THE LIVING PATH

Alejandro Rossetti, Ceren Koçaslan, Ivo Casadio, María Alejandra Sánchez.

LIVING PATH

To reach this final point, we went through a process that is basically divided into three stages: in the first one, we carried out a mapping which helped us to identify and classify the types of green areas in Biella. So in order to have a better understanding of the project, it´s important to know the meaning of the colors present in both sheets. In a general view, in the colors legend we have two types of green, that mean private green areas and forest, two types of brown, which are the uncultive lands and agriculture, and the grey, which basically refers to the entire built surface.

Going on with the second stage, we synthesize Biella´s nature structure in three main actors: the nature reserve on flat land, the River and finally the mountains. Once these actors were identified, and following the main strategy proposed in the general scenario called "Knitting the city", we established certain strategic points in Biella´s green zones, in order to give them different identities according to their location and at the same time use them as articulator points with the goal of having a strong axis passing across the city with different dynamics.

Finally, we arrived to the final intentions of the project, having as a result a strong concept that is based on using the path of the river as a guide line to connect principally The Baragge with The alps, creating a route composed some important natural spots within the territory, making the city live inwards, reinforcing its core with what we call “the living path”. In this way, we consider that this project will be a key piece to recover the identity of Biella with the natural environment as a premise.

“Climate Urbanism” moves from the dominant narrative of “sustainable urbanism” based on “resiliency” to a radical systemic approach that considers Climate Change (CC) alterations as a present condition instead of an eventual future hazard, aiming at evolving new models of living together instead of preserving the actual neoliberal narratives. In Mapping CC the students make visible CC present implications on space and society. Tackling CC offers instead a set of radical development scenarios. While promoting spatial justice as a climate action issue, the atelier works with the case of Biella, a “medial” territory representing the majority of contemporary territorial conditions in Europe.