World Forum on Urban Forests Milano Calling 2019 21 – 23 November The forum, at its second edition, is a two days event focusing on ideas and actions for new forests within cities and countries around the world.
Located amid Lagodekhi Natural Reserve in eastern Georgia, the Tree Top Trail is meant to maximize the experience of nature, intended as -in the words of David Attenborough, “the greatest source of excitement, beauty and intellectual interest”. The trail, takes advantage of the topography in order to avoid the use of an elevator. The access point is located on a higher point of the uneven terrain and, from there, it ramps up to reach greater heights, gradually showcasing the forest as a vertical ecosystem.
Its defining circular shape, sharply contrasts with the forms of nature, avoiding any simplistic mimic; furthermore, the trail trajectory is always curving, constantly disappearing within the forest canopy, generating a desire to discover the forest, step by step.
Three main attractions are placed within the trail: a copper sphere which functions as a multimedia room for 360 degrees’ projections, a large net, for visitors to lay or play and a panoramic tower which allows a view over the forest, and integrates a half-spiral staircase to exit, as an alternative to walking back through the long ramp of the trail.
The columns of the structure are organized in clusters, abstract simplifications representing group of trees in the forest and are made from cor-ten steel. In total there are 17 column clusters that support the trail and the additional elements.
Openfabric has been shortlisted, alongside Fresh Architectures and OBR, to proceed to final stage of Reinventing Cities competition, for the site of “Serio”, Milan, located at walking distance from Fondazione Prada.
Reinventing Cities is an unprecedented global competition organized by the C40 to drive carbon neutral and resilient urban regeneration.
Together 19 cities have identified 49 underutilized spaces, rapidly available for redevelopment.
We have been selected to design a Tree Top Trail in Lagodekhi Natural Park in east Georgia, alongside Cityförster, Imagine Structure GmbH and the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN). The project, commissioned by WWF Caucasus Programme Office, is a pedestrian flyover meandering in between the high trees, and is intended as a new eco-touristic attraction able to address both educational and recreational elements. The infrastructure, once realized, will become a device to experience the diverse ecosystems of Lagodekhi Protected Areas.
Bridging Territories: ‘Landscapes are often linked to each other in a system of interdependency. Cities for instance depend on a number of ecosystem services which are generated far from the urban centers themselves. Openfabric aim is to reconnect theses usually disconnected territories, both physically and psychologically. Understanding the relation between territories in terms of system of dependency is crucial to generating responsible plans and strategies that can take in account complex dynamics of cause and effect’.
Openfabric has been invited to lecture and to debate on the topics of how the financial crisis affected our profession.
The main objective of the New Generations Festival in Milan is to create the conditions for a real encounter that is extremely important to improve bonding and collaboration among different professionals.
The new Generations research analyzes the impact of the financial crisis on young European architects, with a series of video interviews to a selection of 36 young architectural practices.
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