Firenze la città nuova

Palazzo Vecchio - Sala d'Arme

From February 2nd, 14 new projects will be presented - free entrance

Gallery
::High-speed station :: Grand architecture for ‘super-trains’ underground By 2010, high-speed long-distance trains travelling right through the city will be a thing of the past. They will instead pass through a 7-kilometere tunnel, entering in the area of Campo di Marte station and exiting at Castello. This will free the existing ground-level railway tracks, which will be used as a city transport service with new stops, new trains and a connection with the new tramline. A railway line that cuts through the heart of the city will no longer be a handicap, but an advantage. For high-speed trains, there will be a new underground station in the Belfiore-Macelli area, designed by the architect Norman Foster, winner of an international competition entered by some of the greatest design engineers in the world. The high-speed station will be a vast complex covering over 45 square metres featuring avant-garde and, above all, eco-friendly technology. It will descend as far as 25 metres and will have a large glass cover. All facilities will be at ground level while outside there will be spacious carparks as well as the tramline and bus stops. The new station will be directly connected to Santa Maria Novella which will continue to be the central station for regional and city trains. Work will begin in 2005 and be completed in 2009.
::Former Murate :: Once a prison, now a place for living and socialising New residential council housing, commercial activities, public areas, a pedestrian precinct, an internal piazza. Le Murate, once an enclosed convent and later a prison, will be transformed into homes and community areas, becoming a point of reference for the inner city and other areas. The overall restoration area totals 2,700 square metres. In restoring the area, the Municipal Council followed certain criteria, ensuring that building styles were compatible, living conditions agreeable and that the Murate would be opened up to the city. The 45 small to medium-sized homes will be assigned to young couples on the municipal waiting list. The square, formed by joining two courtyards and demolishing an existing structure, has a floor space of about 2,000 square metres. This is the true heart of the project and symbolises the ‘opening’ of the area to the city. Access is by four public entrances: two from via dell’Agnolo and two from via Ghibellina. The guidelines for restoration of the Murate were drawn up by the architect Renzo Piano.
::Fortezza da Basso :: A new pedestrian precinct in the heart of the city The area of Fortezza da Basso is being given a facelift: a new piazza, underground carpark, improved circulation and the upgrading of Florence’s trade-fair and exposition centre. There will be a new pedestrian precinct, one of the largest in the inner city, between the area of the Congress Centre and the main entrance to the Fortezza, where traffic once circulated: a section of viale Strozzi will be redirected underground and traffic will flow under the city, leaving the surface free. The Fortezza will be reached on foot, unimpeded, from the inner city, the station and the Congress Centre. Parking will be available in the new 550-place underground carpark in piazzale Caduti dei Lager, with a new green area at ground level. The work, to be completed in 2004, will be undertaken with the help of the ‘Finanza di progetto’ system which involves private companies in the building of public works. There is also to be a new road from viale Strozzi (opposite the piazzale Montelungo) to via del Romita, which will shorten the journey considerably for those going to Careggi hospital. On the other side of the Fortezza the road tunnel under the railway from viale Strozzi to viale Belfiore will be doubled to improve circulation, facilitating access to the new high-speed station from viale Belfiore.
:: The Tramway :: The new tram: environment-friendly and safe The Florentine tram network offers an easier, cleaner way to move around the city: twenty-two kilometres of rails, to become forty in due course, and three lines with branching and extensions. The first line will connect Santa Maria Novella to Scandicci: 7 kilometres and 600 metres long with 15 stops. Work will begin early in 2004 and will be completed in 2007. The second line, 7.5 kilometres long with 19 stops, will link Peretola with piazza Libertà via the inner city. The first section of the third line will link Careggi with the Fortezza da Basso, covering 4.5 kilometres with 9 stops. Frequency will depend on the time of day but during the rush hour will be every 3 to 5 minutes. Work on the second and third lines will begin in 2004 and be completed within five years. The remainder of the third line will include two more sections which are still to be financed. The first section will connect the Fortezza da Basso with Rovezzano, via Campo di Marte (8 kilometres). The second section will link the ring road with Bagno a Ripoli, via viale Europa (7 kilometres). Further extensions are being considered such one to the Scientific Centre in Sesto Fiorentino and to Lotto Zero.
::Former Meccanotessile :: Contemporary art for everyone The International Contemporary Art Centre will be built in Rifredi, on the site of the old Meccanotessile building of the Officine Galileo, a major Florentine factory since 1868, with premises in the district since 1908. The Centro d’Arte Contemporanea will have multimedia resources and will host the exhibitions of emerging as well as acclaimed artists. It will also function as a creative laboratory for young people, for pictorial-plastic creations and for the fields of music, dance, design, computer art and the visual arts. The new centre will house laboratories and artistic experiences for those with different abilities, including art-therapy activities, concerts, films, shows and artists’ performances. Study holidays will be arranged to museums and contemporary art centres in other countries. The CAC will have an extension of 27,500 square metres allowing space for encouraging the creativity of young artists: individual and collective exhibitions, dance, music and contemporary theatre but also areas for schools and refreshment areas. The project provides for exposition spaces and for multifunctional and multimedia activities, a shopping gallery with 6 shops, a cafeteria on two levels, a kindergarten, an auditorium seating 300 people, with box office and reception. The second building incorporates the areas supporting the CAC, such as the library and media centre, administrative offices, restaurants and facilities. The third building will be converted into 14 terraced studio-flats, on two levels, offering accommodation to artists. These will be equipped with two exhibition-laboratory or teaching areas. Guests (artists, artisans and technicians) will stay together in this permanent laboratory. The complex has also been provided with an underground carpark for 300 cars while the outside areas have been converted into gardens.
::Piazza Santa Maria Novella :: A historical place gets back its old splendour Piazza Santa Maria Novella will be transformed into a paved pedestrian area with flowerbeds, new street furniture and new lighting. Transformation of the area will include restoration of the nearby buildings: via dei Banchi will be upgraded and become the main entrance to the piazza. With the use of colours, materials and structures which reflect its urban image, this ancient square will have its identity restored as a place to be enjoyed by Florentines and tourists alike. All work will be agreed between the municipal council and the office of Monuments and Fine Arts with the contribution of the inhabitants and the shopkeepers in the area. The first stage of the work will be completed by next spring.
::Former Fiat Area :: A new part of the city created at Novoli The huge area where the Fiat plant once stood is destined to become an important new part of the city. An area of 32 hectares stretching between via di Novoli, via Forlanini, viale Guidoni and via Torre degli Agli, will now house the new Palazzo di Giustizia (law courts), a large park, the campus of three university faculties, new homes, offices, facilities and shops with new roads, squares, pedestrian precincts and two large underground carparks. The park will be one of the largest in the city: 12 hectares divided into two areas. On one side will be 16 blocks and the new Palazzo di Giustizia, on the other 27 blocks, the university campus and the shopping area. Buildings will not exceed four storeys in height and will overlook verdant areas with links to normal roads as well as pedestrian precincts. The Palazzo di Giustizia will house all the legal offices currently scattered all over the city, freeing many buildings in the centre which can then be used for other purposes. Designed by the architect Leonardo Ricchi, the building will be 240 metres long and 146 metres wide with a 64 metre tower second in height only to Brunelleschi’s Dome. Several thousand people will work there, including judges, lawyers, registrars and clerks. The building will be fully operating by the spring of 2006. The new university campus will be used from this academic year, combining the Faculties of Economics, Law and Political Science in seven buildings which also house the library and the student centre. The former thermal plant of the premises, overlooking via di Novoli, will also be renovated to house the city’s new ‘Urban Center’.
::Le Piagge :: Five projects for a better quality of life The Piagge gets a facelift. The general restructuring of this district west of Florence includes numerous plans for upgrading the area and supplying new facilities: sports and leisure centres, pedestrian precincts, the recovery of green areas, the planting of new trees, numerous market gardens. A new road is planned which will link via de’ Catani with via Pistoiese, as well as new carparks and a new road system. In addition to this, restoration work is underway on municipal property, the so-called ‘navi’, in which resident families have played a prominent part. Moreover, the old Gover industrial area which overlooks via Pistoiese, will be converted into houses, shopping areas and a new social-health centre. As part of the facelift, there are plans for a railway station and the transformation of the former incinerator of San Donnino into a fully-equipped eco-park.
:: The Athletics Stadium :: New facilities for the noblest sport The new athletics stadium was inaugurated at Campo di Marte on 20 June and has already hosted the European Cup. The complex rises from the ‘ashes’ of the military stadium over an area of more than 44,150 square metres, on an agreement between Florence Municipal Council, the armed forces and the Tuscan Regional Council. Florence Municipal Council have invested 13 million Euro through a subsidized loan from the Credito Sportivo, while planning expenses were paid by the Federazione Italiana di Atletica Leggera. The new complex has an athletics stadium (seating 7,900 and three quarters covered), indoor facilities (to be completed by the end of November) and some facilities for the use of the armed forces. As well as the sports facilities there is also a body-building room, six athletes’ dressing rooms and two for judges, a medical room, two rooms (one for men and one for women) for drugs testing and areas destined to be used as offices. There are also spacious press areas. Special care has been taken to cater for the disabled. The complex includes facilities for the use of the armed forces: a covered multi-purpose gym with stand seating 100, three tennis courts and sports hall with dressing rooms and bathrooms.
::Uffizi and Piazza Castellani :: Glass and pietra serena for the new Galleries exit The Uffizi’s new exit, designed by the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, incorporates a vast new loggia, roofed by beams and transparent skylights. Constructed in stainless steel and lined with pietra serena, it will connect what is considered to be the back of the Uffizi Gallery with Piazza Castellani. Isozaki’s project was selected in an international competition, in which other participants included Gae Aulenti, Mario Botta, Norman Foster, Vittorio Gregotti, and Hans Hollein. The loggia will also house four statues, arranged to correspond with the four exits from the Uffizi. Planning is in its final stages and will allow for the archaeological finds under the piazza. Work will begin next spring and will be completed in 2006. The area between via dei Leoni, via de Neri and the former Capitol will also be in pietra serena, again on a design by Isozaki, giving the city a new pedestrian precinct. The Capitol itself will be transformed into a huge multifunctional building with information centre, bookshop and bar on the ground floor, public toilets underground, a self-service restaurant on the first and second floors, offices on the third floor and a guest house on the fourth.
:: Piazza Vittorio Veneto :: At ground level, a pedestrian precinct opening into the Cascine park just as it was envisaged in the nineteenth century, with underground a spacious carpark: that’s the future of piazza Vittorio Veneto. The underpass, which is the key to the transformation of the piazza into a pedestrian area, has already been operating for over a year. The piazza will be reserved for pedestrians, cyclists and tramway while the entire area as far as viale degli Olmi will be restored, according to plans by the architect Poggi. The underpass is 300 metres long while the covered section where the tram will run is 36 metres. The underpass also gives access to the 600-place underground carpark which will be built under piazza Vittorio Veneto, practically under the equestrian monument. The work is part of that relating to the first tramway from Santa Maria Novella to Scandicci and the piazza will achieve complete transformation when work for the tram is completed in 2007.
::Piazza Alberti :: The new piazza Alberti will be developed on the site where the Ataf bus depot stands at present. The project will be accomplished by ‘Finanza di Progetto’, a system involving private businesses in the building of public works, and envisages the creation of homes, commercial areas and a 750-place carpark as well as a new pedestrian precinct. Built in tiers, the piazza will be open towards via Gioberti and Villa Arrivabene, and can be used in the summer for shows and public events. Work will be completed in 2007.
::Former Longinotti :: A local supermarket and a shopping gallery, as well as an auditorium, areas for local services and facilities and two new squares. These are the plans for the abandoned Longinotti industrial area in viale Giannotti. The factory was closed in 1974 and left unused for years. Work is currently underway and will be concluded at the end of 2004. With this work, undertaken by Unicoop on a project by the architect Adolfo Natalini, the city can recover an area of at least 27 hectares which until now has been hidden behind a wall. As well as the supermarket, covering over 3,000 square metres, and a shopping gallery with shops, bars, restaurants and ice cream parlours, artisan workshops, chemist, post office and bank, there will also be two carparks for more than 1,100 cars and two new squares: one will be as large as a football field and will be partially covered. The other will be smaller and will house the local market. The small building on viale Ginanotti will be renovated and used for the activities of the association while there will also be rooms for local services and facilities and an auditorium seating 800 for shows and concerts.
::Forte Belvedere :: The most beautiful view in the world revived The Forte di Belvedere, one of the most beautiful lookouts in the world, was reopened to the public on 6 July after a period of five years. It has undergone extensive work to ensure the safety of the entire building: restoration, fire-prevention systems, the demolition of architectural barriers, two new lifts, new escape routes, irrigation systems for the gardens, the closure of the skylight and restoration of the large terraces. The inauguration of the Forte Belvedere attracted 17,000 people. The Fort is a popular haunt of Florentines and tourists alike and is also a venue for exhibitions and cinema festivals. It is linked to the Boboli gardens, last part of an ideal route which, by the Vasari Corridor, links the Pitti Palace to Palazzo Vecchio. The Fortezza di Santa Maria del Belvedere, commissioned by the Grand Duke Ferdinando I dei Medici, was built between 1590 and 1595 beside the Porta San Giorgio by the architect Bernardo Buontalenti. A feature of the fort is its star-shaped polygon layout and the small building which rises up in the centre. The layout is deliberately irregular in order to be less vulnerable to the enemy’s attack. Its purpose was to protect the noble family staying in the Palazzo Pitti, to symbolize the power of the Medici and house the precious treasure hidden in a deep well.
::Oltrarno :: Leopoldine, Conventino and San Gaggio come back to life. Leopoldine (Piazza Tasso) Seven new houses, destined for residential council accommodation, have been constructed in the former Leopoldine school complex (once also a convent and hospital) in Piazza Torquato Tasso. As well as housing, restoration has been extended to the roof-terrace which will be a meeting place and office for the municipal council and the rooms of the Ufficio Citta’ Sicura. Restoration work involves a floor surface of 924 square metres, of which 608 are for residential use, 124 for the colonnade and 222 for the roof-terrace. Restructuring plans have incorporated architectural, technical, construction and technological solutions to exploit renewable energy and ensure energy saving. Conventino The Vecchio Conventino, the historical structure in via Giano Della Bella (approx, 3,500 square metres) will be restored to its ancient splendour as a magnificent art and crafts centre. It will be opened to the public following restoration of the inside garden and the creation of community areas as well as a limited number of apartments to encourage inner city living. These are the main features of the restoration project which was drawn up on the basis of a shared planning process. The project will provide for the reorganisation of existing areas and those used as depots. Craft laboratories will be considerably increased, from an area of 760 to 1,350 square metres. The community areas and the bathroom facilities will be enlarged while the unused deposit areas will be cleared. Six small apartments are planned, totalling 260 square metres. San Gaggio By the end of 2003 the former convent of San Gaggio in via Senese will be converted into 14 units destined for residential council housing. Conservation and restoration work, befitting the great historical and architectural value of the former monastery, involves two distinct sections of the complex. Work has been carried out to restore the roofs and strengthen the walls, floors and vaults and new elements have been incorporated to allow the area to be used again. Homes will be integrated with community areas on the ground floor, created through the restoration of beautiful vaulted rooms. The building will also house the offices of the Fondazione Artiginato Artistico. .
::Leopoldine (S.Maria Novella) :: In a few months’ time restoration will begin on the former Leopoldine convent of Santa Maria Novella and by 2005 it will constitute an important museum centre housing the Alinari brothers’ museum of the history of photography and the municipal museum of twentieth century art collections. The museum complex will extend from Via Palazzuolo to Piazza S. Maria Novella. The former Leopoldine schools, housed in the old Ospedale di San Paolo, are characterised by a magnificent open gallery built between 1451 and 1495 on a design by Michelozzo and embellished with tondi and lunettes by Andrea della Robbia. Restored in 2000, the work not only involved the plastered areas but also columns, capitals, bases, architraves and other architectural elements in stone. The Robbia decorations have acquired prominence and bestow fresh colour on the elegant façade. The renovation of this important building will make an important contribution to the upgrading of the whole area of piazza Santa Maria Novella.
::San Bartolo :: A part of the city gets a facelift New houses and a vast range of facilities and opportunities. San Bartolo a Cintoia is getting a facelift and will offer a better quality of life to those who live there. Three hundred and eighty-five families will be housed in as many new houses located between via Canova, via San Bartolo, Santa Maria a Cintoia, via del Saletto, via Empoli and in the area of the new sports centre. Throughout the area there will also be carparks, cycle tracks and pedestrian precincts. Uncultivated ground will be transformed into areas full of greenery. There will be new social centres for young people and for the very young, a nursery and a school gym. The sports centre will have swimming pools, sports fields, a sports hall and other community areas. Under construction is a 14-storey hotel with 214 rooms, convention rooms and restaurant while the non-food shopping centre with large cinema complex is complete and has already been inaugurated. The elderly will be specially catered for; 14 city gardens of 80 square metres each have already been created and a community centre already inaugurated.
::Velodrome:: The restructured velodrome of the Cascine park was inaugurated on 29 July. The fixture was built in 1870, and restored in 1894 and 1922 and then again in 1947 when it underwent functional restructuring. The structure comprises a cycle track 333.33 metres long, a football field measuring 96x48 and three tennis courts. Toilet facilities, a gym and dressing rooms were built under the stand and restored in 1994. As part of the restoration work, the cycle track has been reconstructed, the football field restored and given a new drainage system, the stand has been waterproofed, a new lighting system installed and the access tunnel to the field has been rennovated. The velodrome has been named after Gino Bartali and has already hosted the Italian Esordienti e Allievi (novices and learners) track cycling championships.
::Vamba school:: For the children of Novoli, a brand new school The first new school in Florence for twenty years: that’s the ‘Vamba’ of Novoli, a school of the future with large gym, kitchens, parking facilities, colourful furniture and architecture which, in its style and materials, reflects the characteristics of the surrounding area. The ‘Vamba’ will have space for 550 children, from nursery to primary school, and has been built in the area where the old institute was built during the sixties and later demolished. The kitchen can turn out 500 meals a day with 90% organic food; the gym houses a volleyball and basketball court as well as five-a-side football facilities, dressing rooms for students and teachers, a room for medical examinations, a spectators’ gallery and an underground garage. There’s also a novelty relating to the meal service: the second cycle of children will have their meals served on stainless steel trays, from which the little diners can serve themselves independently. Work began in May 2001 and took 790 days.
::The banks of the Arno river:: Let’s get our river back The Saschall was created on the banks of the Arno, at Rovezzano, and is an example of how large structures can be maintained along the river while ensuring hydraulic security. The new structure was built where the old Teatro Tenda once stood before being knocked down because of its non-compliance with safety standards. A short stroll from the Saschall is the ‘La Pioggia’ statue donated to Florence by the sculptor Jean Folon, which has helped to enhance this part of the city. The Saschall is part of the overall restoration and revitalization project concerning the banks of the Arno. Following work to clean up the banks, as well as sailing possibilities, the Arno is one of the best ways to see Florence. The boat service on the Arno has been operating from June to late October for a couple of years now, offering the opportunity to discover Florence ‘from below’ or rather from the perspective of the river. There are two excursion routes on the Arno, from the Saschall on Lungarno Aldo Moro to the San Niccolò weir, and from the park of the Renai di Signa to the Cascine.
::CAREGGI Hospital:: A revolution which looks at the future The great work in progress at Careggi Hospital Citadel will upgrade the most important Health Pole in Tuscany, one of the first in Italy. This plan aims at rationalizing all hospital building activities performed till now, by completing block system conversion into a well-organized structure. Four operating compounds, including 29 operation theatres in all, will be constructed, in addition to a diagnostic area, for a total number of 42 suites. Access will be granted to an open gallery which will house all services, from consulting rooms to shops , from offices to information points. Furthermore, public means of transport (buses, taxis and tramways) will arrive at the open gallery and it will be possible to gain access to a three-level, 430 place car park. Great changes are also coming up for the Cto (accident hospital) which will become a multifunction center with a prominent surgical vocation. Here too, a 300 place underground car park will be built. Work at San Luca, which will house general medicine departments, and at the First Aid Station has already started. The project provides for environmental reclamation activities and interventions for improving access and reception such as a heliport and new parking areas.
::Carmine and the Cappella Brancacci (Brancacci Chapel):: Oltrarno minor and major treasures The Cappella Brancacci in Carmine’s Church, frescoed by Masaccio, one of Florentine Art jewels, has recently been the object of considerable restoration work aiming at creating new spaces in order to enhance the entire museum complex use. After the celebrations for the VI centenary of Masaccio’s birth, a new important project entitled “Museum Emotions” is born. This project will permit the visit of the Carmine’s Church, in full respect of religious services. A new Dvd, “Masaccio’s eye”, will enable visitors to learn all secrets of the museum complex: an extraordinary image account of the magnificent “Saint Peter’s stories” cycle, frescoed by Masolino, Masaccio and Filippo Lippi. A permanent and full activities program has been organized within the spaces of the Carmelite Convent annex to the Church. Furthermore, a new lighting system will allow a better and more complete reading of the fresco cycle contained in the Brancacci Chapel. A new Ticket Office has also been created at Carmine’s Church.
::Cascine:: Not only Cascine: the park becomes a city park Reclamation of the Cascine, the great, historical city park, has started. Together with the Argingrosso park, it will make up the Florence Park, a vast green area which will be managed by the new-born Florence Park Authority. This Authority will be in charge of the city park renewal which will involve not only Cascine historical, cultural and environmental functions, but also the development of a large city park along the axis of the Arno river and its tributary affluents. Work for the implementation of four important projects concerning the Cascine and in particular the Cornacchie (Crow) Amphitheater, the former zoo-garden, the Prato del Quercione (the Great Oak Lawn), the Viale degli Olmi (Elms’ Boulevard) has already been given the approval. As regards the Amphitheater, the project provides for a recovery intervention on the structure and on the surrounding 15 thousand square meter green area. This will include the addition of mobile terraces which will increase the theater seating capacity by about 7000 seats. A real animal farm will replace the former zoo, but animals will only be domestic and of national provenance. Breeding will include the mucco pisano, the black cock, sheep and wild boars. The Prato del Quercione will be again a green and luxuriant place. The grass mantle will be entirely renewed with particularly resistant grass and plants. Restyling activities will also concern hedges, wells, traps and benches which will be replaced by stone seats. It will be possible to stroll again along the Viale degli Olmi, thanks to the pedestrian path reclamation and repaving. New stone seats and new balusters to prevent unauthorized parking, will be installed.
::The ex-Oblate Complex:: The City Library to the ex-convent The ex-Oblate Convent, a large fifteenth-century complex situated in Via S. Egidio, will be restored and accomodate the New City Library with librarian and cultural services, multifunction and multimedia structures. The complex will contain the Municipal Central Library, the Colombaria Academy, the Risorgimento Archive, and the Sdiaf (Florentine Area Documentary System). The City Library is intended for all citizens: both for library-frequent goers (students and scholars), and for occasional visitors, that is for those who go to a library for entertainment purposes, not associated with educational or professional requirements. For a better reception and use, the Library rooms will be equipped with Internet points enabling access to all city cultural assets databases, with professional study desks adapted to the use of laptops, furnished with sofas, small armchairs, and covered terraces. Headphones will be made available to listen to music, as well as positions to watch videos or TV stations from all over the world, by satellite. The City Library will have three large halls surrounding the cloister on the first floor. The Agora (the admittance room, with reception, information and lending services), the Gymnasium (a literature room with a high quality literary collection) and the Image Library (a very modern multimedia room with computers, videos, cassette readers and DVD, books on cinema, film scripts, music, disk, tapes, CD, comics and graphics collections). On the second floor, you will find a congress and conference hall, a Coffee House/Tea House at the service of terraces, with local and national daily newspapers. The literary Cloister will be the Oblate center and the beating heart of the new City Library.
::Ex Gasometro-Giuncoli Area:: TWO INNOVATIVE PROJECTS IN DISTRICT 4 Gasometro/Giuncoli District 4 revives also thanks to two new important projects which will affect the former Gasometro area and Giuncoli area. Thirteen new housing units will be built between Porta San Frediano and Via Pisana and the former Gasometro public garden will become the new children’s recreation center garden. The building will open on to a new little square created as a result of this intervention and a large children’s recreation center will be housed in a multipurpose space on the ground floor. This area will also include a day center for elderly people and don Stinghi youth center. This new intervention is essential for revitalizing this portion of the historic city center which was once neglected and run-down. The second intervention will be performed in Via Canova, Giuncoli section: 60 new accommodations will be built, 36 are destined to elderly people and 24 to young couples. A new eco-friendly program provides for the connection with the local service network. Each housing unit will be granted services such as remote medical care, home systems and new communication technologies. Furthermore a common room, a winter garden, a laundry –room and a nursing point will be implemented. This project will be also characterized by the adoption of bioclimatic criteria applied to construction methods and thanks to its absolute modernity will represent an extremely innovative experience.
::Goldoni and Goldonetta:: Two theater jewels revive Thanks to the recent reclamation of Goldonetta, the Oltrarno district recovers the ancient complex conceived at the beginning of the nineteenth century by the ‘Impresario' Luigi Gargani, the “Goldoni Delices”, which includes the Goldoni Theater, the outdoor arena (today the Goldoni movie theater) and the little Dance Hall, today the Goldonetta. The Goldoni theater in via Santa Maria has been, from time immemorial, a Florence historical theater. The theater hosts the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino performances, the Florence Dance Festival reviews but also modern music, ballets, concerts and activities of Bologna University DAMS. The Goldonetta, recently restored after a long and vexed story, is adjacent to the Goldoni Theater. A little jewel in the heart of Florence given back to the city after 130 years, within a large Oltrarno upgrading project. The Goldonetta is a modern art laboratory with live events, facilities, film projections, readings, events in collaboration with local craftsmen, multimedia resources, spaces and shows for children. Thanks to its restoration, the Goldonetta recovers its original vocation as an entertainment place, but it also become an avant-garde artistic production space, for the district and for the entire city. A place where modern culture is produced, a space with an ancient vocation but a modern function.
::Gover-Benelli-Sime-Gondrand:: Obsolete industrial zones: four projects for two districts Hundreds of housing units, services for the district, but also shops and gardens where once there was a factory. This is now being implemented in four obsolete industrial zones in different areas of the town. They include a series of urban upgrading programs providing for public as well as private interventions. At the Piagge, work will affect the former Gover area, between via Pistoiese and the Arno river, for a surface of about 32 thousand square meters. Public and private housing, sales areas, a service center, a day nursery, public parking lots, new green areas, cycle tracks and Brozzi sports ground upgrading are underway. At Coverciano, the intervention will affect the former Benelli area, in Viale Gabriele D’Annunzio. 100 private housing units, shops, offices and car parks will be constructed in this area of 17 thousand square meters. The project also provides for the construction of about forty small size residential council accomodations, a library for District 2, a public garden and the road system improvement, including parking spaces. Reclamation activities in the former Sime area are now in progress in District 5. 270 private housing units for young couples and elderly people will be constructed on a land stretching between via Toscanini and the Mugnone torrent; this project also provides for the creation of social fixtures, a 13 thousand square meter public park, the road system improvement and the creation of cycle tracks along the Mugnone; via Corelli and green areas reclamation, and a100 place parking lot. Work in District 5 will also affect the former Gondrand area. This area extends over a surface of 9.800 square meters and is comprised between via Reginaldo Giuliani and the railway line; private operators have submitted a proposal for the construction of about 100 housing units. Public intervention will concern the construction of social housing units and social fixtures. Furthermore a road communication between via Reginaldo Giuliani and Rifredi railway station has been provided for, in addition to green areas and public parking spaces.
::Fruit and Vegetable Market and Central milk plant:: Mukki milk plant moves to the renewed Mercafir area Novoli fruit and vegetable market has been recently renewed and expanded. Work started in March 2001 and all steps were performed without stopping ordinary market activities for a single day. The market now provides rationally designed sales and handling spaces both for wholesalers and farmers, which will permit to improve efficiency of the entire fresh fruit and vegetable product distribution system. After reorganization, the new fruit and vegetable market can count on 20.210 square meter outlets for 34 wholesalers, a 2.300 square meter covering for more than 100 local farmers, a 10.550 square meter shelter for organized loading, a 6.330 square meter common cold store facility, 10.060 square meters buying platforms for retailing and distribution industry, and 31.550 square meters for processing and distribution centers. The new Central Milk Plant is under construction in the Novoli market area: an advanced plant of more than 37 thousand square meters. Moving of Mukki Plant, from the old headquarters in via Circondaria, was indispensable to allow opening of the High Speed railway station job-site. Work has been divided into two steps: the first one provides for the production plant transfer from city location to Novoli, the second will concern transfer of production plants now located in other sites. The new Central Milk Plant will be put into operation within Spring 2005. Thanks to this intervention, all the food section will be concentrated in the multipurpose Novoli Mercafir center.
::The new Meyer Hospital:: A Hospital Built For Children The Meyer Children’s hospital is one of the most qualified and advanced structures in Italy and one of the most beloved and respected institutions in town. The villa which has housed the hospital till today is no longer appropriate to the new space and functional requirements. It was therefore decided to move this structure to Careggi hills, to Villa Ognissanti area. This villa, surrounded by a park of more than 7 hectares, will accomodate reception and services functions and will be connected through covered walk areas with the new block, the proper hospital. The job-site was opened in January 2001 and will be completed in 2004. The new hospital has been designed according to the most advanced technological criteria, taking account of environmental impact and paying the greatest attention to children and their families' needs. It will contain 120 beds, to which 26 Day Hospital beds will be added. There will be six operation theaters equipped with advanced technology equipment and nine diagnostic rooms. Medical accomodations and lodge for children and parents have been provided for, as well as a children’s recreation center, a winter garden and many play areas.
::Corsini Suarez Palace:: Oltrarno minor and major treasures Corsini Suarez Palace is an extremely beautiful building situated in via Maggio housing the Gabinetto Vieusseux “Alessandro Bonsanti” archive. After the latest restoration interventions, it accomodates part of the library, the book restoration and photographic laboratories, manuscripts, correspondence, private libraries, remainders of about 130 writers and authors, not only Tuscan and Florentine ones, for 500.000 original documents and 50.000 volumes in all. This archive represents the most important documentary property on Italian Literature, from Pasolini to Ungaretti, from Pratolini to Betocchi, from Gadda to Tozzi. Ramps to eliminate differences in level have been constructed as well as a lift to serve all floors. Additional work for basements recovery has been provided for. Here thousands of volumes will find their place. The content of the modern literature archives will be soon filed thanks to modern information techniques, in order to make it accessible on-line to scholars and students, in real time and worldwide.
::Piazza Leopoldo:: A new life for the former Superpila site The urban upgrading program of the former Superpila area, next to piazza Leopoldo, affects a surface of more than 13 thousands square meters. It has involved the construction of 24 public housing units, a 1500 square meter shopping center and the renewal of Leopoldo square. 30 additional private apartments will be built as well as new parking spaces for 4000 square meters together with new public gardens, for additional 4000 square meters. Taking account of traffic requirements, the square has been re-shaped in two symmetric areas. The portion near the shopping center has been conceived as a meeting point with a basin and waterworks. A sculpture of the Florentine artist, Giovanni Banci, has also been placed. The other square portion comprises a fully equipped play area; its boundaries are marked with hedges whose function is to create a green protective barrier. The 24 residential council accomodations contribute to face Florence dwelling emergency. There are two housing typologies: height three-rooms apartments, with two bed-rooms, for a total surface of about 69-70 square meters; sixteen two-rooms apartments, with one bed-room, for a total surface of about 47-50 square meters. A new road, putting via Corridoni and via Palazzo Bruciato in direct communication has also been constructed. Restyling activities were performed in piazza Viesseux and piazza Muratori aiming at revitalizing public spaces in that area.
::Cycle tracks:: Florence by bike is better More than 32 kilometer cycle tracks connect the main labour, school and tourist destinations of the city. Paths develop along the ring roads, viale Redi up to Careggi area, along Viale dei Mille, in the Campo di Marte area, around the stadium, along Lungarno Colombo, Affrico, Via de’ Vespucci and in the Isolotto area. New pedestrian precincts and cycle tracks have also been designed to reach Novoli University Pole, and along the path connecting the University to Rifredi railway station, which will develop along Via Maddalena, Via Magellano and Via Panciatichi. New pedestrian precincts and cycle tracks have been created in the Campo di Marte area. The new track pattern of Viale Poli, Viale Fanti, Viale Duse, via Cialdini and Viale Verga has been completed and is now linked to Campo di Marte station and Via Gignoro cycle track. The bicycle track in piazza Vittorio Veneto connecting Corso Italia with the Cascine and the 2 kilometer track connecting via Massa in the Isolotto area, with the new San Bartolo shopping center have been ready since May 2003. Reclamation of the pedestrian precinct and cycle track linking the Cascine park with the Renai park has been approved. More than 7 kilometers parkland with benches, specially made staging points and carparks will be implemented. This is part of the entire cycle track system which will develop for 21 kilometers along the course of the river and which will go through five different municipalities, from Cascine to Renai park, from Argingrosso park to San Colombano park and then up the Greve torrent, from its mouth to viale Nenni at Scandicci, and, at a second stage, up to Certosa and along the Ema torrent.
::San Lorenzo a Greve:: San Lorenzo a Greve gets a facelift A shopping center, a day nursery, services for the district and a garden: this is the new facet of San Lorenzo a Greve area. A great reclamation plan is now being implemented in the twelve hectares land stretching between Via Pisana and Viale Nenni. In addition to the already inaugurated Retail Outlets, other public works for a total value of 5 million euro, assigned free of charge to the Municipality, are under completion. Among these, a day nursery, opened in mid-January which can accommodate 44 children; twelve residential council accomodations and an area where a district activity center will spring up. The arrangement of a vast public green area, comprised between the houses and the shopping center has also been provided for, as well as some interventions to improve the road system in that area. A large parking lot connected with public transports will be constructed also to serve the future Florence-Scandicci tramway.
::High Speed Tunnel:: High-speed trains underground High-speed trains will not travel through Florence at ground-level but will pass through a 7 kilometer tunnel entering in the area of Castello station and exiting at Campo di Marte. It will be a double tunnel: the two parallel galleries will run at different depths, 20 and 34 meters. The tunnel will enter in the area of Castello and pass under the present train path up to the Fortezza da Basso. Then it will run under Viale Lavagnini up to Piazza Libertà, and turn under Viale Don Minzioni to exit at Campo di Marte. High-speed trains will stop at the new underground station in the Belfiore-Macelli area. Digging will be carried out with two large size milling machines which will start from Campo di Marte station. Preparation work has already begun. Diggings will be disposed of via railway. The maximum depth, 34 meters, will be reached at Via Leone X. Work will begin in 2005 and be completed in 2010. This tunnel will free the existing ground-level railway tracks which will be used for city and regional transport.
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