EFESTO
Concept The EFESTO project proposes the adaptive reuse of the former Stramezzi Ironworks as a tool for urban regeneration and as a productive–cultural infrastructure. The project safeguards the industrial heritage of the complex — its bays, sawtooth sheds, steel frame, and the memory of labor — while introducing compatible new uses. urban strategy The aim is to avoid a single-function redevelopment and instead build a new, open civic centrality. The strategy is grounded in a multiscalar knowledge framework and in an integrated reading of accessibility, constraints, state of conservation, and structural behavior. elevated route The elevated walkway level is the project’s catalyst: a raised pedestrian spine that stitches the city and the complex back together, overcoming the railway as both a physical and perceptual rupture. It also becomes an experiential tunnel and an exhibition route. It is not a simple connection. It combines movement, orientation, and narrative sequence, allowing the site’s historical layers and contemporary life to be perceived in continuity through selective transparencies and framed views. Vertical circulation cores ensure access to the upper level and act as thresholds and landmarks between areas with different degrees of public accessibility. Along this route — especially in its longest longitudinal stretch — suspended volumes are inserted, taking on the identity of open exhibition and museum spaces while also becoming places to pause, observe, and read the site. productive ground At ground level, workshop and co-working areas are conceived as shared spaces with high adaptability. The project introduces lightweight, reconfigurable units — micro-environments — defined by movable partitions. The blocks can aggregate into variable layouts: single modules, combined modules, and connected sequences. They adjust capacity and privacy. In winter, only what is necessary is compacted and conditioned; in summer, spatial continuity can be reopened, preserving a clear reading of the original industrial hall. structure The walkway is conceived as an autonomous structure that connects to the existing fabric without compromising it. It is based on a steel trussed system, while new tubular columns transfer loads to new foundations designed with respect for the existing vertical load-bearing structures. housing The housing units are organized in continuity with the public/private hierarchy built by the walkway. Duplex units prevail, together with a smaller share of triplex units including a studio level and terrace. In the residential stretch, the walkway shifts in status and becomes a distributive ballatoio, enabling an immediate transition into a more filtered realm and reinforcing the conceptual line of the elevated route, which becomes the project’s guiding thread. diagnosis The proposal stems from a diagnostic survey and a precise mapping of critical issues, treated as performance constraints rather than defects to hide: water infiltration and reduced roof performance, rising damp with efflorescence and detachments, widespread corrosion of steel elements, and compromised portions of slab. The investigation did not stop at the technical survey of decay. It extended to the historical and historiographical character of the complex, reconstructing the ironworks’ story and recognizing its identity. This knowledge phase informed measured design decisions, coherent in conservation, structural, functional, and urban terms.