An international collaboration between Carlo Ratti Associates and other design companies is working on a project to transform a railway yard in Milan into a tree-lined park with an elevated walkway in the style of Highline New York.
Parco Romana, this is the name of the project, is planned for the Porta Romana district in Milan and will be centered around the former station. The site will be redesigned to create new public green spaces, including woodland. The construction of new offices and some homes for Olympic athletes is also planned.
A suspended forest
One of the main attractions of Parco Romana will be a “suspended forest” consisting of a raised walkway based on the existing railway infrastructure. It will include hundreds of trees and offer walking trails with select views of the area. The eastern area of the park will host new office buildings.
Other areas of the former station
On the western side of the former station there will instead be a mixed-use residential area that will host the athletes for the next 2026 Milan Winter Olympics. Once the games are over, it will be transformed into a community housing complex that includes social housing.
The residential area will also include a public square, a community garden, outdoor exercise spaces and co-working spaces located within the now renovated train repair sheds.
“The scheme rethinks a large railway yard. A place that has characterized this area of Milan for more than a century,” we read in the project press release which will transform a station into a tree-lined park. “Parco Romana brings together a fragmented urban sector. Reconnect surrounding neighborhoods with a vibrant mixed-use district rooted in principles of inclusiveness, biodiversity, resilience, connectivity and well-being. Built on a former station and around a new Great Park that serves as the green heart of the development, Parco Romana celebrates its layered histories by offering shared environments for living and working. Environments that unite a diverse community of residents, students, employees, athletes and visitors.”