MILAN.- Together with a delegation of 84 Dutch designers Inside Outside will represent the Dutch creative industry at ‘Masterly the Dutch in Milano’ at this year’s Salone del Mobile in Milan from 18 to 23 April, in Palazzo dei Giureconsulti in the center of Milan.

In this context Inside Outside presents one of its most ambitious landscape projects to date: a 22-hectare revitalizing botanic park, crossing Genoa’s heavily industrialized Val Polcevera, named ‘Parco del Polcevera’. Still in its early phase of development, this park is a collective project, shared with Stefano Boeri Architetti (Il Cerchio Rosso and Serra Bioclimatica), Metrogramma (industrial buildings, Museo della memoria & Casa delle Famiglia), and Studio Laura Gatti ( planting).

Inside Outside is presenting the design for Parco del Polcevera during Milan’s international design week as a ‘case study’ to spark a conversation about how we, as ‘creators', can best address the urgent environmental issues within the current climate in Europe and world-wide.

The park site lies right under the former Morandi bridge that collapsed in 2018 and that is recently replaced by the new Viadotto Genova San Giorgio, designed by architect Renzo Piano, crossing the valley in East West direction. Intersected by the canalized Polcevera river, roadways, train tracks and marshalling yards, Parco del Polcevera introduces a series of stunning linear –North-South- running gardens that, together with the Cerchio Rosso, form one connective public park. It is a much encompassing project, with sustainability, beauty and social interaction high on its agenda.

The project can be seen as an example of what is urgently promoted in the current climate: the re-use of materials, a circular economy and the ‘greening’ of our urban context to benefit the health of human, animal, water and soil life, as well as that of the air around us and of the earth as a whole.

On the 14th of August 2020 the municipality of Genoa inaugurated ‘Radura della Memoria’, a memorial to commemorate the victims of the tragic accident. Fourty-three trees, displayed in a circle, underneath the new Renzo Piano bridge each represent the victims that perished on August 14th 2018, their names embedded between the trees. The memorial marks the beginning of the future park.

The regenerative landscape design is reflected by two main strategies: it will accommodate the seasonal floods in order to ensure a consistent form of water management and create the right conditions for a rich, urban as well as natural biotope in the midst of this challenging industrial area.

To that end Inside Outside aimes to open up the existing hard crust of industrial asphalt to make space for a healthy soil life, improve the absorption of water, and stimulate the biodiversity. ‘Il Cerchio Rosso’, the red circle designed by Stefano Boeri, is a pedestrian bridge that connects the eastern and western parts of the North-South running valley and generates sustainable wind and solar energy. It also includes a new train station.

‘Parco del Polcevera’ symbolizes what we encounter in the urban context: green 'paradise' versus urban reality. The demand for more "greening", more nature and biodiversity within the logistical, economic and political context of a city is a complex challenge that affects us all.

The landscape project is presented in the form of an installation consisting of an abstract interpretation of the park translated into a unique and one-off design for a large-scale carpet, in addition to a 7 x 5 meter high print that gives insight into the general Parco del Polcevera plan and shows how the park will contribute to the regeneration and embellishment of the Valley; the future visualized in the many concept drawings and renderings.

On Monday April 17th a press preview will be held from 15:00-19:00 in Palazzo dei Giureconsulti, please sign up via [email protected] & [email protected]
The installation ‘Parco del Ponte’ is exhibited from Tuesday 18 to Sunday the 23rd of April in Palazzo dei Giureconsulti in Milan.