Piazzetta Capuana Urban Analysis
The starting phase of any design project should certainly consist of territorial and demographic analysis of that particular environment that is under investigation. For an effective project, investigators must take into consideration the space itself where it will be built on and its users. The physical and spatial limits deriving from the territory, nor the habits and needs of the users, cannot be overlooked. Therefore the first objective is to understand the limits and potential of the environment in where the investigators are, in order to transform a meaningless space into a living place that is in dialogue with its users.
In the first phase of the urban research the neighborhood and the square itself — piazza Capuana — were analyzed to understand the area`s history and identity. In parallel with it, an ethnographic and demographic research was carried out to obtain an important knowledge about the population, for example the nationality and the average age. All this was in order to understand to whom the project will be addressed to. This research has been carried out behind the desk, collecting various data from the official sources such as the Integrated Statistical System of the Municipality of Milan and analyzing various publications and statistics about the area. In our case the project area is Piazzetta Capuana, settled in Quarto Oggiaro, a Milanese district that cannot boast with an easy and peaceful past: a few years after the Second World War a considerable amount of people from the southern lands of Italy started a migratory flow towards the northern parts, leading this district to urban overcrowding and consequently to rapid urbanization, promoting the birth of blocks of the public housing. This district becomes an area with a high rate of drug dealing and organized criminal activity and after several episodes of violence the area was labeled as the “Bronx of Milan”. Similar to its surrounding neighborhood, Piazzetta Capuana, favored by its hidden position, became the center of drug trafficking. After several urban redevelopment projects throughout the years, the neighborhood has certainly improved and become more livable even if the drug problems have not completely solved yet.
Regarding the spatial analysis of the area, that we were unable to examine the location itself in first person, we used territorial maps which can be consulted on official websites, such as the Geoportal of the Municipality of Milan, in order to be able to analyze elements such as roads, buildings, green areas or territorial borders. Moreover, common softwares such as Google Maps and OpenstreetMap were used when analyzing the structure of the project area, the architectural barriers and also the present and absent elements. Also, the relationship between the square and the surrounding neighborhood, including various accesses and routes, as well as cultural, commercial and public utility services were studied carefully. During the recent years, probably also as a gesture of redemption from its past, a dense network of different associations in Quarto Oggiaro have been developed aimed at citizens. In Piazzetta Capuana only, there are already about a dozen associations mainly born with the aim of helping people in difficulties or involving the inhabitants in social, artistic and cultural initiatives.
Another fundamental research area that is always present in a design analysis and cannot be deducted only to the spatial analysis, concerns the study of people who live in this space, the use they make out of the space, their suggestions and their needs: What activities take place and how? How many people are involved and who are? To answer these questions, the investigator usually interviews the users who are directly involved, such as the residents of the space and the neighborhood, in some cases also the workers of the area. In our case, when not being able to communicate in person with the involved citizens, an online questionnaire was created and a survey conducted. With the help of the associations’ referents from the square, the survey was spread among the workers and users of the associations, also among residents and students of the area — all in all involved about a hundred participants in total. The survey results gave more insights and deeper knowledge of who are the main users of the square, their habits and consequently their necessities as well as subjective and objective opinions useful for the future development of the project: its strengths and weaknesses and aspects that need improving or increasing. Therefore, through the answers of the everyday inhabitants, it was possible to define more clearly the function of the square in the daily life of the neighborhood. In addition, a remote interview was conducted with Alessio Andreotti, representative of the Diapason Cooperative for the Azimut project, which is a socio-educational project aimed at its young citizens between the ages of 11 and 18. Communicating in person with those, whose daily lives are deeply connected with Piazzetta Capuana, raised more detailed issues, which already reflected from the survey answers, that needed to be analyzed. Through this it also became possible to obtain an important testimony of the role of this space in the everyday life of its neighborhood.
Unfortunately, there are many problems about this space. For example starting from the position of the square itself that is surrounded from three sides by tall residential buildings what makes the square not visible from the main streets. For this reason, as it emerged from the survey results and what was confirmed by Alessio Andreotti during an interview, the square is still sometimes used as a drug dealing area. Furthermore, there is no specific function for this space, most people attend it only when passing by or moving from one street to another. Occasionally, it is possible to spot some parents who, after accompanying or withdrawing their children from the associations or nearby schools, stand a bit of time talking because the number of benches and seating areas is insignificant. In addition, the number of shaded areas and refreshment points that could favor the aggregation of people, is non-existent, as well as the number of restaurants or clubs — the only existing bar is small, unpopular and poorly frequented. Also, due to the uncomfortable position and for the lack of people, all the surrounding shops are closed and due to existing conditions it is more or less impossible to open new ones that could last over time.
Therefore, following this preliminary analysis, it was possible to develop a series of boards that present graphically and in the most communicative way possible crucial spatial and demographic data that characterizes the square and its neighborhood, also the various services offered by the area and the suggestions of the inhabitants, despite the impossibility of being able to visit personally the project site in question.
TEAM #6
Chiara Combi, Francesco Lamperti, Kaarin Pender, Asia Poli, Valeria Rossi
