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Milan, Porta Genova: the three vocations of the former station

15 January, La Repubblica

Over the last three years, they’d come back to life for a couple of months, hosting bars, restaurants, movie theatres. Ephemeral experiences, not meant to last and made without the mindset of improving – aesthetically or functionally – these locations. For the warehouses of the Porta Genova railway station, there’s now a possibility for a two-stages requalification process. One stage is temporary: for the next two years, they’ll be turned into new places of culture and sociability included in the Darsena-Navigli-Tortona system. Whereas the second stage is long-term, it implies a permanent transformation project, along with the other 6 dismissed stations in the city.

Ferrovie dello Stato, after having signed an agreement with the Municipality of Milan, published an announcement in order to collect manifestations of interest from companies intending to occupy take care of more than 20k Sq m of abandoned areas near the tracks for the next two years, and more than 1000 Sq m of abandoned warehouses. The rent? Not less than 409k € per year, plus the expenses for the renovation and the restructuring of the space. According to the agreement, in fact, the buildings will be delivered in their current conditions, which means with a basic electric and hydraulic. In addition, who will get the stations will have to implement the fencing to separate the occupied spaces from the currently functioning railway area due to safety reasons. In other words: a big investment.

The tender – that closes on February 26 – establishes three key points concerning the use of Porta Genova. The main vocation will be cultural, recreational, educational and social activities “with particular focus on those targeting young people”, reminds the City Councillor for urban planning, Pierfrancesco Maran, “aiming at a continuous use of the space, all year round, avoiding improvising and creating annoyance to the residents of the area”. A second function will be the one tested during the Expo with the Metropolitan Market (not ended well due to the debts accumulated by the company who replaced the previous management): retail and catering with bars, restaurants, and farmer’s markets. On the condition that at least 10% of the area will be destined to activities of general interest such as small sports venues and cultural spaces.

Temporary uses, therefore, with a maximum duration of two years. However, during this period, according to the tender, the participants can develop their own project, changing radically the old stations. Among the possibilities the opened up after the Superintendency gave its approval, there are for instance, there is the one concerning opening gaps in the wall along Via Valenza, as it happened with the Biki passageway, in order to create more passageways between the area of Navigli and Via Tortona, with windows facing on the interior of the station, today completely closed. There is also the idea of creating a pedestrian walk between the main building of the station – actually used by travellers – and the abandoned area.

Considering the time necessary for the selection of a project and its implementation, it’s unlike that the station will open until next summer. Since the signing of the project, however, there will be only two years to enjoy the station in its temporary version: the actual real requalification project of Porta Genova implies the commercial destination of the area, thanks to its proximity to the creative production area of via Tortora, as well as to a new big urban park.

Source: La Repubblica

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi