MILAN CIVIC CENTER | Paolo Venturella

The project of the “Milan Civic Center” is open to the park in front of it, thanks to a long glass façade, so to create a dialogue with the surrounding. The new center is a real “urban interior space” a place for the citizens for their activities.

The building design follows site constraints adapting its groundfloor completely to the site boundary so to be  as low as possible and avoiding creating a visual barrier.

The main idea is to lift up the volume on the two sides but on different heights. On the park it is lifted up to 8 meters creating the main entrance, while on the north side it is lifted up to 4 meters just  to create openings for indirect light for reading rooms.

The interior space is organized all around a big wood steps where people from different activities can mix together and connect in a real central social space, the main hall with info points and a lounge bar, with the view on the park.

The program is designed in a “U” shape around the main hall. at the ground level are all the activities linked to the exterior, such as the conference room, the activities room and services while on the higher level the reading rooms and the offices.

The inclination of the volume also provides the correct inclination of the roof to integrate photovoltaic panels on the top and to create windows for indirect light.

The exterior skin is made in perforated metal panels creating a louver system that guarantees  a perfect indoor climate control.

The “Milan Civic Center” stands on the side of the park open to the city and the interior space melts with the exterior creating a continuous new space for the people.

Credits

Architect: Paolo Venturella
Team Design: Cosimo Scotucci
City: Milan
Year: 2014
Type: competition