Meeting Place - Sonvico

The urban regeneration and traffic calming project for the new “Spazio Incontro” at Sonvico is part of a wider masterplan for the Dino and Sonvico areas. The underlying concept that informs the general project can be summarized in five points: 1. Identifying an independent pedestrian route separate from the Cantonal road 2. Improving and redeveloping the pedestrian route that runs through the entire area 3. Marking the route with consistent materials so that it is easily legible 4. Redevelop the public realm and pedestrian routes as tools for mitigating car traffic 5. Improve, where necessary, the availability of services and urban infrastructure (parking, benches, new public spaces). The project for the redevelopment of the new “Spazio Incontro” involves the transformation of the existing disorganised residual space into a new public amenity that would work in synergy with traffic calming measures. - PAVEMENT: a pavement section which completes the local network of pedestrian routes has been constructed, and the raised speed calming area contains two ARL public transport stops. - “SPAZIO INCONTRO”: a new 70 m2 surface has been created, a meeting space which can be accessed from above by means of a new stair. The area is delimited by two reinforced concrete walls – one straight, the other curved - REINFORCED CONCRETE WALLS: two new walls, one straight, the other curved, were built to delimit a horizontal surface. These are made from reinforced concrete, with separate formworks (250x50 cm panels with exposed fixings for the straight wall, vertically aligned shuttering for the curved wall) - XL BENCH: a new bench has been built against the straight wall along the road. This is a modified version of the historical design of the benches located on the promenade along lake Lugano. The cast iron legs are specially fabricated on the basis of the historical model. The seat is formed by wood slats and painted red. At 6.5 m long, the red XL bench is the longest red bench in the city. - MOUND AND OAK TREE: the curved wall ends in a large circular planting bed, whose edge can be used as a seat. The circular area has a diameter of 4.8 m and establishes a small mound, with terraces formed by Sasso di Caprino stones. A tall oak tree (Quercus petraea) stands at the top of the mound. - DRY MEADOWS: The landscape design is based on the plants found in the chalky dry meadows typical of the mountain range known as “Denti della Vecchia” [“Old Woman’s Teeth”] which characterize the landscape around Sonvico. This is the first time a selection of chalky dry meadows is sown or planted in Switzerland. Plants have been specially selected for the project. - BIOTOPES: a low wall/flowerbed has been built to contrast with the ‘sterility’ of the reinforced concrete walls and host various forms of life. This consists in a gabion made from steel rods filled with mortarless limestone (Sasso di Caprino), so that typical plants and small animals can colonise its nooks and crannies - REUSE: The project has been built prioritizing the reuse of materials where possible, such as the ancient granite storm drain and the Sasso di Caprino stones from a municipal building site in Gandria.