Many Features for an Integrated Landscape
This type of Microarchitecture proposed by Citislab is based on previous experience conducted as part of a three-year research project within the University of Brescia on Sustainable and Resilient Mobility. The outcome of the research, which had as scientific leaders Olivia Longo and Ivana Passamani and as research group participants Virginia Sgobba and Davide Sigurtà, is presented in the Case Studies section of the website:
https://citislab.it/realizzazioni-pregresse/microarchitetture-brescia-e-bassano-bresciano/
At the completion of the research activity, two prototypes, a simpler one in Bassano Bresciano and a more complex one in terms of both volume and content, were built and installed in Brescia.
The Integrated Landscape solution is an installation suitable for outdoor space, it wants to integrate with the surrounding landscape by accommodating and organizing needs and services that can cooperate in a complete and exhilarating enjoyment of places, enhancing their peculiarities through communicative apparatuses suitable for all visitors.
It is a sustainable product that adheres to the principle of adaptability to places; it is reversible according to the concept of disassemblability; and it is flexible by pursuing the principle of low cost through the use of recyclable, environmentally friendly materials with minimal impact.
It is suitable for both able-bodied and frail or weak users in accordance with the principles of equity, flexibility, simplicity and perceptibility inherent in Universal Design.
This proposal is consistent with the characteristics of a Smart City contemporary inclusive: it makes use of the the most advanced technologies of the digital age to interact with mobile devices users’ devices but at the same time uses the tactile reading of panels or tables with 3d models, so as not to lose sight of the tangible experience, which we all need more and more.
It makes use of volumetric modules, which can always be disassembled, with a square or rectangular base open on one side or closed by opening windows, variously composed and connected by roofs that house photovoltaic panels to ensure the sustainability of the charging service for bicycles and scooters, that is, for those sustainable means suitable for tourism or slow mobility.
This function, along with information through our Tactile Solutions, is the real core of the installation.
If, in fact, the main role is, once again, to put the user in dialogue with the surrounding landscape by integrating this main experience with other functions that are generally dispersed in so many elements in the space (seating, tabletop, device charging point, flower bed for greenery…) this Integrated Landscape Microarchitecture tells about places and suggests with an inclusive and tangible communication, suitable for all users, to go and discover the landscapes and the many POIs (points of interest) organized along thematic itineraries and documented by QR Code downloadable cards.
Therefore, it is clear that Microarchitecture should first and foremost serve as a charging station of utility or rentable vehicles. It is thus characterized by the presence of a photovoltaic cover that, like a wing, reaches out toward the sun to be efficient.
CITISLAB proposes this type of installation where, in addition to the visual-tactile panel, a highly technological e sustainable enriched with cultural values that, instead of being conveyed only through sight as is always normally the case, are also translated through other inclusive apparatus.
In particular, Microarchitecture Integrated Landscape proposes pedestrian and bicycle paths to the discovery of the landscape, thus allowing one to deepen one’s awareness of the place one is in. This particular space, in which technology can be mixed with history and a healthier way of living, thus stands as a hub, as a community center of the neighborhood, a place where schools can have educational experiences outdoors by combining motor and sustainable education with the acquisition of cultural values.
In the initial concept of the design of this installation, the intention was precisely to exemplify the potential of representing the potential of places.
The presence of Citislab’s proposed solutions such as a Tactile Landscape panel or an Urban Tactile panel or a Tactile Landscape Table or an Urban Tactile Table https://citislab.it/realizzazioni-tattili/ will encourage and guide the user in exploratory reading of the landscape.
However, it is clear that Microarchitecture Integrated Landscape may be defined in detail in relation to the site in which it will be inserted; the proposal enters fully into the products for the Thematic Landscape and Urban Itineraries proposed by CITISLAB and can be combined with the other Tactile Panels and Tactile Tables through the common thread of the Technologies, to offer amultisensory experience, accompanying and supporting any user.
