The G124 is a working group lead by the visionary architect and Senator Renzo Piano that works for the re-qualification of the peripheries.
The idea to set up a Lab for the requalification of the urban texture was born as a response to the mounting necessity to restore the ghost spaces of the cities, in particular the old industrial districts. The renaissance of the peripheries is not only an architectural phenomenon, as it involves functions that are far beyond the physicality of spaces.
Indeed, periphery is often a synonymous of identity, but at the same time it demonstrated during the last decades to be so fragile and disconnected from the city.
The Master plan by Renzo Piano for the regeneration of the maxi area of the old industrial district FALK in the city of Milan, intends to mend the “collective conscience” and to establish a new canon of urban architecture, as well as new roles for spaces: In order to contribute to the spirit of the community, it is necessary to rethink the physiognomy of spaces and to assign them the value of melting pot of the collective identity.
The imaginative vision of the working team goes far beyond the boundary of current times, since the project envision a new architecture and new functions for “the city that will be”.
In this sense, there is the awareness that we need to set up today a social construction yard for building the physical innovations of tomorrow.
The terrain is fertile for the inception of a model of active school, that become a sort of educational lab with flexible spaces and instruments that facilitate a collaborative approach to knowledge.
The urban renaissance must be fertilized with structures that are able to sustain collaboration and positive networking; at the same time, it becomes crucial to conquer those abandoned spaces for transforming them into shipyards of social innovation. Let’s think for example to the common gardening or to the quarter Laboratories (LDQ).
Moreover, we shall protect the fragility of our cities by conferring responsibilities to the new generation, by giving them adequate public structures as well as the possibility to invent new jobs.
For this reason, we believe that the project lead by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop will be a prominent example in the area of urban regeneration, especially regarding schools, their educational system and their role in the neighborhood, as they are simply the most important and prolonged space of collective rendezvous.
Image copyright by: RPBW