
7
HOTSPOTS
9
CONCLUSION
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INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE SITE
Containing the largest Chinese community in Italy, Milan's Chinatown neighborhood represents a small piece of China in the Italian fashion capital. The principal street that defines the neighborhood is Via Paolo Sarpi, a primarily pedestrian street that has evolved through the last 90 years to become a cultural center rich with Chinese-related commercial activity. Mixed-use buildings line the street with retail establishments on the ground floor and residential dwellings above. Bicycles serve as the main mode of transportation, both for commuting and small-scale delivery services. Street food is a major component of the neighborhood, attracting locals and visitors from near and far to experience a Chinese culinary experience. Chinese wholesale shops are also a major attraction, serving as a hub for garment boutique owners. Via Paolo Sarpi serves as a gateway into Milan's Chinese culture, housing a diversity of activity - a place where Italian and Chinese culture meet, resulting in an experience unlike any other.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Our analysis of the context consisted of our own direct field observations of Via Paolo Sarpi's built infrastructure, sensory features and social features, as well as other participants observations of the ambience through perception in motion. By applying this method of analysis, we were able to hear a direct account of pedestrians' experiences walking along the street. One their account was recorded, we analyzed their observations not only in what was spoken, but also how it was spoken. This interpretation allowed us to better understand the feelings that this urban setting evokes. The field visits were conducted on a Sunday evening (March 24 at 7:00 p.m.), as well as Friday and Saturday afternoon (March 29 and 30 at 12:00 p.m.).
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DEFINITION OF CONDITIONS MAP OF THE AREA
Landmarks Path
A
1.5 km
B
RESEARCH QUESTIONS -Name, Age,Job, -Where do you live ? -Where are you going ? Why? -Why did you choose this path ? Is it your usual path or not ? -How do you feel on this street? -How do you describe this street? -Which are the elements that attract your attention? -What do you like/dislike about this street?There are problems (security, accessibility,services) -How have you seen this street change over time ?
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PROFILES AGE CATEGORIES:
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TEENS- 13-17 years old (T)- 18%
13-17
18-35
36-55
YOUNG ADULT - 18-35 years old (Y) - 41%
6+
MIDDLE AGED - 36-55 years old (M) - 23% ELDERLY - 56+ years old (E)- 18%
PROFESSIONAL STATUS CATEGORIES: STUDENTS- 41% WORKERS- 41% RETIRED- 18%
SITE USE FREQUENCY CATEGORIES: OCCASIONALLY (at least once a month) - 35% OFTEN (at least once a week) - 65%
OFTEN OCCASIONALLY
PLACE OF RESIDENCE CATEGORIES: INTERNATIONAL
MILAN CENTER - 47% PERIPHERIES - 12% OUTSIDE OF MILAN - 35% INTERNATIONAL- 6%
OUTSIDE MILAN MILAN CENTER PHERIPERIES
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ANALYSIS
LAND USE: As we can see Paolo Sarpi's area is mostly residential, but commercial at the first floor, this allow to have a quite place but animated by the different activities on the street.
Park
Construction sites
Residential
Industrial
Public or Private services
Raylway Yard
SHOP ANALYSIS: We analize the variety of the shops present on the area, noticing that the mayority of it are chinase, but there is also a percentage of non chinese shops, such as italians etc.
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NON CHINESE SHOPS CHINESE SHOPS
INTERVIEWS 1. MARIA 75 years old | Italian | Retired | Lives in Chinatown "I live here for 55 years now. There used to be more diversity of shops, but now there are only places to eat (too much) and clothing. I don't like the fact that more shops geared towards youth, and not enough for more mature ladies. There is not much night life here -I like that it is pretty calm here in the evening."
2. ROSSELLA 55 years old | Italian | Retired | Lives 3 km away from Via Sarpi " I don't come here often, But I like to visit the L'Erboristeria Novetti (historical - oldest in Milan). I really like the street plantings and the primarily pedestrian street."
3. GLORIA and ALBERTO 63 and 67 years old couple | Italian | Retired | Live 2 km away from Via Sarpi "This street was previously ugly and not welcoming to non-Chinese people, but now it is more open and I do not feel excluded when we visit it. It could be described as a: vivid and fun place to visit. We come to this Macelleria to get our weekly supply of meet."
4.SERGIO and LUIGI 14 years old | Italian-Chinese | Students | Lives in Moscova/Torino "We are going to meet friends and eat together in a restaurant on this street (Little Lamb Hot Pot). There are so many places to eat at here, all close to each other so we can reach many places easily." "We like coming here because there are so many Chinese people and we feel at home. We usually walk about 3/4 of the street when we come here. There is nothing we don't like about this street."
5. FRANCESCA 33 years old | Italian | Lives in Bicocca "This is a beautiful road, where I can find a piece of Asia here. Many cultures that meet each other in one neighborhood. I come here to discover new flavors and new places. There are many things I do not know and always something new to see." "I like walking through the entire street, and sometimes I go to the oriental supermarket (Cathey)."
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6. GERONIMO 37 years old | Italian |Teacher | Lives in Citta Studi "I come here many times during the month. I like Chinese food and this is the best place to have it. What I don't like about this street that I would like to see more areas to sit, because there are many places to eat with few places to sit " "The street has always been the same, but the shops have changed. Lots of street food eateries began to appear here, in the last 4 years. The commerce in the area changed very rapidly. Years ago, it was just jewelry and clothing, not diverse, but not many eateries " "The Best place to eat here at is Ravioleria Sarpi"
7. LINDA 30 years old | Chinese | Computer Programmer | Lives in Chinatown "I come to Italy often but up until now I have been living in California for many years. I recently moved here to Chinatown. I think there should be more Chinese oriental decorations to attract more tourists and the storefronts are too plain - should be enhanced" "It's a very clean and organized; the best Chinatown compared to others in the world"
8. NADIA and DARIO 28 and 32 years old couple | Italian | Young parents | Live in Porta Romana "This our first time here; Our friends recommended us this dumpling place and it's really worth it. We took our food and came to set here on these site benches. Now we are going for a walk around the place it seems very interesting. We will come here more often for sure!."
9. FEDERICA and ELISABETTA 18 and 19 years old | Italian | Students | Lives in Udine "We come here every two weeks to have dinner in a Thai restaurant and after that we take the metro from Garibaldi metro station to a club near Moscova area. We love Asian cultures very much and we have Chinese friends who lives here."
10. GIORGIA, GABRIELE and CAROLINA 37,39 and 10 years old | Italian Family | Live 2 km away from Via Sarpi "We are going to Garibaldi metro station. We prefer taking this path through via Sarpi because we like the atmosphere here in the morning; a pedestrian street with kids playing on the middle, old friends setting on the benches and drinking coffee together beside the very nice planting on the both sides of the street. It's more a piazza than a street ."
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COMMENTED WALKS I think that I am walking towards a pedestrian street that links the Chinese commercial neighborhood, but I find myself in a linear, multinational, multigenerational and very vibrant PIAZZA. As I am stepping into this place, the sounds of the heavy traffic, the rattling of the tram and the music from the surrounding restaurants start to fade. I felt as I am about to cross a gateway to a different world. I walk on a street, where the surrounding environment completely changed, between old and stoned three-stories-high buildings in a row. Every building has a story that needs to be told. These residential buildings mostly occupied by Chinese families or Italian young parents seeking the deep solitude in the center of the city, which this place offers generously. These buildings' ground floors are all commercial, from restaurants, Chinese cultural antique show rooms and mostly clothing shops.
SOLITUDE
The green plants standing with pride on the sides of the street and the few benches, I wish if there are more of them so these teens sitting on the door step can find a place. It gives me the vibes of walking in a 19th-century palace garden with all of these balconies viewed to it .The sound here is totally different from the place that we just came from, I can hear the laughs of the people standing in the corner, the bicycle with their bells trying to find their ways between the crowd and - since it's a weekend morning - the sound of the rope hitting the ground as some kids playing jumping rope and their giggles kindly knocks on my eardrums.
VIVID
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FUN
COMMENTED WALKS On a weekday afternoon I feel the same peace that I felt on the weekend morning, but instead of young people, elderlies dominate this period of time. A group of old Chinese friends sitting on the street benches down their apartments or maybe from outside this area, sharing stories of their beloved grandchildrens and their favorites football team's news, in a sort of loving and longtime friendship. Meanwhile, an old Italian woman that can barely walk, crosses by and stops at some shops that she commonly visits on the way to her daughter's house and stops for a moment wondering about how this street has changed during the time from a dull street, which used to give the feeling that you are excluded but now it has evolved into a very welcoming one, full of life. And while she is getting out of a clothing shop, she notices a graffiti artist painting on the pavement of the street, "It's a tempting place to show my art since this place attracts a lot of people from different backgrounds and ages," he says. This image totally changes in the evening. The shiny lights from the restaurants and the street added to the crowd made by a famous dumpling restaurant in the corner and the outdoor tinted cafe all steal my attention. The flow of the youth and middle-aged people from Garibaldi station is very strong. Some of them choose to pass by this street because they find it a nice place for pedestrians and like the vibes this place gives to them, while the others come here with a clear intent: young boys and girls addressed it as the place that they reach to take a breath away from the loudness of Milan, two lovers come here occasionally to try the food of a different culture, and Chinese groups of people who come here regularly seeking the feeling of home.
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VIBRANT
ATMOSPHERE VIBES
DIVERSE
HOT SPOTS Garibaldi's Station Paolo Sarpi's end
Paolo Sarpi's entrance
Ravioleria
The street is almost full of people that use their moring to do windowshopping
10am
The street became crowded of people that look for good chinese food, we have some areas in which there are lines of peoples waiting.
12pm
Even during the night the street is vibrant, people go to bars to drink something or to eat.
10pm
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CONCLUSION The research sample provided a good representative summary of the sensory experiences of Via Paolo Sarpi. Our findings show that young adults are the most frequent users of the area, commonly visited by residents from within and outside of Milan. Overall, the observers expressed that they enjoy the diversity of uses and social inclusiveness of the neighborhood, as it serves as a gateway into new international experiences that cannot be found in other parts of the city. Via Paolo Sarpi as a pedestrian island allows it to be fully utilized by all types of users, comparable to a sort of linear piazza. Its well-maintained street plantings, human-scale development and small, locally-owned shops give the neighborhood a unique identity and sense of place. About the density of the place during different time of the day and week we noticed the following about via Sarpi: -It's very safe even during the night. -It's much more active in during lunch time and weekends-afternoons. But really crowded at weekends evenings. -During weekends the street attracts street artists and other kind of activities (street sellers, advertising campaigns for different kind of products). We therefore conclude with the following interconnected impressions (problems and suggested solutions) from the various interviews: Problems: -Lack of streets furnishing that some people sit on the step backs of the shops. -The majority of the shops there geared towards youth, and not enough for more elderlies. -The buildings don't represent the Chinese culture (Facades, types of doors and windows)
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