Two Point Prespective

Abstract

My master thesis project revolves around the theme of festivalisation of contemporary cities. This emerging phenomenon sees the instrumentalization of cultural events and festivals into powerful economic tools to attract a global flow of event-driven tourists. This economic model, together with the fast development of infrastructural fast connection has led to an intensification of the number of events planned throughout the year, which shifts the notion of events as temporal manifestations, towards a permanent asset of our contemporary cities. Such constant intensity of global flow is threatening the traditional role of public space, as commercial space for global customer is prioritised over civic space for local inhabitants. The research investigates the new spatial consequences of such phenomenon in the dynamics of contemporary cities and searchers for solutions that can address this necessary dichotomy between the global and the local. In search of new spaces that are able to host this necessary dichotomy and also to equally address both perspectives, the global one and the local. The design project analyses the case of the city of Milan, a contemporary city that is strongly betting on the cultural economy, hence the festivalisation of its city centre to attract global event-driven tourism.The project looks at the area of Rogoredo, one of the 7 abandoned railway yards, surrounding the city of Milan, as a key site that can embrace this contemporary dichotomy. Looking into spatial solutions that can transform what today is an infrastructural barrier into a valuable event-based public space of the future. The project focuses on architectural solutions to maintain and revalue the railway yard of Rogoredo (Milan) and its surrounding.By the reuse of the existing infrastructural framework of the site, no longer as a transit hub but as a construction hub, this project shows how it could lead to the design of flexible, reversible public spaces to host these series of cultural/economic events, and improving the local contexts.In other words, looking at the advantages (economical and sustainable) of avoiding a tabula rasa scenario of the site, and instead reusing, and integrate the existing infrastructural framework ( from train tracks, train cars, abandoned warehouse, etc) together with the series of industrial clusters that are present in the proximity of the site, to regenerate the area from an ex-mobility node to future proof, flexible construction arteria which can rely upon local (on-site) construction industries. Eventually transforming Rogoredo as one of the key glo-cal cultural nodes of the city of Milan.