Public spaces

The use of a natural wood (Swedish yellow pine) underlines the closeness to a park and blurs the passage from mineral pavement and natural soil.

Words from the architect

The project was the winning proposal in an international competition. The town of Collegno, located in the area around Turin, within 5 kilometres of the city itself, represents one of those cases in which the architectural disorder of an industrial suburb, built rather hurriedly in the 1960s, now demands the intervention of urban designers able to restore order to time, history and its impetuous architecture. In view of the need to redesign the urban fabric, breaking away from the decay caused by the recent economic recession, the Municipality implemented a series of urban regeneration operations, including the improvement of the public areas in the Oltredora district.

The space at the twilight in autumn.

The project, which received the Rimini IQU 2007 Special Award (Urban Quality Innovation) as the "best plan for design for all", envisaged the creation of a square/parade with a decked area for pausing and getting a glimpse of the urban landscape, a brightly coloured playground, a wooden puppet theatre - the archetypal theme of the roof - for outdoor

The movement of the decking gives a new sense at the place, founding the new public realm.

Children's activities and new play areas. These are just some of the operations that have given a new look to the district, with the aim of finding models able to indicate new areas of potential and new links between the various parts of the district and the town itself. The operations as a whole have not generated a new district, which could only be achieved by means of very different changes, but have suggested better ways of exploiting the existing one, making use of the resources that were previously taken for granted and giving it added meaning.

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