Monza Progetto Parco

Monza Park is a great natural complex just outside the centre of Monza. It was designed by Luigi Canonica at the beginning of XIX century and houses many buildings with different characters and importance. The most relevant ones are Villa Mirabello and Mirabellino (XVII and XVIII century) - linked in one group by a boulevard of hornbeam - and Villa Reale built in 1780, together with the Royal Gardens, by Giuseppe Piermarini. Other buildings were built as part of an agricultural system and were destined to the maintenance and cultivation of the fields. They ere generally called "farmstead" and showed a certain architectural quality, curated by Canonica himself and his fellow assistant Giacomo Tazzini. However, they have so far been considered as minor examples of neoclassic style, and therefore there has been a lack of attention on their crucial role in the definition of the identity of the Park. Moreover, the gowing concerns about the naturalistic aspects of the problem provoked a gradual decay of the building heritage and caused losing sight of the twine between nature and constructions. The present study originates from a global vision of Monza Park. Therefore, the farmsteads have the same importance as the villas in the process of relaunching the area: the villas represent its excellence, the farmsteads its normality; both are relevant to the definition of new scenarios. The programme for relaunching Monza Park takes the form of an "Integrated Project", where integration mens interrelation of each single part. The main goal is to transform the Park into a focal point for activities related to the cultural and production sectors for Milan area and hinterland. Such activities have been divided into thee groups of functions (culture, production, craftsmanship), symbolically called "cities", which include the farmsteads according to their characteristics. This research also takes into consideration the fact that the existing buildings may non be enough to host the many activities that can originate and that some functions for the city of Monza may be located in the Park in new designed constructions. A part of this study is dedicated to the problem of designing new buildings in the Park and raises a question on the capability of present architecture to deal with the comparison between "old" and "new". Without the pretension to provide with perfect solutions, this part aims to stimulate reflòection on the limits current architecture has and point at the necessity to overcome them by reformulating the terms of the matter of form in architecture.