The international design and innovation studio Cra – Carlo Ratti associates presented the master plan which aims to transform a former oil refinery in the city of Trieste into a park dedicated to renewable energy, developed with Italo Rota passed away just a few days ago.
The project, developed for Port of Triesteplans to generate a water battery starting from old industrial tanks, creating a 365 thousand m2 park overlooking the sea.
The project, which involves a reclamation intervention, opens up an inaccessible area of the city’s vast industrial port infrastructure, facing the Adriatic Sea, at its northernmost point.
«By suggesting new ways to reuse former industrial structures, the project uses renewable energy sources in an integrated way. At the center of the project are sand former oil tanks – each of which has a height of 15 meters, for a total of 110 thousand cubic meters of capacity – which will be transformed into water batteries”the Cra studio says in a note which then focuses on the functioning of the battery system.
In summary, when it is necessary to store energy, sea water is pumped into tanks and transformed into potential energy. On the contrary, when there is a need for energy, the stored water is used to produce hydroelectric energy, pouring it into the sea. The system operates as a small “pumped hydro” plant.
«The solution is completely renewable – they assure the Cra studio – since the energy needed to pump sea water is provided by agrivoltaics: elevated photovoltaic panels scattered throughout an urban park accessible to the public.”
«One of the biggest challenges today is the transformation of the 20th century industrial and energy infrastructures we have in our cities»he comments Carlo Rattifounding member of Cra and curator of the next Architecture Biennale 2025. «Our project in Trieste – goes on – manifests this ambition in an unexpected way: the same plants that polluted the environment can now promote the green revolution.”
«The project was also driven by the Port of Trieste’s ambition to reimagine the role of urban ports as places of shared innovation. Future energy infrastructure should not be hidden from public view, as has been the case in the past. They should rather become part of urban experimentation, allowing a dialogue on our future development paths” concludes Ratti.
The masterplan reconnects the city of Trieste with the nearby municipality of Muggia. In addition to energy facilities, it includes green areas, urban farms and an Innovation Park with a biotechnology research center. An example of how urban regeneration and decarbonisation can go hand in hand.
PROJECT CREDITS
Client: Port of Trieste
Creative lead: Italo Rota
CRA Team: Carlo Ratti, Monika Loeve (Partner-in-Charge), Chiara Borghi, Gabriele Sacchi, Iratxe De Dios, Sonia Simone, Günes Idil Altun, Marie Petrault, Anahita Dehlavi, Andre Zanolla, Francesca Paola Montella, Gary Di Silvio, Gianluca Zimbardi and Pasquale Milieri.
Thanks to Systematica and Hydrodata.
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published on: 04/09/2024
