TORINO UNIVERSITY CITY
Torino città universitaria For much of the 1900s, the areas dedicated to residential quarters for university students were looked on almost as an extraterritorial space, even though they were usually located within the city. This conception arose from a multitude of factors. Among these was undoubtedly the application of the principles of architectural and urban modernism: the university hall of residence and the connected services were to be specialised places detached from the urban environment and had to correspond to minimum standards and quantitative parameters (the areas of the students’ rooms, the number of toilet facilities per capita etc.). Up to the time of the student protests of the 1960s and ’70s this concept was wanted and desired by the students themselves. Since then a lot has changed, especially in Torino. There has been a profound change in the way the relationship is seen between the university areas and the city spaces. Separation has given way to the idea of interweaving and undoubtedly the university and its sites have become one of the main drivers of urban development and quality in cities. In addition Torino has in recent years been transformed into a top level university town; its institutes, like the Politecnico and the Università, are always in leading positions in the national ranking and have an increasing capacity for attracting students from the rest of Italy and the world.
TORINO UNIVERSITY CITY
All this has gone hand in hand with a quantitative growth in university halls of residence in the city and the metropolitan area. The 2006 Winter Olympics provided an opportunity to increase the number of these buildings by converting what had been the villages for the press and the athletes. Fundamental though is not just the number but the design of these structures, which must be effectively integrated into the urban space; their surroundings should be pleasant but at the same time lively and dynamic; they must be connected to the places of study and research along soft mobility routes. The Torino Città Universitaria project represents an extraordinary opportunity to achieve this new idea of university residence within the urban environment. To outline all the potential of the Torino Città Universitaria project, and before determining the new model of university residence and services covered by the project, the idea has been to subdivide the urban space of the Turin area into 7 “districts”. The individual districts correspond to a series of university locations within their boundaries. But above all each district is to be built around a specific “geography”.
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A METROPOLITAN SYSTEM
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higher education institutions (research, applied science, academies) Politecnico di Torino | www.polito.it
Leading technical-scientific education and research institution closely integrated with the business world
Università di Torino | www.unito.it
One of the most ancient, prestigious and largest Italian Universities, open to an international perspective in the fields of both research and training
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ACADEMIC PREMISES URBAN DISTRICTS OLD CITY CENTER/DORA RIVER Humanistic Branch VARIANTE 200/BARRIERA SPINA 2 Polytechinc Citadel PO RIVER BANKS Scientific hospital and Architecture Site MIRAFIORI AREA Economics and Design Center GRUGLIASCO CITY Scientific Branch ORBASSANO CITY Hospital Branch
academic premises and urban districts TORINO UNIVERSITY CITY
offering 250 bachelor and master courses 150 specializing masters 60 P.h.D. courses
European Training Foundation | www.etf.europa.eu
Agency of the European Union dedicated to support the development of the education and training systems of the EU partner countries
Staff College of the United Nations | www.unssc.org
High-quality centre of excellence of learning and training services dedicated to civil servants in order to support the UN system in achieving its objectives and building its capacities
International Labour Organization | www.itcilo.org
Advanced vocational training institute committed to assisting countries in their social and economic development through learning and training
ESCP Europe School Of Management | www.escpeurope.eu
International business school, leader in Europe in postgraduate and executive training, according to Financial Times, ESCP – EAP ranks first in Italy as “Best European Business School”
Istituto Europeo di Design | www.ied.edu
International Higher Educational Network in Design, Fashion, Visual Communication and Management of creative industries
Istituto d’arte applicata e design | www.iaad.it
Higher education institution caring about meaning, form and function as the cornerstones of a conscious design
Conservatorio di musica "Giuseppe Verdi” | www.conservatoriotorino.eu Public institution of higher education for specialization, development and research in the art and music fields, with production activities
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7 DISTRICTS, 7 GEOGRAPHIES
In recent years the University and the Polytechnic of Turin have been rethinking and restructuring their premises, on the one hand by conservation and renewal works on their historic sites and on the other hand by a far-reaching new building programme, with different strategies for the two institutes: -Turin Polytechnic to be concentrated in two new sites, the Polytechnic Citadel (extension of the premises in Corso Duca degli Abruzzi and fulcrum of the transformation of the wide Spina 2 area) and the west section of Fiat Mirafiori with the new Design Centre. -Turin University has set up an Urban Campus model, concentrated along two fundamental axes: the system of the old city centre, which connects the historic buildings of the institute with some works in progress – such as that in Piazzale Aldo Moro – and which has been extended in recent years to the banks of the Dora in the former Italgas area; the line of the Po, along which the historic buildings of the Scientific faculties are located, supplemented by centres such as Orbassano, with the San Luigi Hospital, and Grugliasco. The location policies of the Institutes have contributed to the drafting of a map of the Turin university system: here we can find some selected “geographies”, i.e. places acting as a point of concentration for people, functions, uses and services.
TORINO UNIVERSITY CITY
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1.THE OLD CITY CENTRE AND THE BANKS OF THE DORA RIVER Humanistic branch 2. VARIANTE 200/BARRIERA 3. SPINA 2 Polytechinc Citadel 4. PO RIVER BANKS AND THE RAILWAY Scientific Hospital and Architecture Site 5. MIRAFIORI Economics and Design Center 6. GRUGLIASCO CITY Scientific Branch 7. ORBASSANO CITY Hospital Branch 3
ACCOMODATION & SERVICES
910.000 inhabitants
more than 2 M in its Metropolitan Area
100.000 students from 20.000 10.000 150 countries from other italian regions
ACADEMIC PREMISES URBAN DISTRICTS EDISU Piemonte University Residences Privately owned University Residences UniversitĂ degli Studi Libraries City of Turin Libraries Turin Polytecnic Libraries
university halls of residence and libraries TORINO UNIVERSITY CITY
of them are foreigners
2.700 specialization Master students 1.800 P.h.D. students 6.600 people carrying out R&D activities the halls of residence system (public+private) can offer around
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beds in dorms 4
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS The areas come under the Torino Città Universitaria project as possible areas for locating the new halls of residence and university services. These are areas of urban transformation and renewal that can represent interesting opportunities because of their strategic position within the urban fabric near to the existing centres, in an easily accessible context of high environmental quality. They are included in the 7 geographies/districts described earlier. 3
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1. FORMER ITALGAS Variante 200 District The former Italgas area, bounded by the river Dora and Corso Regina Margherita, is located within the wider Urban Campus project carried out in the last few years by the University of Turin, which extends from the old city centre to the river banks. The ex-Italgas site is strategic to the plans, given its position as a centre of gravity, surrounded by the historic university system, and the transformations linked to Variante 200 and the former Vanchiglia Goods Yard. The area already hosts the new site of the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences and the Longodora hall of residence completed in 2005. The Campus can be extended on the area occupied at present with new university residences and services for students.
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ACADEMIC PREMISES URBAN DISTRICTS Former Italgas Manifattura Tabacchi V200/Scalo Vanchiglia City of Health Former MOI Former Combi Mirafiori TNE
university halls of residence new proposals TORINO UNIVERSITY CITY
2. TOBACCO MANUFACTORING BUILDING Variante 200 District The former Tobacco Manufacturing Plant represents a historic structure of extraordinary interest, log destined in the City’s plans to university functions (already today there are offices and functions of the University of Turin). Located along the river Po, surrounded by the Colletta and Arrivore parks, it borders on the transformation areas of Variante 200 – in particular the Vanchiglia Goods Yard – and the route of the future Metro Line 2. The historical and environmental context, the nearness to the new public transport routes but also to the new humanistic site along the Dora, makes the Tobacco Manufacturing Building a site of particular interest.
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3. VANCHIGLIA RAIL YARDS Variante 200 District
6. FORMER COMBI Mirafiori District Variante 200 is one of the main projects for transforming the Turin city and metropolitan area. In the north quadrant of the urban space, along the route of the future Metro Line 2, about a million square metres of disused industrial and infrastructural areas are destined to a process of thorough-going urban and environmental renewal. Within it one can imagine the creation of university halls of residence and services, with the aim of increasing the degree of livability of the entire area. In particular the presence of the former Tobacco Manufacturing Plant – and the nearness to the Dora university site – make the Vanchiglia Goods Yard a particularly interesting site.
4. CITY OF HEALTH Po river banks and railway District
This area is in a strategic position, between the converted 2006 Winter Olympics urban complex and the university site of the economics faculties in the Poveri Vecchi area. The building of the Palaisozaki (Olympic indoor stadium), together with the transformation of the City Stadium to Olympic level, has given rise to a more general process of renewal of this part of the city, involving the public open space, but also new spaces for leisure and services. The Combi area, which used to be occupied by training fields, is today an abandoned, uncultivated area of about 30,000 square metres. The area is appropriate for a new central role linked to urban and university service structures, thanks also to the presence of the nearby Economics faculties.
7. MIRAFIORI T.N.E. Mirafiori District There has been discussion for some time as to the creation of a new health district, a veritable City of Health, where top-level hospital services, university research, incubator services and connected activities can be concentrated. The City of Health should arise from the redesigning of the principal hospital site of the Turin area, the Molinette, to then extend and spread out to the surrounding urban fabric, within the south quadrant of the city. Here the environmental picture represented by the Po and the river landscape, the presence of Metro Line 1 and the nearness to the Lingotto railway station and motorway access roads make this area particularly interesting for development.
The south-west quadrant of the Turin territory, in a strategic position in relation to the by-pass and the motorways, as well as flanking the historic industrial site of FIAT Mirafiori, is the location of the Torino Nuova Economia(TNE) areas, which are disused industrial areas undergoing renewal. This area has already become home to the Design degree courses of the Turin Polytechnic and other functions and services of an innovative nature should soon be added. The so-called “piazza Mirafiori” at the centre of gravity of the TNE areas will also be the location of the south terminus of the future Metro Line 2.
5. FORMER MOI Po river banks and railway District Around the former FIAT Lingotto factory, new transformation and urban renewal plans are taking shape: 1. the new tower of Piedmont Region and the surrounding district, added to which are a series of actions on an urban scale on the west and east sides of the railway. 2. former fruit and vegetable markets of the city 3. former Moi (already upgraded for the 2006 winter Olympics). This dynamic urban district of Turin, is situated in the proximity of important motorway accesses and is also served by Metro Line 1 and the Lingotto railway station. It is near the scientific and hospital site that dominates the south-east quadrant of the city.
TORINO UNIVERSITY CITY
URBAN CENTER METROPOLITANO Piazza Palazzo di Città 8f 10122 Torino www.urbancenter.to.it PIEMONTE Agency for Investments, Export and Tourism Corso Regio Parco 27 10152 Torino www.centroestero.org
for: Città di Torino
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