Rethink_Canton Ticino - Territory of a New Modernity

8/9/2019 Rethink_Canton Ticino - Territory of a New Modernity

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Canton Ticino: territoryof a new modernity.An infrastructuralproject inside thescattered city.


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Urban and architectural design has for quite some

time now no longer been the main element of

those transformations which have formed the

characters our cities. Bureaucratic complexities,

the lack of a governing body capable of dening

development lines, fragmentation of responsibilities

and the distance between programs and actions

often prevent transformation processes from

unfolding and developing. Instead, these processes

are often interrupted and disregarded. If we put

administrative purposes to one side, this situation

has minimised the role of urban design in dening

strategies and urban quality. In the same way, ithas attributed a prominent role to architectural

design and the design of individual buildings.

As a result, large parts of cities, which have

undergone transformation processes in recent

years, are characterized by morphological

disparateness and incompleteness. This lack of

homogeneity and integrity is tempered only in

part by outstanding individual architectures,

while neither green areas and public spaces have

succeeded in providing a sense of uniformity

and completeness to the same. The idea of being

able to have, or being able to apply, an overall

vision to transformation processes therefore seems

impracticable and out of place. Those who are

involved in one way or another, are invariably

called to complete a specic and incomplete part,

which absolves and frees the same from being

responsible for issues and considerations relating

to the overall picture. This often highlights the

need for and the lack of effective and involved

coordination, both in the public and private

sectors. And yet reection and design in the

city and architecture continues in some respects

to be indispensable. Despite the fact that the

working areas of design have seemingly been

reduced to elsewhere in other often forgottenelds, new frontiers are being unravelled and new

opportunities to experiment design and research,

analysis and action are arising. It would certainly

be more coherent to view and design the future of

the city and of urbanised areas through an overall

vision able to address and involve all levels of the

city. This attitude is, however, as mentioned above,

insidious and in my opinion not practicable at the

moment. This is basically due to two interrelated

reasons. The rst concerns time, between thoughts

and actions, between visions and designs, which

often fail to be identical and compatible with

the dynamics and the times of change affecting

THE LIMIT OF THINGS:

SPACES OF REFLECTION AND AREAS

OF INTERVENTIONGianandrea Barreca Domus Academy Master in Urban Vision and Architectural Design director

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Focusing

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Modern-day European cities are a combination of

society, history, culture and technology, closely

connected and structured in a complex system

of relations and balances. This equilibrium

has altered and become unbalanced over time,

shifting the focus of interests and interventions

on specic elements at certain times and on

others at other times. Infrastructures, in particular

those relating to mobility, have always played a

central role in the development of territories and,

more generally, in the creation of the narrativeof events that characterized them in the course

of time through continuous sedimentation of

meanings and objects. With the exception of a

few less important and less inuential designers

and landscape architects, historically urban

design was the main prerogative of architects and

town planners, creators of a design that often

simultaneously grouped together and controlled

the various systems and elements that contributed

to the construction and image of cities.

Later, in modern times and especially from the

19th

century onwards,

Mobility infrastructures, in fact, slowly moved

away from the sphere of control of architects and

town planners. Railway lines, overpasses, urban

bridges, tramways and park and ride facilities, as

well as underground railways and road sections,have increased the speed with which cities can

be crossed and have given rise to increasingly

prevalent technical requirements, leading to a

change in the aesthetic and formal design of

the places in which we live and changing urban

landscapes. Years of intensive infrastructure growth

favouring mobility systems focusing solely on the

efciency of the physical transport network, as well

as a lack of interest by architects, have produced a

sharp spatial, social and aesthetic contrast between

mobility devices, cities and territories, creating

spaces which nowadays are often incomplete,

URBAN MOBILITY INFRASTRUCTURES:

NEW DYNAMICS IN ARCHITECTURAL

DESIGNGianandrea Barreca Domus Academy Master in Urban Vision and Architectural Design director

He began his career as an architect in 1996. In 1999 he founded Boeri Studio with Stefano Boeri and Giovanni

La Varra, and later in January 2008 he founded Barreca & LaVarra studio with Giovanni La Varra in Milan.

He is also one of the founding members of gruppo a12 with which he fosters and realizes seminars, researches,

exhibitions and installations on the contemporary urban condition and, in particular, on the relations between

urban context and public art. Since 2004, he has been collaborating with Domus Academy and he has been

the director of Master in Urban Vision and Architectural Design since 2006. From 1998 to 2004 he was the

Genoa-based coordinator of the travelling Villard seminar, and from 2000 to 2002 he was visiting professor of

Architectural Design at the Faculty of Architecture in Genoa. Since 2009, he has been teaching Architectural

Composition in the Department of Construction Engineering and Architecture at the University of Genoa.

MOBILITY INFRASTRUCTURES BECAME CENTRAL TO

THE DEFINITION OF DEVELOPMENT, AS WELL AS TO

THE RECONFIGURATION OF CITIES AND TERRITORIES.

8 FOCUSING URBAN MOBILITY INFRASTRUCTURES


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unused, undened. Hence, mobility infrastructure

design currently needs to be conceived from both

a technical point of view and from an architectural

and gurative standpoint. In particular,

role. By pursuing professional integration,

infrastructures, bridges and yovers have been

created forming architectural expressions of the

needs of society, rather than mere expressions of

technology and engineering. Furthermore, where

in these countries such integration proved to beimpossible for various reasons, measures, albeit

of questionable theoretical value but certainly

effective in practice, have been taken to restore

those landscapes that have been distorted, or

overwhelmed, by the passage of a mobility

infrastructure. Thus, in the majority of cases today,

and especially within compact and consolidated

urban contexts, mobility infrastructures have

already been created. All that is left for us to

do, therefore, is to rethink, with immense delay,

existing infrastructures and to envisage designs

that work around them, which reconnect them

to the contexts in which they are found andwith which they need to create a different, more

modern form of coexistence. Unfortunately the

situation today is exacerbated, at least in Europe

and particularly in Italy, by scarce public resources

that no longer allow for investments to be made

to redesign these artefacts solely to improve their

image and to re-establish a formal and aesthetic

link with the context of the city. The lack of

available resources, therefore, precludes any

contemplation of projects to conceal or renovate

these structures. Such is also made impossible

more than ever before, as any intervention evento redevelop needs to be made and directed at

generating prots. Erroneously, urban quality in

itself is hardly ever, except in historical contexts,

considered an element able to generate prots.

THE TWOFOLD ASPECT OF FUNCTIONALLAYOUTS AND ARCHITECTURAL ARTEFACTS

SHOULD BE TRACED BACK TO CONCEPTUAL

UNITS AND COHERENT DESIGN.

IN ORDER TO RE-ESTABLISH A RELATIONSHIP

BETWEEN INFRASTRUCTURES AND PLACES, BETWEEN

TECHNOLOGY AND ARCHITECTURE, SPECIFIC

PROJECTS ABLE TO RECONFIGURE THESE ELEMENTS

WITHIN URBAN DYNAMICS, ARE REQUIRED.

It would obviously have been preferable if mobility

infrastructure design had been perceived as an

architectural element able to contribute to creating

the landscape morphology of the city from the

beginning, rather than as an exclusively technical

structure and system. However, observing our

cities, it seems that there has never been room forthis hypothesis or intention. Notable examples of

designers who have created interesting works both

in urban contexts and in the territory do indeed

exist, but in most cases the results have been

unsatisfactory. Consequently, motionless structures

invading our landscapes now lay before our eyes.

Yet, mobility systems and infrastructures have

many fascinating and surprising aspects that

lend themselves to being designed differently.

Greater emphasis could have been placed on

certain qualities that would have improved their

introduction to the landscape, without limitingtechnical performance and efciency. By observing

them under a new light, these structures become

stunning symbols on the landscape and vehicles

of the vision from which the city and its day-to-

day life should be observed, from within or from

privileged points of reference.

A good example is the yover of Genoa or the ring

road above Naples. In other European countries,

such as Holland, France, Switzerland or Spain,

urban mobility infrastructures have frequently

been the subject of common ground for reection

by different professions. Architects and landscape

architects have also been able to play an important

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This is certainly far more complex and can only be

attempted and achieved if these infrastructures are

conceived as buildings and public spaces that are

able to change in nature, function and character,

without necessarily changing their structure and

morphology. It is therefore necessary to short-circuit between the nature of these structures

as an infrastructure and the essence of their

constructive structures. This could be achieved

through architectural design which, by its very

nature, goes beyond these components. In

fact, architectural design exclusively considers

them together and within a direct relationship

between form and building context. This means

envisaging new and old functions around,

below, between and within these new structures.

Functions that have perhaps failed to nd

adequate space in the city and that may nd newopportunities to be instal led and rethought.

IT IS A QUESTION THEREFORE OF CONCEIVING

PROJECTS ABLE TO CREATE A NEW MODEL OF

RELATIONS BETWEEN INHABITANTS-USERS

AND MOBILITY SYSTEMS.

These projects need to be more innovative in terms

of interaction and the production of income.

Thus, not only a service, a support infrastructure,

but a structure of society and the economy inurban and territorial contexts that crosses and

structures the same. Mobility infrastructures should

no longer be considered autonomous networks

which do not contribute to the quality of the urban

area and to that of the citizens that move inside it.

The following projects and contributions constitute

the rst stage of research that aims at focusing

attention on mobility infrastructure design as a

system able to adapt elements of the territory and

urban spaces to a more suitable scale and closer to

the territories and the landscapes on which they

were erected. Projects to reconvert railway lines, to

correct layouts, dispose of obsolete infrastructures,

to strengthen and increase existing infrastructures,

are and will provide opportunities to rethink

important and large parts of the places in which

we live and that we use to travel across. Take, for

example, the endless strips of land compressedand forgotten between major motorway and

rail infrastructures, the extensive shaded areas

under urban overpasses, or the railway stations

on secondary lines crossing through urban areas.

These are just a selection of the opportunities

offered by studying this theme. Opportunities that

will soon become vast needs and sensitive issues

for communities that require a new, increasingly

modern system of relations and use between

inhabitants-users and mobility systems in compact

urban contexts, just as in large urban areas.

10 FOCUSING URBAN MOBILITY INFRASTRUCTURES


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Mapping

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Mapping a territory is always a project act.

As Franco Farinelli says “Every map is a project

upon the world […] and the project behind every

map is to transform the world in one’s own image1”.

Farinelli recognizes the value of the map as

epistemological device capable not only to

understand the world, but to dominate it as well.

In 1989, Brian Harley already argues that maps are

social constructions. For Harley a map still conveys

the truth of a landscape, even though its message

is bound within the ideological frame of its creator.“Maps cease to be understood primarily as inert

records of morphological landscapes or passive

reections of the word of objects, but are regarded

as refracted images contributing to dialogue in a

socially constructed world […]

Maps are never value-free images; except in

the narrowest Euclidean sense they are not in

themselves either true or false. By adapting

individual projections, by manipulating scale, by

over-enlarging or moving signs or typography, or by

using emotive colors, makers of propaganda maps

have generally been the advocates of a one-sided

view of geographical relationship2”.

Harley conceives maps according to Foucault’s

categories, as product of the relationship between

power and knowledge, and as one of the modality

for exercising the power. However, Harley’s

approach provides an epistemological discourse

upon the maps, but still leaves open the question

of the ontology of the mapping process, which

is actually the most relevant one if we take into

consideration the nal design output maps are

addressed to. Rather than a determinate reading of

the power of maps that seeks to uncover in a literalsense the authorial and ideological intent of a map

- who makes the map and for what purpose, today

we need to advocate the role of mapping as tool

to shape our understanding and drive our design

intentions. As Wood and Fels argue,

MAPPING AS PROJECT ACT:

ELEVEN MAPPING EXPERIENCES

AS PROJECT GENERATORSFrancesca Vargiu Domus Academy Master in Urban Vision and Architectural Design tutor

She graduated in Architecture at Politecnico di Milano, after spending a year of studies at Etsam in Madrid.

She took part in the international research project ‘Decolonizing Architecture’ and collaborated for its rst

exhibition ‘Design by Destruction: Oush Grab Military Base’ at Bozar, Bruxelles. It has been also displayed

in Venice, Rotterdam and Istanbul Biennals. As architect, she has collaborated with several studios in Italy

and in Spain. She’s co-founder of KICKOFFICE (www.kickofce.net), whose activities range from urban

planning and architecture to design and graphic communication. Since 2010 she has been assistant professor

at Politecnico di Milano and she’s currently tutor of the Master in Urban Vision and Architectural Design at

Domus Academy.

“MAPS DO NOT SIMPLY REPRESENT THE

WORLD, THEY PRODUCE THE WORLD3” BY

MAKING PROPOSITIONS WHICH ARE PLACED

IN THE SPACE OF THE MAP.

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The workshop attended by the students of the

Master in Urban Vision and Architectural Design of

Domus Academy at i2a – international institute of

architecture - has been conceived as an ambitious

experience joining the scale of the territory with

the one of landscape and architecture. In frontof the vastness the term territory implies and the

complexity the interplay between landscape and

architecture entails, the maps have represented the

necessary tools to brutally seize the context since

the beginning. Claiming the idea that “the map

produces and reafrms territory rather than just

describing it 4”, the context has been approached

as a sum of territorial systems, interfering with

the FLP – Ferrovia Lugano Ponte Tresa - according

to different forms and levels of interaction. At the

beginning, maps have driven students in properly

approaching the context and extracting from it one

of the territorial system to focus on. Throughout

the workshop experience, maps have constantly

been references for the activity of planning and

becoming effective devices for shaping project

assumptions. Theoretically thinking, we want to go

over the conception of maps as representations that

are separate or superimposed over the territory.

Following Baudrillard, James Corner argues that

“Moreover, given that places are planned and

built on the basis of maps, so that space is itself

a representation of the map, the differentiation

between the real and the representation is no longer

meaningful6”.

Later, Maria Lezhnina has dened the varioustypologies of centers for each cluster on the map,

carrying on an act of project at the same time: the

specicity of each urban center gets evidence only

by drawing as well as the reciprocal connections

among the identied polarities can be effectively

visualized on map, where actually the terrain is

prepared for the project development. At the end,

it’s the physical gesture of drawing on the map

to x design intentions, to construct the space,

to shape the territory. In this way, “maps and

territories are co-constructed. Space is constituted

through mapping practices, amongst many others,

so that maps are not a reection of the world, but a

re-creation of it; mapping activates territory7 ”.

FROM THE NATURE OF MAP TO THE PRACTICE

OF MAPPING

Along with Martin Dodge8, the idea about maps

has to shift from understanding the nature of maps

- how maps are - to examining the practices of

mapping - how maps become.

During the workshop, the process of mapping

has been introduced as a preliminary modality to

approach an unknown context, as Ticino is foreleven students coming from all over the world.

Despite the complexity of the overall territory from

the morphological, political and cultural points

of view, the real aim has been to set the focus

on the numerous territorial systems interfering

with the FLP line, because they are the triggers to

investigate potential strategies and discuss future

projects. Students have been initially provided

with a package of basic information, including

overall plans, aerial pictures, reference texts.

Then, they have been led to the site, exploring

the context directly from the FLP train: different

morphologies, densities, landscapes and diverse

“A TERRITORY DOES NOT PRECEDE A MAP, BUT

THAT SPACE BECOMES TERRITORY THROUGH

BOUNDING PRACTICES THAT INCLUDE MAPPING5”.

The systematic precision with which Maria

Lezhnina has surgically marked off the clusters

on the map just gives evidence of Baudrillard’s

statement (g.1). In this case, the process of

understanding the urban structure of the territory

and foreseeing next project opportunities just

takes shape and gains its consistency through

the unequivocal marks on the map. By mapping,

the urban tissue along FLP line is scanned, then

interpreted according to the cluster-type, and

visually xed on the map.

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g.1



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PONTETRESA

CASLANO

MAGLIASO PAESE

SERROCA

BIOGGIO

CAPPELLA AGNUZZO

LAGHETTO

SORENGO

LUGANO

MAGLIASO

AGNO

MOLINAZZO

PONTETRESA

CASLANO

MAGLIASO PAESE

SERROCA

BIOGGIO

CAPPELLA AGNUZZO

LAGHETTO

SORENGO

LUGANO

MAGLIASO

AGNO

MOLINAZZO

PONTETRESA

CASLANO

MAGLIASO PAESE

SERROCA

BIOGGIO

CAPPELLA AGNUZZO

LAGHETTO

SORENGO

LUGANO

MAGLIASO

AGNO

MOLINAZZO

PONTETRESA

CASLANO

MAGLIASO PAESE

SERROCA

BIOGGIO

CAPPELLA AGNUZZO

LAGHETTO

SORENGO

LUGANO

MAGLIASO

AGNO

MOLINAZZO

g.2

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levels of urbanization have been detected along the

trip. Combining the practice of perception, together

with a more systematic data investigation, the

territory has started to be approached with more

condence: laying out the existing infrastructures,

highlighting the nodes, drawing the movementsof the rivers, handling the orography, marking

the density, location and size of urban centers,

the structure of the territory has been taken

shape. A sort of recursive process of reshaping,

reassembling, restructuring the map has been

carried on, following a progressive process of

appropriation of the context. In sequence of Kim

Bomi’s maps (g.2) we can detect a process of

constant re-territorialisation: step by step, layer

by layer, new elements making up the territory

are added, constantly zooming in and out from

the main focus: starting from an overall view on

the orographic pattern and water sources of the

area, the maps progressively start focusing on the

ooding issue, and consequently they proceed in

extracting the relating systems from the territorial

backbone. Thus, the set of maps follows the

ongoing mental processes, until the nal synthesis:

the passages to nally mark the presence of the

ecological corridors have been physically taking

shape on maps and by mapping. At the same

time, a series of simplied steps to systematically

approach the territory have been proposed to the

students and some guidelines to restrict the eld

established: sometimes, we have suggested andaccepted approximate and not fully complete

interpretations, as we aimed at communicating

and testing with the students a practical operative

method. Actually, a certain simplication is just

part of the practice of mapping:

Thanks to the nature of mapping, certain elements

have been captured and isolated from the context

in order to project back a variety of unfolding

potential and possibilities.

No visualization looks like what it represents:

it’s always a programmatic and intentional tool,a narrative structure depending on the values

and meanings given to the relations among its

elements. As Martin Dodge states “Maps are

practices – they are always mappings; spatial

practices enacted to solve relational problems9”.

In Karim Abou Jaoude’s mapping operation of

surgically pinpointing the edges of the clusters

(g.3), we perceive a certain sense of transitory

and eeting of the elements on the map: the

spread dots marking the borders are as contingent

as the dynamics changing the territorial assets,

but contain themselves the potential for project

transformation. In fact, by redening the clusters’

edges, not only the space in between gets an

identity but also the whole urban lament is

reinforced. Once again, maps are relational and

context-dependent.“Maps are not ontologically

secure representations but rather a set of unfolding

practices: maps are of-the-moment, brought

into being through practices (embodied, social,

technical), always re-made every time they are

engaged with10”.

MAPPING IS NOT A SIMPLE MATTER

It’s no accident that Franco Farinelli highlights anironic assonance between the words territory and

terror 11. It’s not a simple matter to get started when

facing a whole territorial system as macro-context

of the project.

Nevertheless, the specic case of Canton Ticino

gives a further possibility to start from a distant

perspective and requests a further effort to nd

a way to handle things on an urban, or even

regional, scale. The blurred map of Maria Lezhnina

(g.4) just proves it: the not-in-focus view is

the one able to reveal the fragmentation and

clusterization of the territory, giving evidence to

EVERYTHING A MAP FOCUS ON HAS IMPLIED

TO GIVE UP OTHER ELEMENTS THAT DIDN’T

FIND SPACE ON THE MAP ITSELF.



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its essential framework. Once again, it’s not in the

nal static and crystallized image of the map but

instead in the process of mapping itself to give

birth to project development.

Certainly, when beginning to approach the context,

there’s no clear methodology, no functioning rules:everything appears fuzzy, undened, scattered;

experimenting new tools, proceeding and coming

back, is the only way to win the gamble. At the

beginning every trace, signs, structure has to be

captured from the context, in order to prepare the

basis for further interpretation.

Roland Barthes says “If the theory of the text tends

to abolish the separation between the different

art disciplines it is because their artworks are

not anymore considered as simple messages […]

but as perpetual products, statements, which

the subject keep on debating on: this subject is

certainly the one of the author, but also the one of

the reader. Therefore the theory of the text provokes

the valorization of a new epistemological item:

the reading […]. The theory innitely widens

the freedom of the reading, and, more than this,

strongly underlines the equality of writing and

reading […], - where – true reading is when the

reader is the one who wants to write12”.

If we transpose Barthes’ statement from the

literature to the design practice, we can argue

that the deep comprehension of a territory

implies a continuous practice of reading that

becomes productive through a constant processof separating/rejoining. In her maps (g. 5),

Anna Terskikh proves this continuous activity

of sketching, drawing, marking, highlighting in

order to recognize and underline the elements

characterizing the form and the space which the

project will be put in relation with.

The progressive marking some coastline portions

thicker and highlighting some contours shows

the mental passages of separating and merging

as part of the ongoing interpretation about water

resource. As the meaning of a text is never unique,

xed, as well when reading a territory the role

and signicance of the elements making it is never

dened but rather always open to interpretation.

IN THIS WAY, THE ACTION OF READING IS

PRODUCTION AT THE SAME TIME, AND THEREADER IS THE WRITER HIMSELF.

WORDS SEPARATE, PICTURES UNITE13

Because maps are prescriptive systems of

propositions, Wood and Fels contend that

map creation should not solely be about

presenting information through attractive spatial

representations as advocated by the majority

of cartographic textbooks. Instead they suggest

map design should be about the construction of

meaning as a basis for action14.

The effectiveness and the fastness of the graphic

representation itself is not enough: the attention

should be paid to the relations, the interactions

and the links within parts that determine mutual

inuences and conditionings into a dynamic

cohesion. Thus the maps are not mere static

visual tools, but rather generative instruments

of communication, able to prove the relations

among the elements of a system as well as

between the system and its interpretations.

Actually architecture seems to pregure this new

way to use communication tools: Ole Bauman

afrms that diagrams and conceptual drawingsare becoming the art of dynamics situation. The

map and diagram by Mayya Polivanova (g. 6)

clearly shows their capacity to act as interfaces

between knowledge and experience: the interplay

between the notion of place and time gets evidence

just on the map, which acts as mediator with an

explicative aim among different and interrelated

quantities. Along with Gilles Deleuze, “maps are

charts of relationships of strength, chart of density

and intensity, touching all points at the same time

or concentrated in the relation between one point

and another one15”.

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g.3

ii

g.4



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g.5

Agricultural areas Areas with a big density of trees

Areas with a less density of trees

Infrostructure of roads

Existing parking areas

Places of significant point

Existing ports

IInfrostructure of roads

Existing parking areas

Places of significant point

Existing ports

Connections between cost and FLP

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Therefore, the graphic action shouldn’t be just a

visual and aesthetic act, but the one able to create

a synthetic relation between the constituent and

the functional, symbolic and conceptual aspects.

Moreover, just the sophisticated graphic modalities

that Mayya Polivanova adopts play a crucial rolewithin the process of understanding complex

systems: by properly using symbols, shapes,

colors etc, the visualization devices are capable to

organize the descriptive and prescriptive features

towards a generative potentiality, becoming a smart

way of describing that makes the planning easier.

Her work is based on a minimal graphic syntax:

simple lines to connect points, colored shapes to

indicate areas of interest, few basic indicators to

convey attributes and features. It’ not only their

graphic look to be fascinating, but even more

it’s the kind of information they express to make

them effective project devices. In general, during

the workshop, students have been constantly

invited to reect about the potential of graphic

thinking as modality to approach and interpret

reality, not only limited to the traditional graphic

design disciplines: today more than ever planning

practices need to translate complex issues into

effective and recognizable visual forms, producing

new knowledge and revealing new meanings.

As Mayya Polivanova’s map proves, graphics

should be conceived to help us in understanding,

creating and experiencing reality, by ltering the

information, establishing relationships, discerningpatterns and representing them in a way to process

and digest meaningful knowledge. At the end of

the workshop, thanks to the value of the map and

the role of mapping we believe in, eleven students’

mapping processes have generated eleven different

projects for the territory crossed by FLP line: as

territory does not emerge in the same way for all

individuals, so no map is a neutral one, being

affected by the knowledge, experience and skill

of the individual to perform mappings and apply

them in the project practice.

1 F. Farinelli (1992), I segni del mondo: immagine

cartograca e discorso geograco in età moderna, La

Nuova Italia, Firenze

2 B. Harley (2001), The New Nature of Maps, The Johns

Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London

3

D. Woodand, J. Fels (2008), The Natures of Maps:Cartographic Constructions of the Natural World, University

of Chicago Press, Chicago

4 ivi

5 Corner J. (1999) “The agency of mapping: speculation,

critique and invention”, in Cosgrove D., Mappings,

Reaktion Books, London

6 ivi

7 ivi

8 Kitchin R., Dodge M. (2007), “Rethinking Maps”, in

Progress in Human Geography, Vol. 31, No. 3

9 ivi

10 ivi

11 Farinelli F. (2003), Geograa, Einaudi, Torino

12 Barthes R. (1998), “Teoria del testo”, in Scritti, Einaudi,

Torino

13 Neurath O. (1973), Empiricims and sociology, Ed. Marie

Neurath and Robert S. Cohen, Reidel, Dordrecht

14 Wood D. and Fels J. (2008), The Natures of Maps:

Cartographic Constructions of the Natural World, University

of Chicago Press, Chicago

15 Deleuze G. (1996), Divenire molteplice. Nietzsche,

Foucault ed altri intercessori, Ombre Corte, Verona



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g.6

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Planning

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URBAN CONTINUITY

Karim Abou Jaoude

He graduated at the American University of Beirut (AUB) in 2009, with a degree in Landscape Design &

Ecological Management. He has worked in an architecture studio for about a year, focusing on projects ofopen spaces in the Beirut central district. As freelance architect, he developed also some projects for outdoor

spaces of private residences.

The rst impression about the territory is the

pattern made by the urban clusters scattered in the

area and the voids and residual spaces they form.

The territory along FLP line is characterized by

widespread and disjointed forms of urbanization

with no identity or character, living in the shadow

of the nancial centre of Lugano. Starting from

this, the main concept is to connect all the towns

along the FLP line from Ponte Tresa to Lugano

from the visual and functional point of view, inorder to reinforce the idea of a lament city made

of different entities. By dening the borders and

edges of each town, which are either geographical

or natural, set by infrastructure or manmade

interventions, it is possible to control and organize

the urban sprawl of the villages and give shape to

the residual spaces in between.

They can be designed to connect each town to

the one after it, since the void spaces are within

walkable distance. Even more, as each void differs

from the other in terms of landscape scenery,

topography and nature, the setting is perfect for

local scale interventions. The focus of the project

is concentrated in Caslano and Magliaso area, and

the general strategy is to strengthen the urban

continuity by doubling the path of the FLP line

and adding a soft mobility line. This last one is

identied with one of the existing contour lines,

which actually corresponds to the historical via

Regina that is connecting all the landmarks and

historical points of the area. The proposed soft

mobility intervention is conceived in the form ofwooden decks and bridges that smoothly t in

the existing landscape, following the topographic

nature of the area where the slope is steep, and

turning into a series of public and open spaces

where the topographic nature is more gentle.

Then, working on the connections between the

urban mobility line and the soft mobility one, new

nodes are proposed in order to stimulate the use

of the FLP line, even for little scale movements

of tourist and local users. Through punctual local

interventions, the continuity of the urban lament

is controlled on a territorial scale.

24 PLANNING URBAN CONTINUITY


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FLP TERRITORY

CLUSTERS’ EDGES

25


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FLP TERRITORY TYPOLOGIES OF CLUSTERS’ EDGES CASLANO FLP STATION ANALYSIS OF THE EDGES



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CASLANO FLP STATION

PROJECT



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MAGLIASO FLP STATION

PROJECT

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SHAPING NODES

Aniket Bagul

He graduated in Architecture at Sir J.J. College of Architecture in Mumbai in 2009. He took part into several

competitions during the university studies and he won Zal and Gobhai Design Award 2008, by designing

an energy efcient housing. He have worked as an architect for two years in Mumbai, also winning

competitions for professionals.

In today’s worldwide economy the potential

development of a city or a region increasingly relies

on the quality of its connections to the various

transportation networks. In this way, infrastructure

denes the mobility patterns, which shapes city

or region. The project starts from the analysis of

public mobility patterns along the FLP line which

are used by tourist and local users, including

biking lanes, hiking paths, bus routes, vehicularroads. The study shows that Caslano and Magliaso

are the main transport nodes. Concerning Caslano,

it boasts the chocolate museum as well as a hill for

hiking as relevant attractions for both local users

and tourists. Hence Caslano could become

a vital node also for touristic ows. On the

contrary, Magliaso is the crossing point for biking

routes, hiking paths, bus lanes, FLP line and

vehicular roads. At the same time, the different

open spaces need to be dened. By overlapping

this kind of mobility patterns, new kinds of urban

spaces can be produced along this line; thus the

project strategy is about developing potential nodes

in the territory along the FLP line, focusing on

commuter’s ows. Places like commuter transfer

nodes in the urban infrastructure are melting

spaces that contain a myriad individual stories of

everyday movements. In the area between Caslano

and Magliaso, the project proposal is articulated

into three nodes: the rst one is in Caslano station,

where the trafc networks are raised up in orderto provide spaces for parking and public facilities

at the ground oor. The second node is along

the river: biking and hiking lanes invite people

to walk along the riverside, passing through a

series of interventions such as seating areas, small

gathering places, cafeteria etc. The third node is in

Magliaso station, where the proposal of a yover

bridge is capable to match mobility ows with the

movement of people underneath. Moreover, all

the project sites are connected together through

cycling or hiking routes, in order to get a loop of

movement from any nodes.

30 PLANNING SHAPING NODES


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PUBLIC MOBILITY AND FLP LINE

PROPOSED LOOP

31


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PUBLIC MOBILITY AND FLP LINE

PROJECT NODES

CASLANO - MAGLIASO FLP STATIONS

PLANNING32 SHAPING NODES


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NODE B CONCEPT AND STRATEGIC PLAN

NODE A CONCEPT AND STRATEGIC PLAN

NODE C CONCEPT AND STRATEGIC PLAN

33


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NODE A

PLAN

PLANNING34 SHAPING NODES


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NODE B

SECTIONS AND VIEW

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TOURISTS ATTRACTORS

Ahmad Choubassi

He was born, raised and educated in Lebanon. He got his Bachelor Degree as an Architectural Engineer

from Beirut Arab University. After graduation, he rst worked at ICI International as an architect, then

at Scrapers as an assistant architect of Russel Van Diver. In addition to this, he carries on his privatearchitectural ofce where he has already designed four residential buildings and three private villas.

Tourism is one of the main sectors of the Swiss

economy; especially in Ticino, tourists enjoy the

variety of services through experiencing the special

landscape scenery, the climate, and the lakes.

European tourists can be divided into four

categories: business tourists, vacation tourists,

holiday tourists or people visiting friends or

relatives. The project is focused on the area

between Ponte Tresa and Caslano, which is reallyrelevant for tourists, since it is close to the border

of Italy-Switzerland and it has many points of

interest and attraction, like the chocolate museum,

the golf club, natural green areas equipped with

hiking lanes, tennis and football playground,

various accommodation facilities. Moreover, this

site boasts a very attractive view on the lake.

Regarding the mobility ows, there are two main

systems passing nearby the project area, the biking

lanes and the hiking paths, without penetrating

into the area. The project idea is to connect the

mobility ows passing through the FLP stop with

a reinforced system of biking and biking paths,

providing tourists and commuters with an efcient

sequence of public spaces. Zooming into the rst

project area, two points are assumed as main axis

to design the area: one is the chocolate museum,

a relevant attraction presence; the other is the

lake, an attractive natural highlight. Thus the

chocolate museum axis directly leads to the lake,

through both hiking and biking lanes, includingsome tourist’s facilities and green spots along the

path. Moreover, some existing unused plots are

transformed into a public square dotted with three

new volumes, conceived as alternative landmark

for tourists. The other project site is organized

according to two main functions: one for boats

owners, where to park their crafts and enjoy the

lake, and the other for children, where to play

safely. These two functions are separated with a

natural barrier, a small river penetrating into the

land until reaching the main road to attract the

passing tourists or commuters.

36 PLANNING TOURISTS ATTRACTORS


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FLP TERRITORY

TOURISTS’ TYPOLOGIES

TOURISTIC ACTIVITIES

BUSINESS

VISITING FRIENDS AND RELATIVES

VACATION

HOLIDAY LEISURE AND RECREATION

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FLP TERRITORY ATTRACTIONS



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FLP TERRITORY LOCAL DEMOGRAPHY

FLP LINE LOCAL COMMUTERS

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PONTE TRESA

AREA OF INTERVENTION



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T O U R I N

T H E L A K E

C A F E T E R

I A

T O U R

I S T I N F O

.

F L P L I N E

C A R S R

O A D

B I K E S L A N E

T O W A R D

S C H

O C L A T E

M U S

E U M

T O U R I S T I N F O

PONTE TRESA

PROJECT AREAS PLANS

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STATION IDENTITY

Diana Andrea Guzmán Valencia

She grew up in Latin America and graduated in Industrial Design at the Université de Montréal in Canada.

Her experience of living in multi-cultural environments has broadened her vision and sensibility to different

cultures and human factors, which she conceived as important elements for designing. In addition, she is passionate about the continuous changes in the world and how they affect people.

to the different users activities. In the accessing

area, hall, ticket and information ofce, souvenir

shop are included; kitchen, restaurant, washroom

and entertainment room in the waiting space;

picnic area, playground and garden/orchard are

just for playing. Furthermore, precise guidelines

suggest how the indoor activities should be

spatially linked to the outdoors ones: the accessing

area is always connected with the train platform, asthe waiting space with the playing area. Moreover,

a visible element in each station, a view tower,

is provided to act as landmark and to convey an

image of FLP station related to the enjoyment of

the nature. Archetypal windows framing different

views of the landscape in all directions compose

the tower. Concerning the architectural language,

minimal representation of geometrical shapes and

archetypal elements related to the regional Italian-

Swiss culture are adopted. Wood is the preferred

material in order to connect the architecture with

the natural surroundings, as transitional element.

The project is about strengthening the identity

and improving the accessibility of the FLP stations.

The rst analysis of the regional transportation

network is addressed to identify the main trafc

nodes and to gure out which stations could

become magnets of social attraction: Ponte Tresa,

Caslano, Agno, Cappella Agnuzzo and Lugano are

considered the poles for future growth. To reect

on a common identity among the FLP stations, themain attractions around them are investigated: the

castle for Ponte Tresa; the chocolate museum for

Caslano; the airport for Agno; the lake for Cappella

Agnuzzo; the city itself as a touristic place to visit

for Lugano. Thus, leisure facilities are important

factors to be considered in the design development,

together with the extraordinary richness of natural

landscape surrounding the areas. Once understood

the specicities and the common features of the

stations, a basic kit i s adopted: the spaces are

recongured according to the local needs and

future expansions, using the same modules related

42 STATION IDENTITYPLANNING


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Ponte tresa:Castello

Caslano:Chocolate museum, park and golf court

Agno:Airport

Capella Agnuzzo:Lake

Lugano:Tourism in town

Attractions

L u g a n o

P o r t

P o r t

P o r t s

P o r t

L a g o d i L u g a n o

Italy

L u g a n o

C a p p e l a A g n u z z o

A g n o

C a s l a n o

P o n t e T r e s a

L u g a n o

P o r t

P o r t

P o r t s

P o r t

L a g o d i L u g a n o

Italy

L u g a n o

C a p p e l a A g n u z z o

A g n o

C a s l a n o

t e T r e s a

I l

Nature

Water + forest + mountains

FLP TERRITORY

NATURE AND ATTRACTIONS

43

FLP TERRITORY

INFRASTRUCTURAL NODES


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PLANNING44 STATION IDENTITY

FLP STATION

ACTIONS FLOW


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1 Bus stop + information panels2 Taxi area3 Cars parking: public + employees4 Trolley area5 Bike parking+ lockers6 Green area7 Delivery parking8 Car access9 Link to a green or entertainment area10 Link to the lake12 Train track

Building1 floor:Accessing area (train platform)2 floor:Resting areaPlaying area

13 View tower & shelter1 floor:Accessing2 & 3 floor Enjoying nature

1 2 3 4 5

6 7

8

9

10

13

12

FLP STATION

SPATIAL LAYOUT

45


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FLP STATION

PROPOSED KIT

46 PLANNING STATION IDENTITY


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129

1306

6

18

87

10

44

ground floor. outdoor areas

top view. second floor

top view. first floor

Key:ParkingStation

CAPPELLA AGNUZZO FLP STATION

KIT APPLICATION

47


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SUNLIGHT

Michelle Herrera

She graduated in Architecture at Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador in 2008. She took part in

international workshops in Colombia and with Japanese Architect Hiroshi Hara in Mexico. She collaborated

with Architect Felipe Leal in the urban rehabilitation of Plaza Garibaldi and the design of the Tequila and Mezcal Museum in Mexico City (2009). In Ecuador she has worked in her own studio for the development

of commercial and ofce spaces including Antara Plaza Gourmet (2010), Rocas del Pacico: Showroom and

ofces (2010), and Santa Fe Torre Corporativa (under construction, 2012).

The area of study is stretching along the FLP line,

going from Ponte Tresa to the city of Lugano:

it is 12.5 km long and intersects eight small

settlements. The main activities that are developed

in this area are industry and agriculture. Industrial

and technological factories are located all along

the settlements because of the proximity to

Lugano airport; they form the industrial tissue

of Lugano, stretching on its back. On the other

hand, agriculture and vineyards are developed at

small scale following traditional and vernacular

practices respecting nature and adapting to

territorial topography. Apart from infrastructural

accessibility, what makes this area so attractive

to industries and agriculture is actually the high

quality of sun exposition. The strip going from

Ponte Tresa to Lugano is located in one of the hot

spots in Ticino region. Geographically blessed,

the valley of Agno is strategically placed between

the Alps and the natural border of the lakeshore,

allowing a big exposure towards the southern

sunlight orientation. The aim of the project is

to study the sunlight quality in order to provide

guidelines for the future growth, by using solar

energy in public and private spaces. Agno has

actually two main potential conditions, divided

by a water canal: on one side of the canal, it

is an energy production area, made by water

treatment plants and greenhouses. On the other

side, the energy is supposed to be consumed by

the big industrial area, the airport and the housing

settlements towards the mountains. By identifying

the energetic backbone of the town and adding

alternative types of energy (electricity by PV

panels), new engines for future development are

activated. Firstly, an energy backbone needs to be

built with PV farms and plug into the main needed

infrastructure; secondly, new urban interventions

can be developed using solar panels as common

language at the different urban scales. Thus, solar

energy is reinterpreted from a vernacular tradition

to a new technological use.

48 SUNLIGHTPLANNING


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TICINO

SUNLIGHT AND TOPOGRAPHY

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AI PRODUCE

ENERGY WATER FOOD

PV Farms Treatment Plant Greenhouses

B I TRANSFORM Solar Energy DC/AC Energy

CI DISTRIBUTE NETWORK

Continous circulation

DI PLUG IN

Industries Greenhouses Houses Water Treatment Plant

radiator

convertor

regulatorAC

HOW SOLAR ENERGY IS PRODUCED

SYSTEM BUILDING UNIT

FROM VERNACULAR TO TECHNOLOGICAL

50 PLANNING SUNLIGHT

AG O


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CONSUMPTION

PRODUCTION

EQUIPMENT

Industries

Airport

Railway

HOUSES

OFFICES

WATER

ELECTRICITY

FOOD

AGNO

ENERGY PRODUCTION/CONSUMPTION

51

2ND PHASE INCORPORATE AGNO


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2ND PHASE INCORPORATE AGNO

PROCESS MASTERPLAN

52 PLANNING SUNLIGHT

1ST PHASE BUILD THE ENERGETICAL BACKBONE


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1ST PHASE BUILD THE ENERGETICAL BACKBONE

53

ECOLOGICAL CORRIDOR


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ECOLOGICAL CORRIDOR

Bomi Kim

She got her degree in Architecture at South Seoul University in South Korea and then moved to San Francisco

for the Master of Architecture at Academy of Art University. She took part into a competition, Evelo, dealing

with the design of a skyscraper. Her education has been strongly inspired by her father who is an architect too.

Although mainly mountainous, Switzerland

is actually composed by a great diversity of

landscapes. According to its topography, Lugano

area has been facing ooding issues. Most of the

urban contexts are on slope land rather than on

at area because its foundation near the lake

have been weak to be built. Starting from these

assumptions, the project is focused on preventing

ooding issues by green living. The site designis located in the oodplain of Lugano Lake area.

The main idea is creating a linear landscaped

park along the river that will be able to propose

a new approach to the oodplain area and make

it accessible from every direction. So, the project

provides not only improvement of specic areas;

it creates a full ensemble in the form of a linear

landscaped park, stretching along the river. This

new model of green park is extended into the

core of Magliaso station through a system of

public spaces connecting the coastline of Lugano

Lake and its natural inner mountains side as an

ecological corridor.

The main backbone is represented by a natural

path for pedestrians and bikers and ensures a

direct contact with the natural surroundings.

The landscape is redened as a network of new

earthworks, waterways and paths that meander

to reach new settings for recreation and public

life, also including a new river center. In orderto improve biodiversity, the park incorporates a

variety of plants and trees, and even small pounds

for aquatic plants; moreover, the riversides are

properly shaped to prevent from future oods.

Seating areas, water basins and indoor cafés,

lifted up from the topography, provide spaces to

relax. They can be enjoyed both during the day

and night. Visitors arriving to the park either by

train, by bike from the mountains, or on foot can

experience the benets of a green welcome carpet,

connecting the landscape with the urban context.

54 PLANNING ECOLOGICAL CORRIDOR

FLP TERRITORY FLOODING ZONES


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PONTE TRESA

CASLANO

MAGLIASO PAESE

SERROCA

BIOGGIO

CAPPELLA AGNUZZO

LAGHETTO

SORENGO

LUGANO

MAGLIASO

AGNO

MOLINAZZO

FLP TERRITORY FLOODING ZONES

55

FLP TERRITORY FLP TERRITORY


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O

COASTLINE VALUE

O

COASTLINE AND FLP LINE


FLP TERRITORY


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POTENTIAL ECOLOGICAL CORRIDORS

57

TERRITORY - FLP STATIONS - COASTLINE ECOLOGICAL CORRIDOR


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59

CASLANO MAGLIASO ECOLOGICAL CORRIDOR


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CASLANO MAGLIASO ECOLOGICAL LINEAR PARK PLAN


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61


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PLANNING62 ECOLOGICAL CORRIDOR

CASLANO MAGLIASO ECOLOGICAL LINEAR PARK SECTIONS


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+ NEW NATURISED

+ FLOOD PROTECTION

+ NEW MODEL OF GREEN LIVING

+ RECREATIONAL

+ ACTIVITY

+ SUSTAINABLE WATER FRONT

+ LINEAR PARK A-A’

B-B’

C-C’

A-A’

B-B’

C-C’

MAGLIASO

LUGANO GOLFCLUB

LUGANO GOLFCLUB

URBAN CONTEXT

63

CLUSTERIZATION


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The experience of Swiss urbanity is very particular.

Switzerland is a transit territory in between the

European Union. According to the geographical

location it was historically developing as a passage

of interchange between the European countries.

Switzerland represents an idea of fragmented

reality, which has been born in the context of

cultural differentiation and signicant topography.

Canton Ticino, located in the south of Switzerland,

is characterized by an urban sprawl of polarizedarchipelagos. Thus, the research is oriented to

read the territory through the perspective of

clusters and urban identities. The FLP line, the

railway connecting Lugano and Ponte Tresa,

is the main interchange among ten clusters:

Ponte Tresa, Caslano, Mal Cantone golf club,

Magliaso, Agno, Bioggio, Lugano airport, Lago

di Muzzano, Sorengo, Lugano train station. The

clusters along FLP line are dened according to

territorial maintenance, natural borders and main

use. An atlas describes the identity and structure

Maria Lezhnina

After having obtained several academic awards in the eld of architecture, Maria Lezhnina graduated

in 2011 from KSUAE in Kazan (RUS) winning during the same year an international prize for her thesis

project. She also worked for AuS - Architecture and Urban Systems (Mendrisio - CH) in 2009 and for

Buromoscow (Moscow - RUS) in 2010. Since 2006 she has been collaborating with different architectural

and design ofces in Kazan (RUS).

of clusters: shape, pattern, structure and use

are xed for each clusters; then their respective

centers are dened as well. By overlapping the

centers and connecting them to FLP stations, the

shape of the city center comes out. Then, the

project is focused on the cluster of Caslano: the

activities are spread and the center doesn’t exist up

today, which is a similar condition to other urban

portions along FLP. Assuming policentrality as

main strategy, the aim of the project is to developspecic interventions for each typology of center

and an overall project of relationship among them

at the same time. The four specic projects for

the historical, infrastructural, train station and

geometrical centers relate to each other to dene a

stable reference in the continuous redevelopment

of the urban territory. They also represent the idea

of locally expanding systems of public spaces, by

connecting those existing with the insertion of new

ones. Thus, by spatially relating the centers the

clusters are redened as well.

64 CLUSTERIZATIONPLANNING

FLP TERRITORY

CLUSTERS


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65

Bioggio

Lugano FLP

Bioggio Molinazzo

SeroccaFLP TERRITORY

CLUSTERS


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Magliaso

Agno

Sorengo

Ponte Tresa

Caslano

Magliaso Paese

Capella-Agnuzzo

66 AGJNAHNOAHNPLANNING CLUSTERIZATION

FLP TERRITORY

ATLAS OF CLUSTERS


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67

CLUSTER CASLANO

PATTERN OF FUNCTIONS


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CLUSTER CASLANO

MAGNETS OF ACTIVITIES

68 PLANNING CLUSTERIZATION


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l l

CLUSTER CASLANOPROJECT

CLUSTER CASLANO

SPACE FOR DENSIFICATION

69


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CLUSTER CASLANO

PROJECT CITY CENTER

PLANNING70 CLUSTERIZATION


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CLUSTER CASLANO

PROJECT INFRASTRUCTURAL CENTER

71

CLUSTER CASLANO

PROJECT GEOMETRICAL CENTER


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Cluster Caslano

project_geometrical center

Cluster Caslano

project_geometrical centerPLANNING72 CLUSTERIZATION

CLUSTER CASLANO

PROJECT TRAIN STATION


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73

EDUCATION POLE


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Chao Niu

He graduated in Landscape Design at School of Architecture Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) in 2009.

He won the Test-Free admission to work for Master’s Degree program in Landscape Architecture in the school

of Architecture (HIT). Since 2008, he has been developing many projects dealing with landscape design,

architecture design and interior design in China.

The research starts from the public facilities around

FLP line: actually, some education institutes are

located around the FLP Line in both primary and

high schools, and universities as well. In fact,

students are one of the major groups using this

train line for everyday activities. As the density

map of the schools shows, the entire territory

can be divided into four areas - Caslano, Agno,

Lugano and Manno - according to the main

scholar activities. While in Caslano, Agno andLugano all the schools are close to the railway, in

Manno students of SUPSI University have to cross

a very long industrial area to get to the nearest

FLP station. Actually, this site has the biggest

developing potential: it boasts a huge green area

and also many void spaces.

The free pattern of the landscape is really inspiring.

Tourists travelling by plane, as well as drivers

passing by on the highway, they both can enjoy the

beauty of the landscape in this location.

To develop the project, the presence of existing

technological departments and factories settled

down there is taken into consideration to develop

the main project strategy. It aims at not only

linking the SUPSI University with the FLP station,

but also creating a new way to lead people into

the green areas and public spaces of this territory.

Thus, the infrastructural strategy is combined

with the intervention on the landscape. The

existing roads become the trace to dene the rst

shape of the connecting backbone of the project:the crossing points between infrastructure and

buildings are at the highest levels, while the

junctions between infrastructure and green areas

are the lowest. The whole infrastructural system

is divided into four parts, the two closed to SUPSI

are attached with the school building to create a

rainbow corridor for the students in order to pass

through the big industrial zone.

The other two parts, nearby the FLP stop, connect

with the public spaces, people can enjoy getting to

the roof garden.

74 PLANNING EDUCATION POLE

FLP TERRITORY

RELATION BETWEEN SHOOLS AND FLP LINE


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75

FLP LINE

COMFORT LEVEL OF STATIONS ACCESSIBILITY


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EDUCATION POLEPLANNING76

BIOGGIO MOINAZZO FLP STATION

SPACE ANALYSIS


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77


PROJECT LAYERS


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PROJECT LAYOUT


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79


SECTIONS AND VIEWS


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MASTERPLAN


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81


BIRD EYE VIEW


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83

CONNECTIONS

Mayya Polivanova

She graduated in Architecture of Public Buildings and Facilities at Kharkov State Technical University of


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She graduated in Architecture of Public Buildings and Facilities at Kharkov State Technical University of

Construction and Architecture in 2011. She took part in several international workshops in Florence headed

by Foundation Romualdo del Bianco. She collaborated with the architect Sergey Chechelnizky for the urban

rehabilitation of the Constitution Square and the design of the History Museum in Kharkov, Ukraine (2011).She has been working in the architectural studio AROF in Kharkov, Ukraine since 2009.

Despite the small population areas of the

agglomerations adjacent to FLP stations, the

existing hotel and restaurant facilities would be

able to receive more visitors and tourists. Most

of them are concentrated along the connections

between the FLP stations and the coastline, passing

through the towns. Assuming that the average

distance between the stations and the nearby

entertainment highlights is about 1 km, that could

be covered in 12 minutes, this can be considered

as an optimal pedestrian accessibility for users of

the FLP line. Thus, a passenger waiting at the FLP

station and having 15 minutes of spare time could

easily use some local service or entertainment.

Another important factor is establishing a

connection between the railway stations and

the coastline, local ports and boathouses. It

would give an opportunity to actively use all the

transportation systems and provide easy travel and

accessibility to this region. Also the actual state of

the infrastructure and public spaces should also be

taken into consideration. The project is focused in

Caslano, one of the settlements located along the

FLP line. Between the station and the port, there

is a walking distance of about 1 km. The main

street connecting them is dotted with few hotels,

many restaurants, bars and some commercial

points. Moreover, a large number of inbuilt plots

can be detected adjacent to these highlights.

The project strategy aims at strengthening the

connection between the FLP station and the

coastline. Primarily, the two opposite magnets, the

station and the port, need to be reorganized: the

rst one is transformed into a multifunctional hall,

equipped with public facilities; along the coast, a

small boat station is established together with a

system of green areas.

In between, the large number of vacant spaces

will be reactivated: eco-farm, vegetables market,

playground, parking and information point for

visitors are some of the suggested activities. In this

way, the level of intensity of use of the space is

supposed to be improved, acting as attractors for

residents and tourists.

84 PLANNING CONNECTIONS


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FLP STATIONS

NODES OF ENTERTAINMENT / PEDESTRIAN ACCESSIBILITY

85

FLP STATIONS

STRATEGY


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CASLANO MASTERPLAN


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87

CASLANO TRAIN STATION


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CASLANO BOAT STATION


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91

WATER

Anna Terskikh

She graduated from Saint-Petersburg State University of Architecture and Construction in 2008. She worked

in the Russian State Scientic Research and Design Institute of Urban planning and also in the Institute of


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in the Russian State Scientic Research and Design Institute of Urban planning and also in the Institute of

Sport Facilities, for the Olympic Games in Sochi. She took part in several competitions and she got the rst

prize with the project Wings, in the competition Unrealized projects. Residential Interiors.

Even though the territory crossed by FLP line

is very close to Lugano Lake, the coastline is

actually separated from the existing railway line.

Despite of this, there are two main ports, one

situated in Ponta Tresa and the other in Caslano,

together with a great amount of small private ports

stretching all along the coastline nearby the FLP

line. Moreover, the green areas and agricultural

elds surrounding the railway represent a great

potential for the project, still not exploited. Also

the existing rivers and waterways could be used asa new transportation system, connecting the FLP

line with not so well developed points along the

coastline. Thus, the basic concept is to connect the

coast with the railway line, by developing a system

of public space, able to enhance a new model of

relationship with such a huge and not fully used

resource as Lugano Lake. In the vicinity of the

stop Agno, a system of public space is planned,

stretching along the channel and ending in the

small existing port. In this way, a direct connection

between the waterway and the FLP line is going

to be achieved: the port is a point for exchanging

uxes coming from the lake and also from FLP

station. The other main goal of the project is to

preserve the existing agriculture elds and make

them a part of the public space: a new sport area

is planned within the system, including pools,

tennis courts and a small mini golf as reection

of the big golf park in Caslano. On the other

side, Caslano already shows a strong relationship

with the existing port. The project also aims atdeveloping the coastal zone nearby the port and

the golf course, to create a new opportunity for

park visitors. The intervention follows the FLP

line trajectory, stitching the coastline with the

railway trace. Thus, the coastline is reinforced with

various portions of public spaces, associated with

the development of the transportation system of

Lugano Lake and its connection with the FLP line.

By this, new opportunities of use for tourists and

residents would arise.

92 PLANNING WATER


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FLP TERRITORY

EXISTING PORTS


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94 PLANNING WATER

FLP TERRITORY

INTERACTION BETWEEN FLP STATIONS AND PORTS


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CONCENTRATION OF THE PORTS % USING BOATS

EXISTING BOAT ROUTES TIMING

95

FLP LINE

URBAN PORTIONS


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96 PLANNING WATER

FLP STATIONS AND PORTS

AREAS OF INTERVENTION


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97

FLP STATIONS AND PORTS MASTERPLAN


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98 PLANNING WATER

FLP STATIONS AND PORTS PROJECT PROPOSAL


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99


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FLP STATIONS

TRAFFIC NODES


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101

PONTE TRESA FLP STATION

EXISTING MOBILITY FLOWS


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PLANNING102 TRAFFIC INTERCHANGE


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103


PROJECT STRATEGY


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PROJECT LAYERS


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105


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SHAPING THE LANDSCAPE


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107

LUGANO REGION INSIDE THE NET-CITY:

REFLECTIONS AFTER THE RESEARCH PROJECT

Andrea Vercellotti workshop project leader

Architect, he studied at Politecnico di Milano, where he also took a PhD in Architectural and Urban

Planning Assistant professor at Politecnico di Milano he collaborates with Domus Academy and he is


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METHODOLOGICAL INTRODUCTION

The research project has been oriented toinvestigate the role of infrastructures and their

spatial devices in the regeneration policies of

urbanized territories. The general approach has

not only been focused on the spatial aims related

to the topic, but also in the attempt to understand

the rising new ways of life related to multiscale

mobility networks. The urban region included

between Lugano and Ponte Tresa, armed by the

local infrastructural axis of FLP rail line, has been

the eld of our research. The work of investigation

has followed a zooming-in path organized in

4 main phases: the rst one to produce aninterpretative diagram at the territorial scale,

declining the topic of the scales interlacement; the

second one trying to merge the previous analysis

in a common plan of the infrastructural line; the

third one, based in Switzerland, as a moment of

comparison and dialogue with local actors, to

check and evaluate the efcacy of the previous

phases; the last one to develop punctual projects.

Following this path, each section has been focused

on a specic design topic, facing in progressive

scales (from the territorial to the architectural

one) the different levels of involvement. Finallythis inter-scalar logic of design has revealed his

property as an instrument of representation of the

urban regions complexity, pointing to the attention

on contemporary projects as a result of complex

social, economical and planning conditions,

uctuating between the globally imposed and

locally specic situations and requirements.

RECOGNIZING A COMMOM CONDITION:

THE NET-CITY

“The railway-begotten giant cities...in all

probability....[are] destined to such a process ofdissection and diffusion as to amount almost to

obliteration ...within a measurable further space

of years. These coming cities...will represent a new

and entirely new phase of human distribution...

The city will diffuse itself until it has taken up

considerable areas and many of the characteristics

of what is now country...

The country will take itself many of the qualities of

the city. The old antithesis will cease, the boundary

lines will altogether disappear 1”.

Planning. Assistant professor at Politecnico di Milano, he collaborates with Domus Academy and he is

involved in research activities with several research groups and institutions, such as New York Institute of

Technology and Escola Tecnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona, on issues related to architecture,

landscape, photography and urban planning.

108 LUGANO REGION INSIDE THE NET-CITYPLANNING

In this utopian description of future human

settlements, the English science-ction writer

George Herber Wells displays a prophetic

consciousness about the transformative potential,

for urban shape and territory, of the technological

evolution of means of transport, especially the

railway. One century later, and especially in a

country like Switzerland, where a consolidate

High-speed rail and air transport are the main

characters of this real revolution in our society.

They both cut journey times and substantially

increase the scope of our daily life, including a

range of opportunities unimaginable a few decades

ago, but at the same time they impose a question

of meaning, on the local project. In the nodes of

the infrastructural nets, the global condition meets


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development of the rail nets is joined to apolycentric urbanism due to a peculiar topography,

the context we have found is the result of these

phenomena. The precise work of description

produced by the research, nally give us a portrait

of Lugano region that perfectly shows the common

conditions we can nd in European territory,

increasingly characterized by widespread and

disjointed forms of urbanization.

GOING BEYOND THE TRADITIONAL BOUNDARIES

BETWEEN CITY AND COUNTRYSIDE, THESE

HETEROGENEOUS ELEMENTS HAVE INVADED THE

TERRITORY AND SCATTERED THE URBAN VALUES IN

A HYBRID ENVIRONMENT WITHOUT IDENTITY.

A new conguration, claimed by the major

infrastructural networks, has imposed a new asset,

within which cities play a different role, competing

each one with its own specicity. The elements

of organization of urban space, reinforced in

centuries of civilization, no longer seem able on

replying to new solicitations. The liquid society of Second Modernity, as some authors call it, has

resulted in fragmented forms. Population and

territory are so linked following new dynamics.

On one side, the extension of transportation nets

has spread human settlements, but on the other

side the network order sets a polarization in the

infrastructural nodes. This new condition, as we

said, is the common contest of the global economy,

which further more imposes its logic to local

communities, plugged-in in a multi-scale system.

the local identity of the place, in a delicate balancebetween access to regional and global ows (such

as possibility of movements) and roots in the

anthropogenic value of building in one place.

FROM NATIONAL NETS TO SECONDARY LINES

Looking at the city and the territory inside

this networks frame, we can describe them as

complex entities, composed by a multiplicity of

different levels. This approach has risen, during

the analytical phase, as the most effective one to

understand the hierarchical structure of territory.

Each level has been represented as a specic layer,

connecting several fragments among them: the city

and the territory turn out to be the composition of

different scale networks interlaced or not.

As in Wells writing, is a change in the mobility

systems that suggests reecting on the impact

of this new conditions inside the urban regions.

In particular, the development of the European

Corridors is the chance for local realities to

rethink their position inside regional and global

nets, propos

Rethink_Canton Ticino - Territory of a New Modernity

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