A new urban redevelopment project starts in Milan. It is Symbiosis, owned by Covivio, which will allow the transformation of an industrial and production area into a futuristic mixed-use urban hub, in an area of 130,000 square meters south of Porta Romana.
With symbiosis in mind, i.e. the creation of relationships and synergies between the users of the district to connect the public and private sectors, the designers of the ACPV architecture studio (Antonio Citterio – Patricia Viel) have created a master plan that follows the guidelines of the European program of research and innovation Horizon 2020, with an innovative approach that allows us to respond to today’s environmental challenges.
But not only relationships between users: Symbiosis is also in symbiosis with Milan itself, given that it is an area perfectly integrated into the urban fabric, at the center of a creative and evolving area, where there are showrooms, museums, universities and centers of research. To these will be added the new protagonist of the area, the former railway station of Porta Romana, revised in the name of sustainability to connect the area even more to the city centre.
Snam to Symbiosis
It is relatively well-known news that Snam SPA has purchased a new building from Covivio under construction in the Symbiosis district; what not everyone knows is that between 2024 and 2025, the year of the expected completion of the works, it will become the company’s headquarters, alongside the San Donato Milanese headquarters.
The energy infrastructure company, which is responsible for transporting and storing methane gas, will find a new home on the corner of via Condino and via Vezza d’Oglio, inside a futuristic building designed by the Piuarch architecture firm, which it boasts an area of 19,000 square meters spread over 14 floors and three superimposed volumes.
Inside the new Snam headquarters, to reaffirm the company’s green vocation, there will be no shortage of green spaces, set up by the Antonio Perazzi studio, in such a way that – according to the words of the project managers – “architecture and nature fall in each other’s arms, with the aim of connecting these two realities and making them become familiar with each other over time until they merge”. The approach will be a starting point to allow nature to enter into symbiosis with the entire city of Milan, grafting a more sincere relationship with animals and plants, in an open relationship with the entire district.
Symbiosis and contemporary art
Symbiosis is an avant-garde project, and therefore a splash of art cannot be missing. In fact, it will be here that “Altra Natura” will be set up, a work created by the artist Pamela Diamante directly on behalf of Covivio.
Altra Natura is a work that interprets the concept of symbiosis as “the interpenetration of different elements that coexist in a harmonious relationship”. It is none other than the exact same concept that has guided the architects’ hands, combining high technology with solutions for the well-being of workers.
The work will be installed inside Building D, in the atrium on the ground floor, thanks to the victory won by Pamela Diamante, born in Bari in 1985, in 2022 at the first edition of the Covivio Acquisition Award in the section reserved for emerging authors. Among other things, Building D is one of the first buildings able to obtain the WELL Health Safety certification, which guarantees the occupants the adoption of measures to protect health and safety.
The building that will host it will house the offices of LVMH P&C Italia, Amplifon, Boehringer Ingelheim, Mars Group and Fratelli Orsero, and the internal courtyard will be accessible to all and in common; this will ensure maximum visibility for the work, and we are certain that in the future other buildings in the Symbiosis complex will contain other modern or contemporary works of art.
