The Missori area in Milan is blossoming. At its heart, the historic Torre Velasca (created by BBPR studio in 1958) was the subject of a redevelopment project in charge of Hines (Hines European Value Fund is the current owner of Torre Velasca). So the building is now back to the city by presenting its newly renovated square, conceived as a place of interchange between private and public, in line with the strategy of planning, sustainable regeneration, and enhancement of an iconic landmark.
After completing the restoration of the facades and beginning the restoration of the interiors, which is still in progress, the new Piazza Velasca completes the articulated project aimed at giving light back to a symbol of Milan and transforming it into a meeting and social gathering place. The pedestrian access to the building, the recovery of adjacent spaces that were previously unused, and the street furniture will give back to Milan a new area open to the city that reclaims the very meaning of “square,” restoring its historic role as a meeting place for the community and thus strengthening the sense of belonging of the Milanese. The makeover of the square, to be completed by early 2024, aims to give the right value to one of the symbols of Italian architecture with a space enriched with benches and olive trees, magnolias, and green areas and designed with a strong vocation for environmental sustainability and energy efficiency.
The project for the regeneration of Torre Velasca and the surrounding square is being overseen by Asti Architetti, in collaboration with CEAS, ESA Engineering, with ARS Aedificandi as the general contractor, in agreement with the Milan Archaeological, Fine Arts and Landscape Superintendence. The company says, “the project was developed in line with the highest environmental sustainability and energy efficiency standards to obtain LEED international certification.”
Moreover, “This new phase of the project represents a fundamental piece in the complex mosaic of the recovery and enhancement of Torre Velasca, giving back to the square its true function and a role in the urban and social fabric of the city,” said Mario Abbadessa, senior managing director, and country head of Hines in Italy. “Just as the BBPR studio in the postwar period was a promoter of a new architecture capable of dialoguing with the pre-existing, we want to renew this interchange with the city, transforming a space into a destination not only to be seen and visited but also to be experienced with a sense of sociality and sharing. Torre Velasca will return to life, recovering and revitalizing the original functions of use sustainably while fully respecting their characteristic elements and enriching it with new spaces open to the public, such as business, dining, and wellness areas”.
Architect Paolo Asti added, “In designing Piazza Velasca, my hand was guided by the precise desire to give back to the city the ground attachment of the Tower, reinterpreting its relationship with its immediate surroundings. The Velasca Tower has always been a landmark of the Milan skyline, yet it was not part of the daily life of the Milanese, who hardly had a direct, close relationship with their Tower. Citizens have always experienced the floor surrounding the Tower as a non-place that inevitably did not allow a proper osmotic relationship between the building and their neighborhood. We, therefore, designed a kind of secular churchyard that, at the same time, would enhance its dimensional and architectural aspects, fostering the right relationship of continuous intertwining with the city. A resting place of the mind and heart but at the same time a place of identity, fruitful for the city, with its gaze turned toward the sky”.
