Double agents in Milan: Agenti Climatici by OMA and Laboratorio Permanente

The Concorso Farini masterplan competition has been won by a proposal bearing the lofty name Agenti Climatici and led by OMA's Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli and Reinier de Graaf in collaboration with Laboratorio Permanente.

The project is concerned with redevelopment of two abandoned railway yards on the outskirts of Milan, namely at the Scalo Farini site in the north, designated as the green zone, and San Cristoforo site in the south, designated as the blue zone.  Both zones are to act as ecological filters for the capital of Lombardy. While the green zone will feature a vast park landscape to cool hot winds from the southwest and purify the air, the blue zone is to be provided a water basin to clean groundwater and create an environment for humans and animals.

The combination of the two "Agenti Climatici" is to form a robust spatial framework for addressing climate change and environmental pollution on a large scale. As OMA partner Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli points out, the most valuable currency of our times often concerns city climatic conditions, thus requiring reconsideration of conventional principles of urban development.