Master Architecture, Architecture & Structure, Semester/Year, SS2022

The gasometer of Campi Genoa

After working on the oldest district of Genoa (Italy) in Autumn Semester 2021, in Spring Semester 2022, the Master studio «Architecture & Structure» focused on the lower Val Polcevera, in the western part of Genoa, affected by the tragedy of the fall of the Morandi bridge.

The students faced infrastructure, industrial heritage, workers’ districts and old countryside villas. The gasometer of Campi was the point of departure and focus of their design work. They were asked to seek to imbue this monument of industrial history with new meaning and establish a connection between it and the new bridge designed by Renzo Piano and the new plan for the park of Polcevera, by Stefano Boeri. Correspondingly, their task had to be tackled on two levels: one focusing on the object and the other on urban planning. A neighbourhood overshadowed by its dramatic history was to be led into a better future. No exact spatial programme was provided. This was to be developed individually, based on analysis and the chosen urban development strategy.

Project by Dugald Gardner

Master student Dugald Gardner writes about his project: «In my opinion, the redevelopment of the area should be a promise to the affected people of the area not to be let down again. It should give to the current community and allow for potential future development. It should not prioritise attracting tourism, nor should it try to hide from the general public. The redevelopment should connect the valley, create space for recreation and participation, and have an aspect of remembrance without being gloomy.»

Figure Ground plan

Elevation

Cross section

Bridge (connection)
The new pedestrian bridge with the surrounding park aims to tie a fragmented urban area together, profiting the local community living around the site of the collapse. Extending paths either side of the bridge will make the hillsides accessible for recreational purposes, and the journey to the valley more convenient for residents of the villages above. A second level on the bridge will allow for safer and faster commutes by bike across the valley. Stairs and ramps along the bridge will allow for pedestrians and cyclists to ascend and descend from the bridge at different points. The new bridge will be clad in charred wood, reminding of the disaster as it lies in the shadow of the former bridge. The bridge will further link the memorial site by Boeri to the gasometer.

Park (recreation, participation and appropriation)
The park should be a wild landscape with different spaces created by scattered trees, shrubs and tall grass. The garden should be able to be appropriated by the people and flexible in its use. Playing football on the grass, growing vegetables in a community garden or having a festival in the open spaces are only a few ideas for how the park may be used by the community.

Gasometer (remembrance)
The gasometer will be transformed into a tranquil place for reflection. By partially opening the roof and adding a circular marble bench, the aim is to repurpose the existing industrial space for new usage with some minor adjustments. This approach should allow for further redevelopment in the future. The marble as a very durable material in its circular arrangement could even outlive the steel structure currently encasing it.