GROUND FLOOR. TRANSFORMING THE CITY AT ZERO LEVEL

Obsolete public housing is frequently the object of large renovation projects in diverse European cities, where neighborhood restructuring occasionally includes relevant demolitions. This is not the case in Milano, where demolition is still to be considered an exceptional event when confronting with public housing. Less traumatic strategies have to be considered. However, public housing stock is in crisis, characterized by a mismatch between available spaces and the needs of inhabitants. One of the clearest examples of this discrepancy is the state of abandonment which is frequently found on he ground level of public housing estates, where spaces for “diverse uses” were once allocated. “Diverse uses” were meant to be commercial activities, workshop or local association centers. However, there is currently a total lack of demand and the empty spaces and the closed street windows confer a desperate tone which doesn't always correspond to the neighborhood’s overall situation.