A warning before opening the discussion on the three towers of northern Trento: the private sector is not a charity. Therefore there is no point in giving away your money. Indeed, try to multiply them if possible. Then you can — and it must — discuss how this mission is exercised (with arrogance or in compliance with the rules), but the key concept — I invest so much to bring home so much — cannot be questioned. And it is the attitude that the Podini group held the other day when illustrating it to the environment and urban planning commissions Municipality of Trento the redevelopment project an area located close to the polluted lands of the former Sloi and former Carbochimica. A futuristic, courageous project, capable of giving a positive boost to the debate on the future of the city by placing tall construction at the centre.
It would be better to say by bringing the project verticality back to an area, northern Trento, which she had already come across it twenty years ago in an upward revolution signed by the architect Vittorio Gregotti. Courses and recurrences, as if to say that the topic of skyscrapers in the end is not linked to the exclusive bizarreness of some professional, but it may be a solution to keep in mind in the transformation of an urban territory. After all, the skyscraper – from the English skyscraper – was born at the end of the 19th century in Chicago, when the city was largely destroyed by a fire and land prices rose. It was therefore a necessity – build commercial and office buildings in a limited area and at high prices —to give life to what would become the symbol of modernity and avant-garde. Thus it was that during the 20th century in the United States, especially in Manhattan, a sort of competition for the tallest building began.
The 40 years of the project
History in this case it comes to the rescue to frame better than what you’re talking about. It matters little if everything originated in the United States, what matters is the architecture of the intervention which must be taken and applied to the various situations. To come to us, it would be an understatement to say that Trento is an Alpine city and therefore the choice of height is out of place (what should Bolzano or Innsbruck say when they have already certified the height? Aren’t they also Alpine cities?). And the capital, as seen, is certainly not short of towers. Passi Gregotti, it was the year 1968 when the city began to concretely deal with the Towers of the Madonna Bianca. The architect Marcello Armani designed, together with the engineer Luciano Perini, that neighborhood. These words of his released to «Trentino» on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the project emerged from the archive as a comment on the doubts raised at the time: «Innovative ideas always spark discussion – explains Armani -. Those were the principles of modern architecture, with large green areas and pedestrian traffic separated from that reserved for cars. The vertical development, in addition to allowing the settlement of many large families, which was a requirement of those years, has allowed us to conserve large areas of lawn on which over time a lush spontaneous vegetation has grown, which everyone can enjoy. Subsequently, the streets, a shopping center, a church and the swimming pool were built, which was donated by Del Favero.
The scarcity of services
Today we complain about the lack of services. True, but after a long time the towers go appropriate to lifestyles and social structures, which have changed a lot…”. Alpine city or not, Madonna Bianca is there to testify, with the many fragilities of the case, that climbing towards the sky is not madness. As in all things, we must look at the context, analyze the impact on the livability of the entire area, but above all we must be able to count on strong direction from the public body. In the management of the Podini proposal (created by architect Roberto Bortolotti) if there is one point to highlight it is the steady hand of the Municipality. A warranty. Maximum openness to verticality but with very clear limits: this is the mantra explained by the competent councilor Monica Baggia. In short, the three towers on the Sequenza area started off on the right foot. Only time will tell whether the new neighborhood will materialize and it will in any case be the result of careful and lively mediation. The hope is that the comparison goes specifically to the project, starting from the choice to build vertically, evaluating its strengths and weaknesses, having the good of the city as its only primary interest. Ideological controversies would plunge northern Trento back into a black hole with no future.
