Italian architects Carlo Ratti and Italo Rota, together with Australian property firm Lendlease, have won a competition to design the University of Milan’s one million sq m science campus.
The campus in Milan’s Innovation District will house 23,000 science students. The design includes a lake, as well as a network of green courtyards, five brick buildings and a large central square, all connected by walkways at different heights.
The 2,000 metre "common ground" paths are covered with a portico, allowing people to walk outdoors all year, and converge inside buildings.
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The campus will incorporate 100,000 sq m of greenery, with hypogeum gardens under ground level, terraces and five courtyards, each dedicated to different northern Italian landscapes.
The buildings are influenced by Renaissance architect Filarete’s Ca’ Granda, a 15th-century brick building at the centre of the university.
Each brick in the five buildings will be individually positioned by a robotic arm, and will appear to be pixels in a bas-relief structure.
Carlo Ratti said: "Recent data analyses of human interaction on academic campuses have shown that there is a direct correlation between the physical proximity of researchers and scientific output.
"Our ‘Campus 2.0’ design elaborates on Filarete’s thinking from almost 500 years ago to create a testing ground that will promote interaction among diverse communities."
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The new campus is due to open in 2025.
Images courtesy of Carlo Ratti Associati, Gary di Silvio, Pasquale Milieri and Gianluca Zimbardi
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