Parco Dora – Spina 3

Spina 3, a million sqm urban area along the Dora Riparia river. For over a century this place has gone through a process of construction and pollution until its dismission during the 1970s crisis, when the enormous production plants of Fiat and Michelin became useless.

PARCO DORA-Spina3 has a surface of 420.000 sqm, 1.700 meters long and 800 meters high. Its construction required the production of five different functional lots.

Since the drafting of the 1995 Urban Development Plan, when in Italy Brownfield concept was still unknow, Turin Administrative Bodies decided to make industrial heritage a ressource, starting a process of urban transformation that led to the winning of the prestigious International Architecture Award 2012.

It was the presence of river Dora that contributed to the environmental vocation of Spina 3. In the continuity of the project Torino Città d’Acque, voted for over 20 years to the creation of a green interconnected system with the city’s four main rivers, it was decided to realize a big park (40 ha).

Different follow ups were necessary in order to create the green area foreseen in the urban planning regulation from the dismission of post-industrial areas. The term Brownfield resumes very well the sterilty of these post-industrial areas and the necessity to bring them to a new life. An example is the 4 lane causeway which runs for 1,3 km under the park.

The multidisciplinary approach, necessary to a post-industrial park implementation, made the City decide in 2004, to entrust, through a tendering procedure, the construction of this area to STS Servizi Tecnologie Sistemi S.p.A.,which handed the task to Peter Latz (his work has been caracterised by the employment of simple materials: cement, galvanized steel and gabions). The three main themes of the project concerned the visual and fuctional integration of the area with the annexed river, the metamorphosis of the industrial buildings, the connexion and dialogue with the city.

A prominent role has been given to environmental sustainability, through LED lighted elements, adopting innovative recovering techniques and giving priority to environmental issues reducing carbon footprint.

In 2007 Parco Dora-Spina3 project was assimilated to the 150° National Unity Anniversary commemorative works.

Today works have been completed and the area is open to citizens. The huge constructions of Vitali’s steel plant, 9 stores high and 308 meters long, is an example of the successful metamorphosis of a post industrial site.

Useful links (italian version available):