La Forgiatura is the center of fashion and design in the northwest of Milan. Today, looking at the stylish architecture of the complex and the excellent work of the authors of the project with the natural and artificial landscape, it is difficult to believe that it used to be a heavy industry enterprise, producing components for submarines and power plants. In the 1970s, it was closed, and then abandoned.
This situation is not news for a large city, especially if it is industrial, as Milan still remains. Renovation of industrial zones in Italy is a noble cause. In such cases, you kill two birds with one stone: the historical place is preserved and makes a profit. This concept began to develop in Milan, the development company REALSTEP, which is exclusively engaged in the reconstruction of such territories. The project was carried out by the architect Giuseppe Tortato from the MILANOLAYOUT studio, who has repeatedly collaborated with REALSTEP and has significant experience in this field. He made a very spectacular transition from heavy industry to high fashion. Tortato says: “A place with such a rich history and memory could not ingloriously disappear under the bulldozers. It was natural to think about restoring its structure, united by the forms of modern architecture."
The project involved the reconstruction of existing buildings with an area of approximately 15,000 m2 (for example, an engineering workshop, a smithy, an administrative building, etc.) and the construction of a new "Raimondi Corps" (10,000 m2). In total, La Forgiatura has 7 buildings for various branches of the world of fashion and design; they also include showrooms. The old names are "Forge", "Mechanical Engineering", etc. - preserved to emphasize the connection of the complex with the history of the place and its original structure.
Renovation of the ex-industrial zone also included the creation of a 2-level underground parking for 250 cars and 8000 m2 of green spaces; artificial hills with a height of 1 to 8 meters surround the territory and provide access to different levels of buildings (you can enter the building even from the roof). Hills and plants protect La Forgiatura from the noise of the city, inside each of the buildings there is a garden, and all the roofs are made green and maintained. All steel frame structures have been restored with historical precision, but in accordance with modern quality standards and customer needs.
It is important to mention that the buildings of the complex correspond to energy class B. La Forgiatura is an energy efficient project: energy consumption there is 35% below average. Photovoltaic cells are integrated into 200 m2 of glass roofs, providing electricity to the irrigation and outdoor lighting systems. The core of the project is power units operating on groundwater intake and in combination with heat pumps. These power units are hidden under artificial hills and are connected by an underground tunnel that connects all the buildings of the complex, so that no maintenance work is carried out on the surface.
La Forgiatura means forging in Italian. This name also contains the history of the place. In general, it's great when architecture gets a new life, and does not disappear without a trace: after all, once the metallurgical plant was no less in demand than the "fashionable" La Forgiatura today.
