New Milan Conservatory will integrate forest and music

The aptly named Bosco della Musica will seek to regenerate an ex-industrial site with greenery and culture

The Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory, in Milan, considered the most important in Italy, will become part of the city’s newest regeneration project called Bosco della Musica (Forest of Music). Earlier today, it was announced that the architectural firm Settanta 7 has won the competition to design a new campus for the educational institution thanks to its attractive formula offering natural integration, accessibility and art.

The new campus will be located in the district of Rogoredo on the site of a dilapidated area, which has unfortunately come to be known as the Forest of Drugs. In fact, part of the abandoned site, such as the chemical building of the former Redaelli steel mills will be refurbished and integrated into the complex.

The designers claim that the inspiration for the proposal has come both from the natural elements, such as the wind that shakes the autumnal leaves, as well as the musical movements (think adagio, for example).

Urban rejuvenation idea

The Conservatory campus will consist of four renewable energy-powered independent pavilions, with flowering meadows on their roofs. The sinuous shapes will recall movement and fluidity. The fusion of greenery and architecture also recalls other iconic developments in the Italian city, such as the Bosco Verticale high-rises.

"The choice of creating pavilions and not a building curtain will greatly help the 360-degree use of this site and the ground floor of all the buildings is designed precisely to allow this permeability, with all the most public and the possibility of using the building not only for a single purpose, but to have flexible spaces,” explained architect Lorenzo Albai, from Settanta 7, as quoted by Metronews.

The former chemical building will become the seat of two Verdi music schools dedicated to jazz, pop/rock and electronic music. On the campus, where squares, pedestrian and cycle paths, hills and trees will alternate, there will also be a 400-seat auditorium and a 195-room university residence.

The funding for the project (to the tune of 46 million euros) will come from several government levels, like two ministries and the Region of Lombardy, whereas the land is municipally owned.