Metropolitan Park of the piana fiorentina | Gori Olivia

olivia gori

Metropolitan Park of the piana fiorentina A journey through space, time, velocity

tesi | architettura design territorio

Il presente volume è la sintesi della tesi di laurea a cui è stata attribuita la dignità di pubblicazione.

Acknowledgments First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Giulio Giovannoni. A passionate and committed professor who has supported and encouraged me throughout the entire work. Without his knowledge and open-mindedness this thesis would have never been completed. To my co-supervisor Arch. Cristiano Cosi for his incredible style and wit.

In retrospect, thanks to all future ECÒL members.

And to Olivia F.

in copertina Piana Metropolitana.

progetto grafico

didacommunicationlab Dipartimento di Architettura Università degli Studi di Firenze Susanna Cerri Sara Caramaschi

didapress Dipartimento di Architettura Università degli Studi di Firenze via della Mattonaia, 8 Firenze 50121 © 2018 ISBN 9788833380261

Stampato su carta di pura cellulosa Fedrigoni Arcoset

olivia gori

Metropolitan Park of the piana fiorentina A journey through space, time, velocity

as the sphere of influence expands, the area characterized by the center becomes larger and larger, hopelessly diluting both the strength and the authority of the core; inevitably the distance between center and circumference increases to the breaking point. in this perspective, the recent, belated discovery of the periphery as a zone of potential value — a kind of pre-historical condition that might finally be worthy of architectural attention — is only a disguised insistence on the priority of and dependency on the center: without center, no periphery; the interest of the first presumably compensates for the emptiness of the latter.

Rem Koolhaas, The Generic City

The Periphery at the Center: an Implicit Handbook for the Suburban Project

Olivia Gori's thesis deals with the design of the peripheries in an original and brilliant way. It is like an implicit design handbook to improve the quality of life in the suburbs. Some of its design moves have a more general validity and can also be applied to other suburban contexts. I will focus on three aspects that are particularly relevant to me: 1) recognising the inversion of the centre/periphery hierarchy, 2) considering the so-called ‘non-places’ of the peripheries as interesting design opportunities, 3) adopting a sensory approach to urban/landscape design.

The periphery is the centre: reversal of the hierarchy in the contemporary metropolis.

The design explorations carried out in thesis apply to a large suburban void surrounded by a crown of cities and towns: Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Calenzano, Campi Bisenzio, to name but the most important. From the point of view of those who live in any of these centers, this great void is certainly peripheral. However, as these urban centers have now welded together to form a single conurbation, this space has ended up in a central and barycentric position. The dimensions of the Florence Metropolitan Park designed by Olivia are very similar to those of the Central Park in New York. However, its characteristics could not be more different. While Central Park is surrounded by the houses that overlook it and by the large urban blocks of the urban grid of Manhattan, the Florence metropolitan park is surrounded on all sides by large mobility infrastructures (two motorways, a suburban thoroughfare, and a railway). This makes it comparable to a huge infrastructure ring which serves cities surrounding it. To the edges of this central void are the main shopping centers and some of the most important public facilities of the Florence area: the big Shopping Centre ‘I Gigli’, the Osmannoro shopping District, the Ipercoop in Sesto Fiorentino, various autogrills, the airport, the School of the Carabinieri Corp, the Case Passerini landfill, the University Campus of Sesto Fiorentino, various sports facilities.

The reversal of the hierarchical relationship between centre and periphery, which we have synthesized here as the phrase the periphery is the centre, corresponds in fact to a leap of scale in which the original polycentric system composed of separate and distinct urban nuclei merges into an urban organism of a higher level. Aristotle used the term synecism to indicate this merging process. Apart from its different scale and size, what is happening today in the center of the Florence plain is a process similar to that occurred in many cities of the past. A case geographically close to us is that of the city of Siena, formed around the Eighth century by the fusion of the linear settlement of Camollia and the villages of Castel Montone (now San Martino) and Castelvecchio (the area of the cathedral also called Città). The city’s particular inverted Y shape is the result of this merging. However, it took several centuries for the open space between the three original villages to become a real urban centre. Piazza del Campo was part of this system of open spaces. Besides being barycentric to the current historic center of Siena, this square has long been and probably still is the real political, social, and symbolic center of the city.

Olivia superimposes New York’s Central Park on the large central void of the Florence area. The meaning of this simple graphic overlapping is that the center is right there: the periphery has become the center. Obviously, this is a centre in progress, not yet completed. Just as in Siena it took centuries for the urban voids between the villages from which the city originated to become its real civic centre, so it is likely that it will take several decades for the central vacuum of the 5 Florence plain to turn into a complete metropolitan core. But in part it’s already so.

The trends that are taking place in the Florence plain are common to many other metropolitan areas in Italy and in the world. They can be read in the inversion of the figure/ground relationship between open spaces and built-up spaces.

Whereas in the past urban centers were perceived as figures and the countryside as a background, today the opposite is true. The recognition of this inversion opens the door to interesting design explorations and to the reconceptualization of the consolidated ideas of ‘city’ and of ‘center’. The centre can be thought of as a large, well-equipped void, a green space that hosts - inside or on its perimeter - important metropolitan facilities. By the way, the idea of the city centre as a great void understood both as a natural environment and as a space hosting collective services and facilities is not new in the history of the city. One of the most significant examples is certainly the Boston Commons. Although originally used as a large pasture area, it consolidated in the mid-1800s as a large urban park that is thought by its inhabitants as the real city centre. It is overlooked by the Massachusetts State House, the home of the Massachusetts Parliament, and some of the city’s most important churches and facilities. Situations similar to the one that we have in Florence today exist in many other places. A specular case, although smaller in size, exists only 50 km east of Florence, in the Upper Valdarno, between Montevarchi, San Giovanni Valdarno and Terranuova Bracciolini. Some of the most important facilities, such as the hospital and a large shopping centre, are either outside the cities or on their outer edges, close to a central green void. Although this void has not yet symbolically become the centre of this conurbation, it is already so from the functional point of view.

Suburban ‘non-places’ as design opportunities Dominant descriptions of the suburbs in the political and urban debate represent them in a negative, not to say dystopian, way. Such representations are the consequence of an urban-centric gaze that is largely ideological. In fact, adopting a dystopian gaze towards the suburbs and a utopian gaze towards city centers, cultural and political conditions are created so that the former remain forgotten and the latter continue to be the main receptors of resources and attentions.

In fact the suburbs are the receptacle of what Augé calls ‘anthropological non-places’: airports, car parks, petrol stations, shopping centers, autogrills, landfills, to name but a few. According to Augé, these spaces, mostly linked to mobility, are condemned to be the scenarios of a consumerist and alienated life. Neither social life, nor any identification and belonging would be possible in such spaces. My opinion is indeed the opposite of that of Augé: I believe in fact that shopping centers, multiplexes, petrol stations and car parks are in many cases the only social facilities that exist in the suburbs and are not without social life at all. For this reason I have been teaching the course “Rethinking Non-Places: from Spaces of Alienation to Places for Public Life” for several years. Years of empirical work in the suburbs confirm my impression. Augé’s gaze, which is shared by most urban planners and policy-makers in Tuscany and in the world, is once again ideological.

This is demonstrated by the fact that whenever a multiplex or a new shopping centre is planned for the suburbs, journalistic and political discussions are held. "The multiplex closes the cinemas in the centre", "the shopping centre closes smaller retailers", "the city centre empties itself": these are the typical phrases that can be read in newspapers. The viewpoint is, once again, urban-centric.

There is no concern that densely populated areas that are poor in public and commercial facilities will finally improve their equipment. Instead, the point of view and the interests of a small urban elite continue to be promoted. An elite able to pay the high rent that the use of luxury apartments in historical city centers inevitably entails. But these city centers are becoming more and more touristic and disneyfied. In fact, the majority of the population lives today in the suburbs and has a great need of this equipment. The worst side of this way of looking at the periphery and its social spaces is that it prevents a real planning and regulatory capacity. If well designed and regulated, Augé’s non-places can become real places for social and collective life.

An empirical and sensory approach to the knowledge of suburban areas Dystopian representations of peripheries depend on a lack of empirical knowledge. Very often, urban analyses have little impact on urban plans. Such analyses ‘dissect’ the real world through specialist readings that fail to return the most direct and immediate aspects of the places they investigate. Henri Lefebvre complained about the limits of specialist knowledge and about the difficulty of achieving a synthesis of such knowledge. The facts confirm the correctness of his position. To break this deadlock, specialist (and fragmentary) analytical approaches should be replaced by an empirical and sensory holistic approach. Such kind of reading is conducted by Olivia Gori who, after travelling far and wide this great suburban void, highlights its potential and charm with great skills.

The analytical apparatus of the thesis is structured around three main axes: space, time and velocity. Space is the place of visual, sound and olfactory sensory analysis. The idea that this large suburban void is a ‘non-place’ surrounded by mobility infrastructures - an idea that dominates collective metropolitan imaginary - liquefies in front of the visualscape, the soundscape and the smellscape depicted by Olivia. These readings allow us to delineate a ‘new suburban aesthetic’, an aesthetic featured by categories such as dream, surreality, loss, abandonment, alienation, sublime. The analysis of time is linked to that of speed, the perception of time being linked to the speed of flows crossing space. In an area featured by very different times/speeds, from the fast ones of the motorway and the airport to the slow ones of water and walking, this analytical tool allows to give back very well the different experiential situations. Time, space and velocity are also the keywords describing the three architectural meta-projects developed in this thesis. The Case Passerini landfill is rethought as panoramic point from which to observe the different layers of settlement that time and man’s work deposited in the Florence plain. The Peretola airport is thought as an attraction for adults and children, who can enjoy the charm of the continuous flow of aircraft from a “speed platform”, a sort of observatory outside the airport itself. Finally, the motorway is flanked by a “space tower”, a landmark that allows a visual interface between the Florence metropolitan park designed by Olivia and the motorway.

In conclusion, Olivia Gori's project has the merit of acknowledging the irreversible transformations that have taken place in the metropolitan area of Florence and of effectively drawing their implications in conceptual, analytic and design terms. All that rendered through intellectually stimulating texts and an outstanding graphic work.

Giulio Giovannoni Dipartimento di Architettura Università degli Studi di Firenze

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9

Introduction

left page Sketches for Broadacre City

by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Is it possible that the compact city is itself only an interlude in the developement of human civilization?

(Thomas Sieverts, Cities without cities, 2003) Since the beginning of the twentieth century, with the automobile crossing the line from luxury item to indispensable tool, many futuristic models of cities have been built around the idea of escaping the center. From Frank Lloyd Wright’s Broadacre city to Le Corbusier’s Ville Radieuse many ideal cities, as well as a large amount of literature, have been produced on how to engage the topic of dispersed urbanization. Lately one of the greater questions appears to be how to address a land neither city nor country.1 The dilemma of a common name to define this particular type of urbanization is caused by the fact that although many peripheries share common aspects, each one is specific to the area where it rises and the shape it takes on. Not all peripheries are sprawl and not necessarily all outskirts are purely residential or industrial.

This thesis research takes a look into the lands that spread in-between the 1 In the year 2000, for the seventh Venice Biennale, the architectural collective Gruppo A12 presents the first attempt to collect all neologism created by urban planning to describe contemporary urban space into one website. Cf. http://parole.aporee.org/

three cities of Florence, Prato and Pistoia. The question itself on how to consider this area allows us to place it in the category previously discussed and no further definition to describe it will be given, if not the already commonly used name of ‘Piana’. As we have seen earlier, in many parts of the world, the topic of how to deal with a place not completely urban nor rural has been taking place for some time and is now starting to become crucial also in Italy.

In this case though, the argument becomes particularly difficult, especially if we take into account the power that major Italian cities, as well as the famous Italian country side, have in the collective consciousness. Postcard images of leaning towers, the Coliseum, Ponte Vecchio as well as vineyards and cypressed hills are what identify Italy to any stranger around the world, this type of image has been created for many countries (Egypt and its pyramids, Africa and its animals, France and the Tour Eiffel) and if on the one hand, it basically never reflects the real character of the place, on the other it contributes to directing masses of tourists in specific directions, moving economies and creating hierarchies of importance in the administration of a territory.

If we turn back to our case, the influence of the commercial images of the Piana’s surroundings could not be any

stronger: the city of Florence and the Tuscan countryside landscapes. To better clear the point, we can say that if we decided to adopt R. Koolhaas’s approach, we would consider the Piana as our ‘Generic City’ and Florence as her mother, constantly drawing away attention from its offspring.2 Things get furtherly complicated if we consider that the lands of the Piana, like the majority of Italy’s surface, have undergone important historical events and still nowadays contain a number of significant elements from the past on top of which settle todays urbanization. This means that more than in any other nearby city, the Piana contains and reflects all realities that are and have been. As for the ones that will be, it is certainly easier to imagine something taking place here than inside the “Old City”; its thrilling potential may as well be considered as one of the lands’ greatest values.

The research conducted on some specific areas of the territories which make up the Piana is thought as an integrated interpretation of nature’s evolution and men’s actions through 2 ”Conceptually orphaned, the condition of the periphery is made worse by the fact that its mother is still alive, stealing the show, emphasizing its offspring’s inadequacies. The last vibes emanating from the exhausted center preclude the reading of the periphery as a critical mass.” Taken from Koolhaas, R., Mau, B. (1995). S,M,L,XL. New York: The Monacelli Press.

time, in a place of few rules and many interests. The merging of these forces has created fascinating scenarios as well as conflicting realities. The goal of the research is to discover the possibilities that lie among these territories and in doing so, to adopt an observation method based mainly on perception. For this reason all analysis will be subdivided into the three major categories of: Space, Time, Velocity.

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left page map of the PIANA METROPOLITANA

“Piana Metropolitana” is the common way to address the area of land which comprehends the three Italian cities of Florence, Prato and Pistoia. More precisely the term is usually used to indicate the “in-between lands” connecting or separating, depending on one’s point of view, these three towns.

The plain rather than being sprawl, is what has remained trapped between the mountainous geography of its surroundings and the advance of the historical cities; it is mainly, the result of a subtraction, not of an addition. The strong relation between urbanization and territorial geography of the area is made even more clear by the etymology of its name: Piana (from the Latin planum “flat surface, plane, level, plain”), while less clear remains its use, which nowadays often carries negative connotations. “Venire dalla piana” or to come from the planes is many times used to describe someone lacking a sense of urban-ness.1 With the same negative connotations many inhabitants living in the major cities of the metropolitan plan think of the Piana as their city’s wasteland, or in general as a place not worthy of attention. Something to pass by on the 1 With the use of the word urban-ness we are referring to Edgar Salin’s development of the term as to indicate someone having a tolerant, outward-looking attitude. Cf. Sieverts, T. (2003). Cities without cities. London: Spon Press.

Piana Metropolitana

pianafiorentina cittàmetropolitana

way to somewhere else, but never to stop and visit.

In the mind of the majority, the Piana remains in fact perceived as a periphery although the way it is lived can in some case appear close to the functioning of a city center. As a matter of fact, a great number of its inhabitants consider the malls, cinemas and stores scattered around these lands as recreational and socializing centers and spend a lot of their free time there. Also for people living in the major cities, the functions contained inside the Piana are of central importance.

Often not recognized by the inhabitants of the city itself, the Piana does work as a single interdependent system, underlining the need for a larger scale administration.

From 1990 with the law n.142 up until

now, many proposals have been made toward the management of these kind of territories. The previously stated law refers to the reform of local authorities, which in Tuscany replaces the Province of Florence, with the new Metropolitan City. From that moment on a number of efforts, such as the coordination of infrastructural projects, vast area programming and an activity promotion between authorities, have been made toward the defining of the Metropolitan City. It won’t be up until 2014 that the administrative division of Italy in Metropolitan Cities will become operative.

The difficulty of finding a clear definition for the Metropolitan City and tracing of its borders is made clear by the example of the Met- 15 ropolitan City of Florence. If we

Conurbation take a look at the reactions generated by the numerous proposals2 made toward the uniting of Florence, Prato and Pistoia under a Metropolitan Area, we find that the response to this kind of integration has been in many cases negative and proof of how difficult this process might be, specially in Italy, where the pride taken in belonging to a city is strong and in many cases deeply rooted in historical traditions and conquests for independence. Probably great part of the difficulty toward considering the Piana as a unified system Beginning in 1990 with the law n. 142. Ordinamento delle autonomie locali. To the 3 April 2014 when the Lower House finally approved the law that establishes the Metropolitan Cities in Italy. Although the law introduces the new administrative authority of the Metropolitan Areas, it also reaffirms the importance of Provinces. In the case of the Piana Fiorentina the result has been largely contradictory. In fact the Area Metropolitana Fiorentina corresponds to the former Province of Florence including large hill side areas which are far from the Piana and completely disconnected from it in terms of social and economic interdependencies. On the other hand, the two cities of Pistoia and Prato whose plain territory is strictly interconnected to Florence still belong to the Provinces of Prato and Pistoia, determining an ongoing administrative fragmentation.

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is given by the idea that belonging to a bigger organization necessarily means sacrificing ones own reality to be subjugated by a higher form of power, which will subsequently lead to a loss of identity. For this reason, the reaching of a unified vision of the Piana is a very slow process, that might never come to completion, it is however interesting to imagine how this territory would be lived and perceived if it could be experienced by everyone as a whole.

This new way of experiencing the territory could broaden our horizons and enrich our culture since the lands and the cities of the Piana contain a multitude of interesting, surprising and beautiful realities.

One big city surrounded by hills Although the whole idea could be seen as purely utopistic and naive, the topic of a number of cities coming together to form a unified system has firstly been pursued in 1915 by Patrick

Geddes3 in his book Cities in Evolution and has subsequently taken place in many parts of the world. By studying the possibilities offered by the new technologies, electric energy and motorized transport, Geddes investigated the capacity of the city to expand itself and merge with other cities around it.

To explain this new idea of expanding spatial organization in his book, Geddes coins the term conurbation and analyzes the cases of the Midlands in England, the Randstad in Holland, the conurbations of New York and Boston in the United States, the Greater Tokyo area in Japan and the National Capital Region of Delhi in India.

To better understand how our study area can come to be considered as a conurbation of the three cities of Pistoia, Prato and Firenze we can compare it to the four European model conurbations of the Greater London Patrick Geddes (2 October 1854 – 17 April 1932) was a Scottish biologist, sociologist, geographer, philanthropist and pioneering town planner.

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Area and West Midlands (UK), the Randstad (NL) and the Ruhr (DEU).

Constantly pressed by the cities growth and needs, which are not able to find any other area to expand onto if not the flat territories between them, the plain can be considered as in a continuous state of inbetweenness which will come to an end only in the moment in which the entire area of the plane will reach an organized equilibrium.4 Not only is the Piana in-between cities and mountains, but also in-between infrastructure which from Roman times, with the centuriation5 of the lands, up to today with the new issues linked to the Amerigo Vespucci Air-

4 Starting from the 1960s, and in particular from the Piano Regolatore (Zoning Code) developed by Edoardo Detti in 1962, the hills surrounding the Florentine area have undergone a strong politic of preservation. From then on the urban development of the city of Florence has exclusively taken place in the Piana on the North-West end of the city. See Edoardo Detti (1963), “Il faticoso salvataggio di Firenze”, Urbanistica, n. 39 pp. 76-86.

5 See § 2.3 Roman Civilization.

Inbetweenness

facing page Schematic representations showing the relation between the cities and the extensive green areas surrounding, passing through or inside them.

port, has played an important role in the layout and use of this area.

To consider the Piana as an ‘in-between land’ automatically generates the question: Is the Piana sprawl? Before giving an answer we take a look at many different authors that have investigated the topic of dispersed urbanization and have theorized on what these places are made up of and what they represent. Each different description, from Koolhaas Generic City to Clements Tiers Paysage, have points in common and at the same time differ immensely one an other.

This is because there is a commune denominator to all places not urban not rural, something that no matter if we are looking at the Los Angeles urban sprawl or the German industrial Zwinshestadt6 we can find in both.

These shared characteristics in most cases seem to be linked to the perception of the place more than its actual physical conformation. A feeling of loss or of slowing down of time, a sentiment of non belonging and a lack in identity. As for the more tangible aspects recurring in the description of the ‘in-between lands’ we are often presented scenarios which seem to be ruled by artificiality and scarred by infrastructure. Stories of lands whose only protagonists are commercial buildings and cars. And the plot, the interaction between them.

As we can see in the following pages, were the underlined quotes represent the statements most relevant to our case, many of these descriptions, both 6 Literally in-between land Zwinshestadt is the term coined by Thomas Sieverts in his book Cities without cities.

physical or perceived, can be applied to the description of the Piana.

The study of these authors and their considerations has been an important source of inspiration for the interpretation of the in-between lands of the Piana. In any case, it is by keeping in mind and focusing on its very own peculiarities, that the most interesting and unique portrait of this land emerges.

Gilles Clement Tiers Paysage

Fragment partagé d’une conscience collective.

Le Tiers paysage est sans échelle.

Tiers paysage renvoie à tiers état (et non à tiers – monde). Espace n’exprimant ni le pouvoir ni la soumission au pouvoir.

Si un lieu peut se définir comme identitaire, relationnel et historique, un espace qui ne peut se définir ni comme identitaire, ni comme relationnel, ni comme historique définira un nonlieu.

En toutes circonstances le Tiers paysage peut être regardé comme la part de notre espace de vie livrée à l’inconscient. Profondeurs où les événements s’engrangent et se manifestent de façon, en apparence, indécidée.

Rem Kolhaas Generic City The Generic City is the city liberated from the captivity of center, from the straitjacket of identity.

The Generic City is seriously multiracial, on average 8% black, 12% white, 27% Hispanic, 37% Chinese/Asian, 6% indeterminate, 10% other. Not only multiracial, also multicultural Airport. 4.1 Once manifestations of ultimate neutrality, airports now are among the most singular, characteristic elements of the Generic City, its strongest vehicle of differentiation.

Ironically, though itself new, the Generic City is encircled by a constellation of New Towns

The great originality of the Generic City is simply to abandon what doesn’t work—what has outlived its use—to break up the blacktop of idealism with the jackhammers of realism and to accept whatever grows in its place.

The style of choice is postmodern, and will always remain so. Postmodernism is the only movement that has succeeded in connecting the practice of architecture with the practice of panic.

Compared to the classical city, the Generic City is sedated, usually perceived from a sedentary position. Instead of concentration—simultaneous presence—in the Generic City individual “moments” are spaced far apart to create a trance of almost unnoticeable aesthetic experiences

The Generic City is the apotheosis of th multiple-choice concept: all boxes crossed, an anthology of all the options.

The Generic City is in a warmer than usual climate; it is on its way to the south—toward the equator—away from the mess that the north made of the second millennium.

Marc Augé Non-Lieux

Le monde de la surmodernité n’est pas aux mesures exactes de celui dans lequel nous croyons vivre, car nous vivons dans un monde que nous n’avons pas encore appris à regarder. Il nous faut réapprendre à penser l’espace.

Le lieu et le non-lieu sont plutôt des polarités fuyantes: le premiern’est jamais complètement effacé et le second ne s’accomplit jamais totalement

Thomas Sievers Zwinshenstadt The term Zwischenstadt signifies that today’s city is in an ‘in between’ state, a state between place and world, space and time, city and country.

The shaping of the Zwischenstadt can no longer be achieved by the traditional resources of town planning, urban design and architecture. New ways must be explored, which are as yet unclear.

As a whole, the diffuse city gives an ‘unplanned’ impression, but it has arisen out of innumerable individual, and – considered on their own – rational decisions.

It is possible that the compact city is itself only an interlude in the development of human civilisation.

The Zwischenstadt does not have an independent identity either in the imagination of its occupants or as a subject for politics.

Last but not least, the fascination of the myth of the Old City clouds our view of the reality of the periphery.

Richard Ingersoll Sprawltown

No-man’s-lands prevail as the dominant character of sprawl, and a sense of belonging seems an evanescent condition

The interests of tourism need to be integrated with real life and in a variety of urban spaces. Instead of focusing touristic consumption in the center, the cultural planners of municipalities should consider inverse movements that shift the attention away from the center [...]

According to the aesthetic criteria of the Renaissance, the preindustrial city is beautiful and the urbanized areas outside the center are ugly. But one would have to add quickly that there are fragments of historic centers that are horrid and moments of sprawl that are exquisite.

The aesthetic appreciation of infrastructure belongs to the Romantic criteria of the sublime, best defined by Piranesi’s aphorism “out of terror pleasure springs”

The polis was a city based on dialogue. Sprawl is conductive to escapist monologues.

Instead of talking dismissively about urban sprawl, we could recognise that there is a fine-grained interpenetration of open space and built form and see the open space as the binding element, with its new creative potential.

Consequently, a feeling of belonging together must be pro- moted, so much so that a lively awareness arises that the city region is more than a sum of technical or specialist adminis- trative unions and jealously competing districts.

The automobile should be used with the same sensibility that a film director uses the rhythm of jump cuts. As in a good movie, the city of jump cut urbanism will integrate different scales, speeds, and points of view into a narrative whole that corresponds to this new code of urban perception.

The participation of citizens in agricultural activities is among many things that can be easily achieved to influence the urban discourse toward ecological consciousness. [...] The insistence on urban agriculture can be given the categorical name of “agricivism”.

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Parco della Piana

Parco

facing page Aereal view of the Piana

We focus our attention on the study of one particular area amongst the many of the Piana. The choice of this specific land was made given the peculiarity of its character, the multitude of realities located in it and a more personal affection and curiosity towards it.

An incredibly small number of inhabitants of Florence or Prato have ever visited the area of the Parco della Piana, which lies right in between these two cities. Most certainly however, almost every one has past by it at some point, in some cases many pass by it a number of times during the week, and some even twice a day. As a matter of fact, many of these people use the Piana as a network system to reach destinations such as work, universities, shopping centers and cinema halls. So how is it possible that almost no one knows about this park? There are many reasons why, but firstly, the park is not clearly visible from any of the everyday taken routs. Surrounded by infrastructure, its visibility is often obstructed by sound barriers both natural and artificial which run along the sides of the main highways. Secondly, the park is not at all advertised, or even properly signaled. Through the years many studies and proposals have been made for the Parco della Piana, but none of these have really ever been able to create a strong imagery able to promote its use and highlight

its beauty. For this reason the park still remains for most people a void or simply the result of a sterile bureaucratic process.

Also, the area is run down, here and there trash piles are abandoned along the paths and forms of nomadic living are appearing along its edges. Needless to say, the place does not present itself as welcoming. But the surprising reality behind its hostile appearance is that the whole area offers spectacular scenarios, amazing and rare varieties of animals and plants and is set on historic traces.

To fully understand its potential, some might also find interesting the closeness of the park’s shape and size to one of the world most famous gardens, New York’s Central Park.1 So, although the park tends to disappear in ones imaginary, its role is central to the functioning and balance of the Piana and its surroundings.

Given the vagueness for many in picturing the area we are talking about, it is important that before we go into describing its specific characteristics, we locate it in our mind, that is to say, we incorporate it in our mental map.

In behavioral geography, a mental map is a person’s perception of their area of interaction. The imagined maps are considered one of the first studies 1

See pp. 38-39. Metropolitan Park/Central Park.

that intersected geographical settings with human action.2 The most prominent contribution and study of mental maps was made by the American urban planner Kevin Lynch. In The Image of the City, Lynch used simple sketches of maps created from memory of an urban area to reveal five elements of the city: nodes, edges, districts, paths and landmarks.

Applying Lynch’s categories to our study area we discover that the park’s edges are clearly marked by infrastructure on all sides: to the North-East we find the railway line, to the South-East the airport landing strip, the highway A11 to the South-West and highway A1 to the North-West. At the intersection of these infrastructure lines are located the Park’s nodes. On the bottom-right corner of the area is our first important node, this is the entrance to the A11 highway taken from Florence towards Prato, not only is this the entrance or exit point for people traveling by car, but also for those traveling by plane. The entrance to the highway and the entrance to the airport are only a few meters of distance from one another. Opposite, in the bottom left corner we find our second node, here the highways A1 and A11 cross tied by a complicated system of over and un2 Gregory, D., Johnston, R., Pratt, G. (2009). Dictionary of Human Geography: Mental maps/Cognitive Maps (5th ed.). Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 455.

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der passing minor roads. Marking the presence of the node is the highways tollbooth.

Not much differently than in ancient times, where many churches and important buildings were found at the crossing of the two order of streets, the area’s landmarks are found in correspondence to its nodes. In our case, to the right, we find the Airport building, made even more visible by its recent addition. The airport’s tower also can be considered as a landmark given its height, visibility and particular shape which makes it immediately recognizable. Opposite, next to the crossing of the highways, is Michelucci’s Chiesa dell’Autostrada. More to the North-East, also the Richard Ginori factory, with its emblematic building, represents a distinct landmark, especially for those traveling by train.

After having defined the landmarks inside the perimeter of our study area, a more general consideration can be made on what can be considered as a landmark inside the Piana. The argument, in this case, doesn’t dif-

fer immensely from that of American sprawl, where about anything that distinguishes itself for shape, size or color goes. This said, if we expand our attention just outside the edges of our area we can include in the list of landmarks also the IKEA store (blue and yellow) and the Gigli shopping center (high tower with logo) and the Case Passerini complex (ziqqurat dump).

Inside the park’s boundaries, the existing paths correspond for the most part to the old roman centuriation. Especially in our specific study area, still used for agricultural purpose, the Roman grid system is clearly visible.

As for the districts, since we are compressing Kevin Lynch’s lecture of the city to only a relatively small area it is impossible to talk about sheer districts and can only point out areas of particular interest. Moving from right to left we find: the Airport zone, the University complex of biology and science, the agricultural and natural area of the Parco della Piana and towards the North West the Industrial District.

Multitude of realities

facing page Intersecting of realities inside the Piana Metropolitana

Like in a dream realities overlap in the creation of surreal scenarios. Reaching towards the sublime a feeling of terror and excitement rises from the mix of infrastructure and wild land that are knitted in whole territory. Quick changes in landscape create an oniric state of not knowing how one has passed from one place to an other and in few seconds time to the next. Sheep roam around the outskirts of Florence, right next to the highway, hunters shoot birds next to protected WWF oasis which serve as rest areas during the migration of a great number of bird species. A University campus rises in the middle of a gypsy community and agricultural land. Mega-malls are scattered along the infrastructure network in a way to be easily accessible to all and represent nowadays the main attraction of the area and the reason to venture in that direction. Historical traces dating back to Etruscan civilizations are found just meters away from the central Tuscany dry port and share space with containers and trucks.

To recap: grass, protected species of animals, buried Etruscan cities, trash, cultivated land, sheep, cars, abandoned fields, airplanes, malls, universities and bikes all share the same space.

If we consider these different realities as circles and their superposition as Venn diagrams we can clearly see

what spheres are contained by others, which ones intersect and which overlap in the creation of a complex and dynamic space. This multitude of realities may be perceived in many ways, and beyond the positive/negative connotation that one can give to the area, there are more complex aesthetic qualities that can be found and discussed. Investigating more complex and stratified perceptions of a place is now necessary, especially if we consider the fact that the reality around us is getting every day more complex and new concepts, such as hyperreality, are being elaborated to describe the world we live in. In the following tags we find some of the aesthetic qualities that can be given to the studied area and that may help in the description of the intersecting multitude of realities.

SUBLIME

ONIRIC

SURREAL

LOSS

BEAUTY

ALIENATION

ABANDON

QUESTIONS OF SPACE I.0 Is space a material thing in which all material things are to be located?

I.I If space is a material thing, does it have boundaries?

I.II If space has boundaries, is there another space outside those boundaries?

I.I2 If space does not have boundaries, do things then extend infinitely?

I.I2I As every finite extent of space is infinitely divisible (since every space can contain smaller spaces), can an infinite collection of spaces then form a finite space?

I.I3 In any case, if space is an extension of matter, can one part of space be distinguished from another?

I.2 If space is not matter, is it merely the sum of all spatial relations between material things?

I.3 If space is neither matter nor a set of objective relations between things, is it something subjective with which the mind categorizes things?

I.3I If the structure of the mind imposes an a priori form (that precedes all experience) to the perception of the external world, is space such a form?

I.32 If space is such a form, does it have precedence over all other perceptions?

I.4 If, etymologically, “defining” space is both making space distinct and stating the precise nature of space, is this an essential paradox of space?

I.5 Architecturally, if defining space is making space distinct, does making space distinct “define” space?

I.5I If architecture is the art of making space distinct, is it also the art of stating the precise nature of space?

I.6 Is architecture the concept of space, the space and the definition of space?

I.6I If the concept of space is not a space, is the materialization of the concept of space, a space?

I.6II Is conceptual space then the space of which material is the concept?

I.6I2 Incidentally, is the experience of the materialization of the concept of space the experience of space?

I.62 If the materialization of the concept of space is a space, then is space a hole in a space that it is not?

I.63 If the history of architecture is the history of spatial concepts, is space as a uniformly-extensive-material-to-be-modelled-in-various-ways at the origin of architectural space as: a) the power of volumes and their interac-

tion; b) hollowed-out interior space; c) the interaction between inner and outer space; d) the presence of absence?

2.73 If such a question is said to be absurd, does (architectural) space exist independently of the experiencing body?

I.63I Does a De Stijl facade differ from a Baroque one through the micro-space it defines?

2.8 If space is neither an external object nor an internal experience (made of impressions, sensations and feelings), are man and space inseparable?

I.7 If Euclidean space is restricted to a three-dimensional lump of matter, is non- Euclidean space to be restricted to a series of events in four-dimensional space-time ?

I.7I If other geometries give a clearer understanding of space than Euclidean geometry, has space itself changed with the construction of spaces with 3-dimensions?

I.72 Is topology a mental construction towards a theory of space?

2.0 Is the perception of space common to everyone?

2.I If perceptions differ, do they constitute different worlds that are the products of one”s past experience?

2.2 If space consciousness is based on one”s respective experience, then does the perception of space involve a gradual construction rather than a readymade schema?

2.21 Does this gradual construction contain elements which have a degree of invariance, such as archetypes?

2.3 Are spatial archetypes inevitably of a universal elementary nature, or can they include personal idiosyncracies?

2.4 If space is a basic a priori category of consciousness, independent of matter, is it an instrument of knowledge?

2.5 Is an instrument of knowledge the medium of experience?

2.51 Since it can be said that experience is contained within the nature of practice, is space inextricably bound up with practice?

2.52 Architecturally, if space is the medium for the materialization of theory, is a space the materialization of the architectural concept?

2.6 Is the materialization of architecture necessarily material?

2.61 Is the de-materialization of architecture necessarily immaterial?

2.7 Is the experience of space the experience of the materialization of the concept of space ? Or of any concept?

2.71 Can a geometrical spatial concept be replaced by a concept based on man”s experience of space?

2.72 Does the experience of space determine the space of experience ?

2.81 Are objective social space and subjective inner space then inextricably bound together?

2.9 Is space thus one of the structures which expresses our “being” in the world?

3.0 Is there a language of space (a space-language)?

3.I Do all spaces in society taken together constitute a language?

3.II Is a selection from this totality a set of spaces (which, of course, can be called a space of spaces)?

3.12 If space (singular, indefinite) is collective and permanent, are spaces (plural, definite) individual and transformable?

3.2 If a definite space is a thing which can be referred to, can it become a symbol (a form which will signify)?

3.21 If a definite space can become a sign or symbol, can it signify a thought or a concept?

3.3 (For linguists only.) If space is just a thing: a) does it determine thought and language; b) together with thought, is it determined by language; c) together with language, is it determined by thought?

3.31 (For you and me.) Does a<->b<->c<>a?

3.4 If a space is a representation of an idea or a thought which is signified, does a space achieve its meaning through its relation to all the other spaces in a context, or through all the spaces for which this space has become metaphorical?

3.41 If there are different modes and uses of language, can space thus be classified into scientific, mythical, technological, logicomathematical, fictive, poetic, rhetorical, critical spaces?

3.42 Does the explicit classification of the various meanings, modes and uses of space destroy the experience of that space ?

3.421 Can a space (stylistic form) be separated from the space that is a dimension of the meaning embodied in its architecture?

3.5 In any case, does the concept of space note and denote all possible spaces, both real and virtual?

3.51 If the understanding of all possible spaces includes “social” and “mental” space as well as “physical” space without any distinction, is the distinction between living, perceiving and conceiving space a necessary condition of that understanding?

4.0 Is space the product of historical time?

4.I Does the Hegelian end of history mean the end of space as a product of history?

4.2 On the other hand, if history does not end, and historical time is the Marxist time of revolution, does space lose its primary role?

4.3 If space is neither a social product (an end result) nor a pure category (a starting point) is it an in-between (an intermediary)?

4.4 If space is an in-between, is it a political instrument in the hands of the state, a mouid as well as a reflection of society?

4.5 If space is a three-dimensional mouid that reflects the means of production, does it ensure the survival of the state ?

4.6 If three-dimensional space does not ensure the survival of the state, is space the means of reproduction of the mode of production?

4.61 If space is not simply the place where objects are produced and exchanged, has it become the very object of production ?

4.62 If the truth of political economy can pervade the truth of revolution, can the concept of production pervade the concept of space ?

4.7 Does the truth of revolution lie in the permanent expression of subjectivity?

Space

facing page Tschumi, B. (1990). Text 5: Question of space. London: AA Publications. (pp.3235)

The distinction between place and non places derives from the opposition between place and space.

(Marc Augé, Non Places, 1992) Many are the questions that can be asked on the subject of space.

In the previous pages Bernard Tschumi interrogates himself on the meaning of space and clearly rises a large number of questions that in return generate other questions. Being the matter a very complex one, we decide in the section of study dedicated to this category, to concentrate rather than on the meaning of space on perception of space.

Probably the first and most direct way to experience the space around us is through the senses. Our first encounter with a place through vision, touch, hearing, smell and taste can also in someway be considered “objective” since it revolves mostly on what goes on around us. Considered each persons different refinement of the senses, we can say that if a group of people find themselves in the same place, they will all see, smell etc. more or less the same things. This first kind of approach is in fact an outer one.

Leaving out taste and touch, the area is presented through what can be heard during a walk through it, what are the strongest smells detected in it, and the view it offers on the lands around it.

The map resulting from this study is an attempt to integrate this type of lecture of space into the Carta Tecnica Regionale (ordinary topographic map produced by the Italian regions to represent their territory) in order to produce a more descriptive map of the area.

The second level of perception that will be analyzed is more of an inner one, linked to our emotions and feeling about a specific place. This level is explored through casual interviews of people who experience, live or study inside the area and are familiar with it. The interview is made by simply asking the participant about their feelings of the place, in what way they are linked to it and what they would like to be done inside it.

Contributing to our image of the Parco della Piana is also the way it is presented to us through media.

By collecting the headlines of a series of journalistic articles who speak of the lot, a global portrait quickly emerges.

Much can be said about this more deep and personal perception of the area.

Mainly we can state that, since not many inhabitants of the major cities of the Piana visit this area or even know about it, it’s clear that great part of their perception of it is based on what the media tells them, which is usually not a positive outlook.

For this reason the area of the Parco della Piana remains for many only a space, a void place.1

1

Augé, M. (2009). Nonluoghi. Milano: Elèuthera.

29

Map containig the sensory perception of the Piana.

BAD smell

GOOD smell

NEWSPAPER ARTICLES Quercioli (Sel) “Paradossale: la Regione finanzia il parco della Piana e vuole la pista dell’aeroporto” 04/12/2014

Piccoli e grandi, tutti a “pulire il mondo” tra il Podere Querciola a il parco della Piana 24/09/2014

In 23mila disturbati dagli aerei.

Il nuovo studio Arpat sulle ricadute della pista parallela-convergente.Un volo ogni 9 minuti 07/06/2013

Sesto, cattivo odore da Case Passerini dipende dal maltempo 20/08/2014

Giovani Democratici “la nuova pista manderà all’aria il parco della Piana” 17/07/2014

Sesto Fiorentino, Quercioli in visita al Parco della Piana„Elezioni a Sesto: “Il Parco della Piana come Central Park di Firenze” 05/05/2014

“Si stanziano altri soldi per il parco agricolo che sarà distrutto dalla nuova pista di Peretola. I sindaci dovrebbero rispedire l’obolo al mittente” 08/12/2014

Parco della Piana e aeroporto possono convivere 10/12/2014

Scaricava 43 quintali di rifiuti nel parco della Piana. Denunciato 07/02/2014

A piedi tra la spazzatura nel parco della Piana.

05/07/2013

Spettacolo dentro Case Passerini per 120 ragazzi di elementari e medie 26/05/2008

Spettacolo dentro Case Passerini per 120 ragazzi di elementari e medie 26/05/2008

Isabella University of Biology

C. Scoccianti Biologist

Francesco Amateur photographer

Ghisu Pastor

Isabella is a student at the university of Biology of Florence, she has attended many classes in the university campus of Sesto Fiorentino. She lives in Florence and commutes to the University by car. When asked her general feeling toward the area and how she feels about studying there Isabella has mixed feelings: parking is certainly one of the biggest pros and the University facility is well equipped and a pleasant place, on the other hand she feels that the area around the campus is run down and that she has never ventured outside of it because of an overall feeling of danger, mostly associated with the gypsy community occupying some areas. Although her University is very close to the natural oasis, she has never visited them and didn’t know about their existence. Isabella says that she wished the area could become a natural park and feels that Florence does not promote this kind of tourism enough.

Carlo Scoccianti is a biologist, expert and WWF specialist in the conservation of “wetland areas” – who since 1996 has been working with a group of people united by the desire to design new leases of life for some areas of the Florentine Plane through forms of altering the landscape. He is the director of the Oasi di Focognano in Campi and the oasis of Val di Rose in Sesto Fiorentino. His ARTLANDS program created with WWF tends to give rise to new methods of interactions with the landscape. “The construction of this territorial system,” explains Scoccianti, “created with the main aim of protecting the flora, fauna and typical landscapes of the area (...), was an opportunity to experiment over the years with a new way of transforming the territory not only from a purely scientific point of view but also in accordance with innovative research focused on aesthetics.”

Francesco is one of the many amateur photographers that frequent the area of il Parco della Piana. This category of bird lover-photographers is the most likely to visit the park, many of the oasis are in fact equipped with little shacks hidden in the bushes to be able to observe the birds in quiet and photograph them up close. He is the first person to introduce me to the oasis and talks to me about the importance this land has for the ecosystem of the Piana and for the maintaining of biodiversity now very much at risk. He is a bird specialist and works together with Legambiente for the protection of rare species found in the area.

Francesco talks about the project for the new landing strip of the Florentine airport of Peretola as a terrible intervention that will lead to the disappearing of one of the biggest oasis left and will greatly compromise the equilibrium of the remaining ones.

Renato Ghisu is the owner of the Azienda Agricola Ghisu in Sesto Fiorentino, now run by his two sons. His farm is placed near the Case Passerini Dump and right next to the A11 highway’s tool both. When venturing around the area of the Parco della Piana often it is possible to run into the pastor and his heard of sheep roaming along the banks of the Fosso Reale, the largest canal of the area. Although the greatest part of the area considered as the Parco della Piana is occupied by agricultural land, Ghisu is the only farm that has survived the arrival of high speed infrastructure and keeps going on with his work as if nothing has changed.

PEOPLE

31

Time

facing page Ovelapping of all previous settlements on to the Piana and the creation of urbanized centers throught the different eras.

1° Upper Eocene 55-34 million years ago sea

The research conducted in the category of time investigates both natural and artificial changes undergone by the lands of the Piana. The study is a re-elaborated version of Daniela Poli’s territorial biography of the Piana1, which has been a fundamental text throughout the entire thesis work.

In this study, following Braudel’s suggestions, the historical and environmental aspects merge together allowing for an integrated lecture of the territory. Braudel states that there are different levels of time, the first level of time, geographical time, is that of the environment, with its slow, almost imperceptible change, its repetition and cycles. Such change may be slow, but it is irresistible.2 In our case, this level corresponds to the geographical formation of the Piana which begins 55 million years ago in the Upper Eocene. From this epoch up until the Oligocene, the area is occupied by sea.

During the Oligocene (34 to 23 million of year ago) we see the surfacing of the Apennine ridge which will lead to the creation of a lake in the Plio-Pleistocene (5 million years ago). Simultaneously to the creation of the lake, the rising of the “sella Fiorentina” takes 1 Poli, D. (1999). La piana fiorentina. Una biografia territoriale narrata dalle colline di castello. Firenze: Alinea Editrice.

2 Braudel F. (1996). The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Oligocene 34-23 million years ago surfacing of Apennine ridge

place. This configuration will determine the river formations and the fissuring of the Gonfolina rock. Before its rupture, this enormous rock formation that extended beyond the opposite bank of the Arno and merged with Montalbano, blocked the waters runoff towards the sea. During the lower paleolithic the process of drainage of the lake water toward the sea comes to a completion and the land becomes swamp, which will be submitted to many changes throughout the civilizations to come. At this point we have reached Braudel’s second level of time featuring long-term social, economic, and cultural history, where economy, social groupings, empires and civilizations are discussed. Change at this level is much more rapid than that of the environment.

In our case this level corresponds to the various civilizations that have lived and modified these lands, creating the basis for future settlements. We here will briefly analyze the main changes and strategies applied to the territory from the Etruscan civilization to the Renaissance.

It is important to underline that a great number of evidence from past civilizations survived up to us and that the richness of the Piana in cultural heritage and historical sites is enormous.

Plio-Pleistocene 5 million years ago lake

The third level of time is that of events. This is the history of individuals with names and of specific actions in time. From this most recent level of time few events are chosen which are important for the future functioning of the Piana, mainly we will take into account the construction of new high speed infrastructures such as the two highways that cut across the area both from north to south and east to west as well as the construction of the Amerigo Vespucci Airport.

Etruscan civilization The Etruscan civilization is the first one to develop a structured and systematic organization of the territory. The morphological and ecological characteristics of this area resulted to be particularly fit for the type of organization operated by the Etruscans which was based on a dual economy: a strong commercial activity and an intelligent use of the natural resources for farming and pastoral care. Mount Morello offered forests abundant in wild game and plants while the nearby Monferrato was a great supply of minerals. The reconstruction of the Etruscan settlements confirms their strategic approach to the territory, villages were built at the crossing of the different ecosystems (plane, hill, mountain) and along the roads used

Lower Paleolithic 2.6 million to 300 thousand years ago swamp

for commercial activities.

The area around Artimino was probably an important center specialized in fluvial transport, given the proximity with the Arno river, while Quinto functioned as a land commerce station. Fiesole was the most important center of the area thanks to its strategic position.

Roman civilization The reorganization of the use of land by the Romans follows the civilization’s main objective: the facilitation of movement of the militia throughout the whole peninsula and the opening up of commerce to the world.

Romans organized their territory through the use of centuriation, cities and pagus. Many roads of our study area still correspond to the old centuriation. In 59 B.C. Florence is built along the Cassia, the great artery that connected Rome to Lucca and Luni.

Through the method of centuriation, Romans were able to reclaim land, create a road system and divide the territory in equal parts destined to veterans. Well-aware of the relationship between vegetation and water resources, Romans concentrated all infrastructure and settlements inside the plane, leaving the forests (considered sacred) untouched. Terzo, Quarto, Quinto, Sesto and Set- 33

2°

timello corresponded to the small autonomous settlements (pagus) that respectively were built at three, four, five, six and seven kilometers of distance from Florence. Nowadays very few traces remain of the Roman territorial organization in between Florence and Prato. The land under the municipality of Sesto Fiorentino still presents substantial remains of the Roman centuriation, in some cases the crossing between the decumani and cardini is still visible.

The ancient road network is well preserved along the cardine 14 (via del Limite ) and decumani 3 and 4 (via di Mollaia and via degli Olmi). The cardine 9, entirely replaced by Viale dei Giunchi, clearly intersects with the third decumano, now Via di Lastruccia: at the intersection of the two arteries is the chapel of the “Madonna del Piano”. The cardine 11, identifiable as via Lungo Gavine remains preserved for a couple of kilometers, while residues of decumani survive in rural lanes.1

valico pedecollinare castellari necropolis village villa swamp cultivated forest

main axis parish medieval city

Middle Ages civilization With the decline of the Roman Empire, Tuscany had become subject to wars and invasions from the Nordic populations. This corresponds to the creation of many fortified settlements, castles and towers placed in strategic positions. The abandoning of the drainage systems and agricultural practices turned the plains back into swamp. The uncultivated became a resource for hunting, fishing and pasture, the word Osmannoro in fact means wide and windy place. The forest was not considered sacred any longer and now was home to a number of castles, parishes and convents.

During this period the ecclesiastic organizations become strong in the administration of the lands and filled the gaps left by the State. The perishes were the only communal places and around them were built small villages. After the year one-thousand the system of perishes is accompanied by the one of the castles, dispersed in the area in a less homogeneous way of that of the perishes, but still under the direct control of the bishop or emperor.

From this period survive many religious buildings, mostly dating back to the 11th and 12th century and still in function now a days.

castle forest swamp cultivated

3° Lorena Family

Manifattura di Doccia (oggi Richard Ginori)

Passo dell Futa

Passo dell’Abetone

Ferrovia Leopolda Firenze-Empoli-Pisa-Livorno

1734

1737

1752

1779

1844

Renaissance civilization In this period power is held by a small number of important families (oligarchy). The Florentine county was divided in the four podestĂ of Sesto, Fiesole, Bagno a Ripoli and Galluzzo. Sesto and Fiesole depended on Scarperia while the piviere of San Martino depended on Sesto and the one of Santo Stefano on Fiesole. Inside the plane, Cosimo I reapplied the land reclamation works and opened new canals. During this period, one of the biggest changes in the Florentine landscape corresponds to the creation of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Villasâ&#x20AC;?. The Medici family begun to invest in suburban residences (often castles or medieval settlings), which were at the head of many small farms scattered in the county. The system of villas also held a scenographic aspect, visually connecting the plain to the mountains.

One of the greatest aspects of the Renaissance territorial project is that it connected, made more complex and valorized all of the signs left by the previous civilizations.

Among the many villas scattered around the Florentine area, we mention Villa delle Brache, Villa del Gondo, Villa di Castello, Villa la Topaia, Villa la Petraia, Villa di Quarto, Villa la Quiete and Villa Medicea di Careggi.

main axis parish city forest swamp villa

main axis pagus castrum villas centuriation lucus forest cultivated

Ferrovia Maria Antonia Firenze-Pistoia-Lucca

Areoporto Firenze Peretola

Autostrada A11 Firenze-Pisa

Autostrada A1

1851

1931

1933

1958

35

Velocity

A great number of velocities coexist inside, around and above our study area.

The two highways, the railway and the landing strip define each edge of the rectangle shaped portion of land we have decided to take into account.

Inside this infrastructure ring (or rectangle) we find a completely different type of velocity: the modern linear speed of the highways and train is substituted by a slow cyclic one which refers to the cycles of migration of birds, the transformation of nature by seasons and generally speaking, a more human scale.

In the facing page we can see a chart related to the time tables of trains and planes crossing the area of the Parco della Piana. This schedule table is created to give an idea of the

frequency with which the area is traversed. Motorized vehicles however are not the only ones to fly over or slide by the area, the park is in fact an important rest zone along the migration routes of birds. The area is also one of the few wildlife corridors remaining inside the Piana and is of vital importance to the functioning of the whole system and the maintaining of biodiversity. The great range of birds species, of which 76 are specially protected, is closely connected with the wetlands and water habitat system present in the territory. An important feature of the hydrographic network is the presence of lakes and small ponds whose shallow waters make for the perfect rest areas for aquatic birds. The strong opposition between the environmental and

infrastructural spheres creates a similar situation of an oasis in the middle of the desert. In this case, the desert being the complexity of the dispersed urbanization and industrial areas branching off the cities of Prato and Florence and of the oasis a cut off piece of land still (probably for not long) used mostly for agricultural use.

The marked difference between outside and inside does not create a conflict per se, since while traveling along the edges of the area one is not disturbed by the presence of what lies on the other side, in the same way that, surprisingly so, while inside the perimeter, the high speed infrastructures are hardly perceived.

The real difference is found in the way these opposite speeds influence

perception. If we are traveling along the south border of the park on the A11 highway everything that stands beyond the guard rail tends to disappear. The view from the car is the most common perception of the park and probably one of the reasons it remains unknown to many. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The automobile has upset the balance of time and space in the pedestrian scaled environmentâ&#x20AC;?.1

1 Ingersoll, R. (2006). Sprawltown. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.

37

TRAINS Il Neto Firenze S.M.N. 00:25 Il Neto 00:42 Firenze S.M.N. 07:47 Il Neto 08:06 Firenze S.M.N. 09:10 Prato Centrale 09:29 Prato Centrale 09:43 Il Neto 09:54 Firenze S.M.N. 12:47 Il Neto 13:07 Firenze S.M.N. 14:10 Prato Centrale 14:29 Prato Centrale 14:42 Il Neto 14:52 Firenze S.M.N. 14:47 Il Neto 15:07 Firenze S.M.N. 16:10 Prato Centrale 16:29 Prato Centrale 16:42 Il Neto 16:52 Firenze S.M.N. 17:47 Il Neto 18:07 Firenze S.M.N. 19:10 Prato Centrale 19:29 Prato Centrale 19:42 Il Neto 19:52 Firenze S. M. Novella 19:47 Il Neto 20:07

TRAINS Sesto Fiorentino Firenze S.M.N. 00:25 Sesto Fiorentino 00:40 Firenze S.M.N. 04:35 Sesto Fiorentino 04:50 Firenze S.M.N. 06:03 Sesto Fiorentino 06:14 Firenze S.M.N. 07:10 Sesto Fiorentino 07:21 Firenze S.M.N. 07:38 Sesto Fiorentino 07:50 Firenze S.M.N. 07:47 Sesto Fiorentino 08:03 Firenze S.M.N. 08:10 Sesto Fiorentino 08:21 Firenze S.M.N. 08:38 Sesto Fiorentino 08:50 Firenze S.M.N. 09:10 Sesto Fiorentino 09:21 Firenze S.M.N. 10:10 Sesto Fiorentino 10:21 Firenze S.M.N. 12:10 Sesto Fiorentino 12:21 Firenze S.M.N. 12:47 Sesto Fiorentino 13:04 Firenze S.M.N. 13:10 Sesto Fiorentino 13:21 Firenze S.M.N. 13:38 Sesto Fiorentino 13:50 Firenze S.M.N. 14:10 Sesto Fiorentino 14:21 Firenze S.M.N.

14:47 Sesto Fiorentino 15:04 Firenze S.M.N. 15:10 Sesto Fiorentino 15:21 Firenze S.M.N. 16:10 Sesto Fiorentino 16:21 Firenze S.M.N. 17:10 Sesto Fiorentino 17:21 Firenze S.M.N. 17:38 Sesto Fiorentino 17:50 Firenze S.M.N. 17:47 Sesto Fiorentino 18:04 Firenze S.M.N. 18:10 Sesto Fiorentino 18:21 Firenze S.M.N. 18:38 Sesto Fiorentino 18:50 Firenze S.M.N. 19:10 Sesto Fiorentino 19:21 Firenze S.M.N. 19:47 Sesto Fiorentino 20:04 Firenze S. M. Novella 20:10 Sesto Fiorentino 20:21 Firenze S. M. Novella 20:47 Sesto Fiorentino 21:04 Firenze S. M. Novella 22:10 Sesto Fiorentino 22:21 Firenze S. M. Novella 22:25 Sesto Fiorentino 22:38

TRAINS Zambra Firenze S.M.N. 00:25 Zambra 00:36 Firenze S.M.N. 07:47 Zambra 07:59 09:10 Sesto Fiorentino 09:21 00:52 Sesto Fiorentino 09:59 Zambra 10:02 Firenze S.M.N. 12:47 Zambra 13:00 Firenze S.M.N. 14:10 Sesto Fiorentino 14:21 Sesto Fiorentino 14:56 Zambra 14:58 Firenze S.M.N. 14:47 Zambra 15:00 Firenze S.M.N. 16:10 Sesto Fiorentino 16:21 Sesto Fiorentino 16:56 Zambra 16:58 Firenze S.M.N. 17:47 Zambra 18:00 Firenze S.M.N. 19:10 Sesto Fiorentino 19:21 00:48 Sesto Fiorentino 19:56 Zambra 19:58 Firenze S.M.N. 19:47 Zambra 20:00 Firenze S.M.N. 20:47 Zambra 21:00

AIRPLANES Arrivi Provenienza 09:10 FRANKFURT - RHEIN/ MAIN 09:10 PARIS - CHARLES DE GAULLE 09:10 ZURICH - KLOTEN 11:00 ROMA - LEONARDO DA VINCI 11:55 AMSTERDAM SCHIPHOL 12:00 PARIS - CHARLES DE GAULLE 12:15 STUTTGART - ECHTERDINGEN 12:35 MUNICH - F.J.STRAUSS 12:15 LONDON - LONDON CITY APT 11:50 BARCELONA - EL PRAT 13:20 PALERMO - PUNTA RAISI 13:50 FRANKFURT - RHEIN/ MAIN 14:20 LONDON - LONDON CITY APT 14:30 BARCELONA - EL PRAT 13:15 GENEVA - COINTRIN 14:20 BIRMINGHAM - BIRMINGHAM 14:05 ZURICH - KLOTEN 16:00 ROMA - LEONARDO DA VINCI 16:15 MUNICH - F.J.STRAUSS 15:10 PARIS - CHARLES DE GAULLE 18:00 FRANKFURT - RHEIN/ MAIN 18:30 ZURICH - KLOTEN 18:40 PARIS - CHARLES DE GAULLE 19:10 MADRID - BARAJAS 19:10 PARIS - ORLY 19:15 LONDON - GATWICK 19:20 ZURICH - KLOTEN 21:35 PARIS - CHARLES DE GAULLE 22:20 FRANKFURT - RHEIN/ MAIN 22:40 ROMA - LEONARDO DA VINCI 22:50 MUNICH - F.J.STRAUSS 23:00 BARI - PALESE 23:00 AMSTERDAM SCHIPHOL 23:40 CATANIA - FONTANAROSSA

AIRPLANES Partenza Destinazione 06:30 MUNICH F.J.STRAUSS 06:30 AMSTERDAM SCHIPHOL 07:05 PARIS - CHARLES DE GAULLE 07:20 FRANKFURT - RHEIN/ MAIN 07:30 ROMA - LEONARDO DA VINCI 09:50 FRANKFURT - RHEIN/ MAIN 10:00 PARIS - CHARLES DE GAULLE 09:50 ZURICH KLOTEN 12:10 ROMA - LEONARDO DA VINCI 12:35 AMSTERDAM SCHIPHOL 12:50 PARIS - CHARLES DE GAULLE 13:00 DUSSELDORF - LOHAUSEN 12:55 LONDON - LONDON CITY APT 13:10 MUNICH F.J.STRAUSS 13:45 GENEVA - COINTRIN 14:00 LONDON GATWICK 14:25 FRANKFURT - RHEIN/ MAIN 14:40 ZURICH KLOTEN 15:00 LONDON - LONDON CITY APT 16:00 PARIS - CHARLES DE GAULLE 16:00 ELBA - MARINA DI CAMPO 16:50 MUNICH F.J.STRAUSS 18:35 FRANKFURT - RHEIN/ MAIN 18:55 ROMA - LEONARDO DA VINCI 19:05 ZURICH KLOTEN 19:25 PARIS - CHARLES DE GAULLE 19:50 ZURICH KLOTEN 19:55 BARCELONA - EL PRAT

TRAINS Firenze Castello Firenze S.M.N. 00:25 Firenze Castello 00:34 Firenze S.M.N. 04:35 Firenze Castello 04:45 Firenze S.M.N. 07:47 Firenze Castello 07:56 Firenze S.M.N. 12:47 Firenze Castello 12:57 Firenze S.M.N. 14:47 Firenze Castello 14:57 Firenze S.M.N. 17:47 Firenze Castello 17:57 Firenze S.M.N. 19:47 Firenze Castello 19:57 Firenze S.M.N. 20:47 Firenze Castello 20:57 Firenze S.M.N. 22:25 Firenze Castello 22:34 00:09

Future visions

COMPARED DIMENSIONS Metropolitan Park | Central Park CARPET “By 1850, the possibility that New York’s exploding population could engulf the remaining space in the Grid like a freak wave seems real. Urgent plans are made to reserve sites that are still available for parks, but “while we are discussing the subject the advancing population of the city is sweeping over them and covering them for our reach.,.,” In 1853 this danger is averted with the appointment of the Commissioners of Estimate and Assessment, who are to acquire and survey land for a park in a designated area between Fifth and Eighth avenues and 59th and 104th (later llOth) streets.

Central Park is not only the major recreational facility of Manhattan but also the record of its progress: a taxidermic preservation of nature that exhibits forever the drama of culture outdistancing nature. Like the Grid, it is a colossal leap of faith; the contrast it describes - between the built and the unbuilt - hardly exists at the time of its creation.

“The time will come when New York will be built up, when all the grading and filling will be done, and the picturesquely-varied, rocky formation of the island will have been converted into formations of rows and rows of monotonous straight streets, and piles of erect buildings. There will be no suggestion left of its present varied surface, with the exception of a few acres contained in the park. “Then the priceless value of the present picturesque outlines of the

ground will be distinctly perceived, and its adaptability for its purpose more fully recognized. It therefore seems desirable to interfere with its easy, undulating outlines, and picturesque, rocky scenery as little as possible, and, on the other hand, to endeavor rapidly, and by every legitimate means, to increase and judiciously develop these particularly individual and characteristic sources of landscape effects....”

“To interfere as little as possible”, but on the other hand to “increase and develop landscape effects”; If Central Park can be read as an operation of preservation, It is, even more, a series of manipulations and transformations performed on the nature “saved” by its designers. Its lakes are artificial, its trees (trans)planted, its accidents engineered, its incidents supported by an invisible Infrastructure that controls their assembly. A catalogue of natural elements is taken from its original context, reconstituted and compressed into if system of nature that makes the rectilinearity of the Mall no more formal than the planned informality of the Ramble.

Central Park is a synthetic Arcadian Carpet.”1

43

Koolhaas, R. (1994). Delirious New York. New York: The Monacelli Press. (pp.21-23) 1

METROPOLITAN PARK

ENTRANCE Access to the park is made by passing through the portal created by the overhead highway which marks on the North East side the parkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s limit. The overhead sign placed on the underpass becomes part of the publicity strategy to make the park recognizable and inviting.

BIRDS FARM

AIRPLANES

VIA DI MOLLAIA Via di Mollaia runs parallel along the A1 highway offering a multitude of scenarios, from the natural oasis to the Farm next to the highway Toll.

BIKE PATH

VIA FUNAIOLI One of the most commonly used roads of the area, Via Funaioli runs along the University campus buildings and leads to the wet area known as Peretola Lake.

DUMP

BIKE PATH

FARM

VIA DEL PANTANO The twelve-th cardine of the Roman Centuriation, Via del Pantano is one of the most intriguing pathways of the park, the road ends with a dividing in three direction and three multiple choices of activity leading respectively to the Dump straight ahead, Farm to the right and bike path to the left.

IKEA

AIRPLANES

VIA DEI GIUNCHI Via dei Giunchi is one of the best preserved centurion of the Roman Grid, today its context is very particular since on the one side it follows the Peretola Airport landing strip while on the other are all agricultural lands. The road leads up to the industrial and commercial area of Osmannoro.

45

Strategy

Like in a great theme park or in a big scale mall, the element of surprise is one of the areaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s greatest attractions.

Differently from sprawl, where our perception is slowed down by the great distance and similarity amongst buildings, we find ourselves continuously engaged by different realities. An Airport, Highway, natural park, farm and dump coexist here not in greater contrast than a flight simulator, ice rink, cinema, zoo and aquarium inside the Dubai Mall.

Reality vs artificial reality.

More than ever virtual and artificial realities seem to be winning the battle against real life attractions, and the trend in constantly being fixed to a screen, cellphone or computer, seems to alienate people from reality in an alarming way. Visiting the park could be seen as a therapy in reawakening the senses and getting back in touch with reality.

The intention is to create a specialized area of activity (as already the super-malls are) but for it to be a place where the importance of land, nature and belonging are taught. Families could visit the park in the weekend and thus install a sentimental link to the place in their children. It is important to feel part of your own city, but it is thrilling to know you are part of something bigger, something com-

mon to all. Create a bigger sense of community.

Inside the Metropolitan Park different pathways lead to different activities and allow for all types of entertainment to be discovered through a journey amongst the contemporary.

The project proposal can also be read as an attempt in highlighting the areas strongest and most interesting elements, without creating any distinction of importance amongst the proposed activities. The choice to visit the park by foot, bike or car are all presented as equal opportunities as well as the choice in activities. One can decide to spend an afternoon bird watching and then go shopping at IKEA as well as watching planes take off and then go horse back riding.

Rest areas are placed along the different pathways and offer a possibility to stop for a picnic or to rest, these areas are thought as modular platforms able to be connected to one an other depending on the type of rest area that needs to be created. These light structures are placed along the roads and at their crossings, also, in some cases specific areas are chosen thanks to their proximity to abandoned farmhouses and ruins in a way to incentive the possibility of reuse of the old settlements.

Three larger scale structures are placed

inside the park, each one of them reflects one of the three studied categories (Space, Time, Velocity) and adds the possibility of a new activity inside the park. Each structure is designed to be as light as possible, leaving space to the ground, the real protagonist of the park.

The nostalgic attachment to the Old City will here, in the middle of the Piana, be elevated by the possibility of itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s holistic view and at the same time confronted and put into prospective by the greatness of the hills surrounding it.

The importance of open mindedness is also to physically expand ones horizon over the easy and already applauded realities.

POINTS

LINES

modernist

romantic

complex

The lines that make up the pathways of the park can be read as the superposition of two different systems: the regular and strict grid of the old roman centuriation and the winding and fragmented roads connecting the agricultural patches of land.

Three larger scale light structures become part of the parkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attractions, each one embodying one of the three studied categories of Space-Time-Velocity, while the smaller structures are thought as rest areas placed at the crossing of the grid formed by the old Roman Centuriation

LIMITS

ACTIVITIES reality vs artificial reality

Dubai mall aquarium

oasis

designed green

agricultural land

groceries

farm

ski slope

dump

shopping petting zoo

The parkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s limits are defined in all four directions by high speed mobility lines. The railway line to the north east, airport landing strip to the south east, highway A11 to the south west and highway A1 to the north west.

Metropolitan Park

vs

shopping animals

flight simulator

Airplanes

artificial canals

real canals

plaster greek columns

greek escavations

food court

picnic areas

An Airport, Highway, natural park, farm and dump coexist here not in greater contrast than a flight simulator, ice rink, cinema, zoo and aquarium inside the Dubai Mall. Reality vs Artificial Reality.

47

CONFLICTING REALITIES AS OPPORTUNITIES service station as portal to the park

ENHANCE NETWORK extensive bike path

CREATE A RHYTHM use existing centuriation and power grid as inspiration

CONNECT EXISTING ACTIVITIES dog agility bike riding shopping rest platforms

green platforms 1

shelter

PROJECT AS A NEW LANDMARK tower - pyramid - platform

communication

road system

airport / agriculture

2

S

sightseeing

aircraf modelling

picnic

3

T

picnic

running

relax

4

play

V

farming

photography

walking

birdwatching

dump / green

plane watching

place platforms near abandoned structures

walk paths

highway / park

49

Design proposal

Above Project Masterplan.

S

T

V

SPACE TOWER

FOCOGNANO

TOWER

A11

OASIS

PAY-TOLL OASIS

LOCATION

FUNCTION

DESCRIPTION

STRATEGY

The tower is placed along the south west border of the park which is defined by the A11 highway. Precisely at the crossing of the two old roman centuriations of Via del Pantano and via Lungo Gavine. In this point the road takes three different directions, on the right there is the road leading up to the farm, to the left the bike path rises creating a natural sound barrier for the highway while straight ahead, the continuation of Via del Pantano, leads to the Case Passerini Dump. This exact location was chosen since it represents one of the most emblematic spots of the park, and now a days one of the few visited places of the area. At the same time the location is clearly visible from the highway and easily accessible by all transportation means.

The understanding of communication inside the Piana was a fundamental step in developing the project. Given the park’s need for greater visibility and publicity, we decide to analyze the commercial strategy of the buildings placed along the highway A11. Keeping in mind Venturi and Scott Brown’s Learning from Las Vegas, we notice how driving along the Highway, signs of considerable hight and shape rise here and there at the side of the road. By placing the park’s signal tower near the Highway, the area is made visible and given a new symbol to be recognized by. The park’s tower becomes one of the many commercial signs that populate the Piana. Given the importance of the naturalistic aspect of the park, the tower is without commercial sign.

Leading concept and inspiration: electricity pylon structures scattered along the territories of the Piana, birds and natural elements contained inside the agricultural and park areas. The tower‘s structure is made of a regular light metal frame which rises from a squared base and is thought in a similar way of those of the electricity pylons.

The metal frame contains inside a timber box which functions as the towers walls, but at the same time as a multitude of small windows overlooking the park. The timber panels also create a nest like feeling tying together the whole structure in a light but intricate way. The tower is fully occupied inside by a ramp of stairs climbing all the way to the top. This allows for a 360 degree panoramic view of the park.

The tower performs two main functions, on the one hand it can be seen as one of the parks attractions and on the other it represents the park’s symbol. As an attraction the tower offers the possibility of experiencing a higher point of view upon the park since it is possible to climb to the top of it. As a symbol it marks the position of the park inside the Piana and is particularly visible from the highway. The tower is also meant to rise awareness and curiosity on what lies on the other side of the road and to encourage people to visit the park. At night the tower lights up completely competing with the major commercial centers and buildings. Given its perforated walls the tower may also serve for bird nesting considered the great number of bird species that populate the area of the Parco della Piana.

TIME PYRAMID

GHISU

CASE PASSERINI

DUMP

PYRAMID

FOCOGNANO

LOCATION

FUNCTION

DESCRIPTION

STRATEGY

The designed time pyramid is placed on the top of the Case Passerini ziqqurat shaped dump. The dump is situated on the side of the H11 highway and is very visible from the road, it’s hight and shape also contributes in making this spot a strategic one. On the way up to the pyramid it is possible to run into herds of sheep roaming the grounds around the dump and near the highway, this contrast in realities really is a spectacular one. The dump is also one of the very few hill like formation in the piana which makes it a perfect lookout point onto the flat lands around it, as well as a counterpoint for the hills surrounding it. The pyramid will here be seen as a symbol and used as an observation platform.

The pyramid’s function is to educate both visitors and inhabitants of the Piana on the history of its lands. Placed at a strategic hight, from on top the pyramid it is possible to have an extensive view of the Piana as well as the surrounding mountains, specific devices such as panoramic telescopes and informative panels will be placed on the pyramid platform and can be used to explore and learn about the stratigraphy of the area as well as previous settlements and what has survived till our days. The wider vision onto the Piana and its beauty will hopefully help install a sentiment of belonging in order to help preserve and care about the lands in the years to come.

As for the tower, the choice of a light structure was made keeping in mind the importance of the parks naturalistic aspect, in the attempt of not creating structures that would be to invasive or take up to much ground land. The pyramid shape was chosen since it can be considered both as the completion of the ziqqurat and also as a pointer toward the most interesting possible visual connections.

On arriving at the top of the ziqqurat one is led by the path toward the pyramid’s elliptical stairs and then onto the platform placed inside the metal structure frame. The stairs are the only sculptural element of the structure and create a contrast with the light and strict geometry of the pyramid.

The iconic shape and position of the pyramid already denounce the strategy applied to the project. Furthermore neon lights are placed along the metal beams in order to make the pyramid visible after dark, by doing so the pyramid performs two different functions by day it works as one of the park’s attractions as well as a view point while at night it becomes a luminous symbol triggering the passer byers curiosity. By being placed on top the already in disuse dump, the pyramid could contribute in the visiting of the area, still now not much appreciated. The visibility of the structure by the highway and it’s accessibility through the park are thought in order to promote the visiting of the area.

VELOCITY PLATFORM

LANDING STRIP

AIRPORT

PLATFORM

OASIS

LOCATION

FUNCTION

DESCRIPTION

STRATEGY

The velocity platforms are placed along the north-west border of the Florence Peretola Airport and in proximity to its landing strip. Aside from the airport, the platforms are also next to the natural oasis known as Lago di Peretola. The area is extremely easy to reach: from Via dell’Osmannoro, the main road crossing the park, one turns right into Viale delle Idee and at its end reaches destination. The place was chosen also thanks to it’s closeness to the University Campus so to provide a meeting place during breaks, also the platforms could be used for open air classrooms.

The main function of the velocity platforms is that of airplane watching.

Referring to the category of velocity the platforms are a view point on the fasted speed that traverses the park, as well as a point of view on the second type of velocity considered, the cyclic one linked to the migration of birds and the cyclic transformation of nature. As for the previous projects the platforms are also thought to serve as one of the Metropolitan Park’s landmarks given their particular shape and contrast to the surroundings. The idea is also to incentive visiting the area and intrigue people passing by. Their function may vary in time and according to the events that take place inside the park, the platforms could also be used as stages for concerts or picnic areas.

Rising from the ground as flowers in bloom the platforms are conceived as recreational spaces designed to watch airplanes land and take off. As the previous two project proposals, also the platforms are designed as light structures occupying less land as possible.

The platforms rise at different heights and are connected one to the other by stairs in a way that although they keep being perceived as three separate entities, the three platforms actually work together as a whole. The platforms rise on the corner of a lot used for agricultural purpose and their hight creates a strong contrast with the predominant horizontal surroundings.

The idea is to offer a different kind of tourism and recreational activity.

Watching planes has always been a practiced form of entertainment, the idea to consider the airport not as a negative presence but as on opportunity to take advantage of could help integrate the two apparently conflicting spheres of the park and the landing strip. Also, the platforms offer the possibility to admire flocks of birds passing by on their way to the Peretola lake, just a few meters away. This contemporary, but at the same time vintage type of activity could interest all age groups and help promote the image of the park.

Below is an image of the area presented as a postcard which could be used for the promotion of the park.

Rest Areas

LOCATION

FUNCTION

DESCRIPTION

STRATEGY

The rest platforms are found along the Metropolitan Park’s roads, scattered along the grid of the old Roman Centuriation they highlight the park’s viability system. The biggest rest areas, made of an aggregation of more than one platform, are placed in correspondence to the crossing of the main streets, in the same way that important nodes are often found at the intersection of two important axis. While the single or double platforms are found along the park’s secondary road system. The platforms occupy the border of agricultural patches of land and mark the borders of them. Their position is also thought to be in correspondence to old abandoned farm houses or other types of structures in a way to encourage the re usal of these ruins which could sub sequentially become additional support structures to the functioning of the parks activities.

The rest platform’s function is to create rest areas along the pathways of the park in a way to offer the possibility, given the extension of the park’s network, to stop for a break. Also some of the equipped platforms serve as play areas for children and meeting points for adults. The platforms are used as an additional grid system and as further activity areas of the park.

Their function is also that of creating shaded places, most platforms have infact a light cover while the simple horizontal ones have holes in them to accommodate trees. The platforms can be used for multiple activities such as reading, relaxing picnic and play.

The platforms are mainly of two kind, the green platforms and the activity platforms. The first consist of simple wooden structures that rise slightly above ground and can be used to sit, lie down and rest on. The second type of platforms are specific to different activities, such as picnic areas, reading and relaxing, playground and restrooms. All platforms are thought in a way to be combined together to create small platform islands as shown in the diagrams to the right.

The possibilities of combinations are multiple and create different islands specific to the needs related to the place where the platforms are placed.

The activity platforms feature covered areas for shelter from the sun or rain while the green platforms have cut out rectangles from them to accommodate new trees.

The strategy adopted toward the creation of the rest platforms was that of creating a rhythm and order inside the park. The platforms form a grid which overlays and follows the old grid of the Roman Centuriation. The rest platforms serve different needs and can come together to create a rest area according to necessity. The idea is also to increase the sense of orientation once inside the park, the view from one platform onto the next one facilitates the comprehension of the scale of the Metropolitan Park and the distances in between one place and on other.

59 Platform 1

Relax

Platform 2

Shelter

Platform 3

Picnic

Bibliography

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Boeri, S. (2011). L’anticittà. Bari: SEDIT. Braudel F. (1996). The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. Berkeley: University of California Cibic, A. (2010). Rethinking Happiness.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Mantova: Edizioni Maurizio Corraini Arte Contemporanea.

Clément, G. (2004). Manifeste pour le Tiers paysage. Paris: Éditions Sujet/ Objet.

Cresswell T. (2006). On the Move: Mobility in the Modern Western World. New York: Routledge Geddes, P. (1970). Città in evoluzione.

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New York: The Monacelli Press.

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Koolhaas, R. (2006). Junkspace. Per un ripensamento radicale dello spazio urbano. Macerata: Quodlibet.

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Canada: CLOG. May Kile (Ed.). (2014). CLOG: Rem. Canada: CLOG. Newman, O. (1996). Creating defensible spaces. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

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61

Contents

The Periphery at the Center: an Implicit Handbook for the Suburban Project Giulio Giovannoni

11

Introduction

11

Piana Metropolitana Conurbations

11

Inbetweenness

11

Parco della Piana Parco

11

Multitude of realities

11

Space

11

Time Velocity

11

Future visions Compared dimensions. Metropolitan Park | Central park

11

Strategy

11

Design proposal

11

Space Tower Time Platform Velocity Platform Rest Areas Bibliography

11

Finito di stampare per conto di didapress Dipartimento di Architettura UniversitĂ degli Studi di Firenze Marzo 2018

The study in question is an attempt to identify new possible aesthetic scenarios inside the complex reality of the Piana Metropolitana. The research’s goal is to discover the possibilities that lie in these territories through an interpretation based mainly on perception and translated into the creation of complex maps. After a first phase of research on the topic of middle landscapes applied to the territory of the Florentine plain, the analysis, divided into the three categories of Space, Time, Velocity, offers a complete overview of the territory through an unconventional interpretation. The project proposals are respectively connected to each category of analysis and work as devices designed to promote the knowledge of the area and increment its use.

The thesis also tries to confront the issue of preconception, often linked to in-between lands and focuses on highlighting the beauty and vast potential of the area.

Olivia Gori (Florence, 1988), architect. In 2016, she co-founded the team of architects ECÒL, developing projects on public space and the study of the geometrical realm. In 2017 the team participates with site specific projects to the Nuit Blanche in Taipei and Vienna Design Week. Recipient of the PAT prize “Premio architettura Toscana 2017” inside the category “Opera Prima” for the project of Piazza dell’Immaginario. Her main focus is the relentless exchange between urban and small scale, fully embracing its shifts and analogies.

ISBN 978-88-3338-026-1

ISBN 978-88-3338-026-1

9 788833 380261