Photos: Loeb Sarli Architekten
Lugano Hub
A new station and Piazza for Lugano Centre
In collaboration with CSD Ingegneri, Lugano.
The arrival of the Tram-Treno and expansion of the bus terminal offers a unique opportunity. Our project builds itself on the firm conviction that this historically charged site, with the current “non luogo’ character could be transformational for Lugano beyond the programmatic requirements of the project brief. Because of its location at the northern edge of the historic center our project proposes a PIAZZA above the bus and Tram-Treno terminal, an arcaded perforated building on the south side and an underground motorcycle and bicycle parking.
The elevated piazza is designed as a destination to benefit the entire community. It is a flexible space capable of accommodating different public activities and gatherings such as small concerts, film projections, sports event projections, community organized sports activities such as yoga classes and dances.
These four different parts of the building come together as a clearly defined whole. Among them they are symbiotic, and on an urban scale, they each enhance existing conditions currently in need of improvement.
With the envisioned extension of the pedestrian area in the city center, especially on Via Magatti and Via della Posta, the precarious current conditions on the site become more evident. Currently pedestrian flow gets interrupted by the two-wheel traffic and the undefined urban conditions. Our proposal presents an arcade on the south side creating a new pedestrian street flanked across by the arcade of the UBS building. This proposed pedestrian street starts on Via Pretorio and connects to Piazzale della Posta. The urban passage offered by Rino Tami’s building anchors an alley of trees.
We believe the proposed arcade on the south would become an important link in the network connecting the arcades on Via della Posta (Albrizzi) and Via Pretorio, therefore closing an important pedestrian loop that reaches the lake on its southern edge.
Our proposal also has an open mezzanine level within the arcade that visually and physically connects the pedestrian street and the bus terminal. This mezzanine level should be understood as an extension of the pedestrian street into the building offering a generous covered space with a bar, ideal to meet for a long period of time, or to wait for the bus.
The bus/trenno terminal occupies a large extremely valuable area in the city center. We propose the construction of a piazza to give back to the citizens the area taken over by contemporary means of transportation. The piazza will complete a sequence of urban episodes interconnected sometimes by arcades, other times by their shear proximity.
Competition.