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GreenZone

By Christos Leonidou, Ella Bauerle,

Emma Gjerswold-Selleck, and Fabrizio Beschi

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Site: Paradone dam, via boiardo

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Key Issues:

Accessibility

Community

Reuse and Restoration

History

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Accessibility

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Community

Underutilized spaces
Decrepit infrastructure
Lack of gathering space

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Reuse and Restoration

Unused, empty spaces
Existing steps and walkways into the site
Materials that are difficult to recycle
Historical architecture surrounding the site

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History

Buildings in disrepair
No educational information
Unsafe conditions

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Goals

1

Improved and accessible entrances

2

Accessible pathways

3

Biodiversity and Signage

4

History Preservation and Education

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Goal 1: Accessible park entrances

Improve Existing Entrance

New Road Entrance

Improve Signage

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Goal 2: Accessible pathways

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Goal 3: Biodiversity and Signage

Riesci a trovare questo albero?

Quercus suber; querce da sughero

Cupressus sempervirens; cipresso italiano

Aesculus hippocastanum; ippocastano

Fagus sylvatica; faggio italiano

Flora centered education
Ensuring space is occupied by local species and provide view into sight

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Informational signage throughout the park

La via del ferro
River habitat and its biodiversity
Local animals

Goal 4: History and Education

The dam was built to deviate the flow of the Gerenzone river and to create the so called “fiumicella”, the main canal, first mentioned in medieval Statutes, therefore it is ancient. The duct surpasses Rancio e San Giovanni districts and then it flows into the lake, in Lecco’s city centre, in a place no longer visible, but that can be found in older maps. A second artificial deviation flowed through the valley, with a path more similar to that of the stream, and it provided hydraulic energy in various factories next to the river, on different heights.

This path also emerged in the lake, in Malpensata, somewhere near, but different from the Gerenzone’s mouth, but no longer identifiable. Today’s canals system dates back to the end of the XIX century, even though in 1920 the wooden grids were replaced with iron bulkheads. In the past it was managed by Consorzio del Gerenzone, now the Paradone dam is a testament of the use of hydraulic engineering in Lecco, even though it’s no longer functioning.

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Highlighting the site’s history, focusing on the iron industry, the dam’s history and mechanics.

2 parts:

Signage around the park informing visitors about the local animals and area history
Historical eco-museum inside the

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Solutions

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Eco-museum

Child- and family-focused design
Dam and water interaction
Cultural heritage
Models of Iron factory

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Seating

Connected Seating Along The Pathway

Planter Box Seating Along The River

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Related Case Studies

Pathway Design: Brooklyn Botanic Garden Overlook, Brooklyn, NYC

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Related Case Studies

Historical Museum:

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis

Boston Children's Museum

Laredo Water Museum

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Connecting views

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Resources