Among the six proposals that reached the final stage, the chosen one was submitted by the Milan-based studio of Stefano Boeri, group leader of the design team, by Metrogramma of Andrea Boschetti and by the Dutch studio Inside Outside of Petra Blaisse.
The urban project, named "The Polcevera Park and The Red Circle" has been thought out as a system of parks with different ecologies and infrastructures for sustainable mobility and smart buildings for R&D and manufacturing with the aim of reversing the current image of the Polcevera valley, from a complex and tragically devastated place to a territory of sustainable innovation for the rejuvenation of Genoa itself.
The Red Steel Circle - a symbolic element and embodiment of the "urban sewing" of the two sides of the valley - develops its changing nature: it becomes a walkway, a raised square, an access and exit ramp, a corridor between the buildings or an underground path and connects all the different territories, highlighting the great urban botanical park: the Polcevera Park. A new regenerated site that will run under the new bridge, designed by Renzo Piano to replace the Morandi Bridge that mostly collapsed in August 2018 causing a tragic accident and several deaths.
Rebuilding from an architectural and urban point of view but above all from a social point of view. For this reason, the rebirth called for a project that first and foremost would be a hymn to life. Joyful, with quality services, designed primarily for people, people who live and work there. We strongly wanted the vision to embody the colours and scents of the Mediterranean, of which Genoa is a symbol in the world. In fact, the goal is to rebuild a cohesive urban system, socially active, innovative so as to revitalize not just the area but also the neighbouring ones by turning it into an attraction. The architectural project proposed consists of the design of World Buildings that is large clusters of buildings with a multi-functional role and a streamlined yet recognisable architectural language. Inspired by industrial architecture and the blue colour of the Mediterranean, the new buildings are built with sustainable materials and the large roofs offer surfaces for the production of renewable energy. The buildings open up to the park and are intersected and connected by the Red Circle.
The Red Steel Circle is first and foremost a relationship-building structure: it is a bike-pedestrian road 1570 meters long, 6 meters wide and 250 meters in diameter, equipped with a 120-meter-high Wind Tower for the production and distribution of renewable energy that connects the district just in front of the new station. The latter houses a system of wind turbines and belongs, like the Red Circle, to the new energy network of Polcevera created thanks to the contribution of the German firm Transsolar.
The Red Circle is part of a sustainable mobility grid where bike and pedestrian paths, smart mobility lanes, shared surfaces and intelligent parking spaces all come together inside a strategy developed with MIC | Mobility in Chain, with the goal of creating a safe public space on a human scale.
The Polcevera Park consists of a system of parks that gather in the overall vision the variety of plants and trees typical of the Mediterranean basin, designed by Inside Outside | Petra Blaisse and built with the contribution of agronomist and landscape designer Laura Gatti and geologist Secondo Antonio Accotto.
In the heart of the Park stands Genova in the wood: an art installation featuring 43 trees, designed by artist Luca Vitone, dedicated to the memory of the victims of the suddenly collapsed Morandi bridge as well as to the timeless memory of the pain and faults of mankind but, at the same time, a symbol of the indomitable strength of a city.
The Parco del Polcevera will become a new centre: all around it, the district will be reborn, understood as a community of life, relationships and exchanges. The BIC buildings in the Green Factory area, the New Forts and the ex Mercato Ovaivicolo become new hubs of productivity and innovation, essential ingredients for a sustainable rebirth also from the economic-financial point of view as studied in depth by H&A Associati.
The project will be built through an open participatory process, with the active involvement of the administration, inhabitants and other local stakeholders. Called "The Polcevera Table 2.0", it will be a tool that will accompany all phases of the work, from the design to the construction, also using tools such as temporary structures for the start, implementation and finalization of the process, as defined in the tender by Temporiuso.