The ground level floors of the Bosco buildings were just plate glass. Heavily frosted at that, so you couldn’t see much past the wide shoulders of the security guards, err… doorman. It was so blah and disappointing and cold I neglected to take any pictures of the lobby level.
Outside there was a nice surrounding park, presumably above the parking garage. It was surrounded by a mix of new low rise apartments and refurbished older houses, mostly post-War. Many of these had very large and useful balconies with nice views of the Bosco Verticale. These units appealed to my liking, and pocket book, since one enjoyed the Bosco without paying for it.
There was even a tot lot, something conspicuously absent from the Claridge’s family-friendly LeBreton development, and for which no one at the City can be stirred into having any interest in providing either. Remind me again of why people have kids and move out of the downtown and why LeBreton is such a successful compleat community.
There was a nice separated bi-directional bike track right at the front door of the Bosco buildings. It made for great short term parking.
Milan is a notoriously auto-friendly city, although like Vienna and London it is trying to change its image with publicity-obvious projects. A good start, but as we know here it takes decades to tame auto-mania and turn our transportation titanic around. Here’s a nearby view down onto a mixed-development block that looks great at first …
.. but if you enlarge the photo, you’ll see the posted speed limit on that nice one block one way traffic calmed brick street with nice landscaping and cobbles designed to slow traffic … is 50 kmh. If you are using those frequent crosswalks, better hustle your buns.
Most of the post-2009 development in the Porta Nuova district was high rises. Black is the new black.
Milan is famous for fashion, and new high rises had the fashionably variegated exterior panelling;
Not everything was high rise. There were some townhousey sort of units:
(The balconies on the glass building to the left are balconies on an office building, which is common in Milan. Maybe for smoking? Some windows open too.)
There were a few more-traditional red brick buildings in the area. These ones had a nice industrial look, but residents were having mixed luck keeping their balcony plants alive, despite signs of irrigation hose:
That completes our look at the Bosco Verticale. I have pic of other treed buildings. I also have pic of the commercial centre of the Porta Nuova district, and of the bicycle mall which Ottawa could so easily transplant onto Sparks Street but never would, and of the interior of my Milano apartment which was similar to Ottawa (IKEA furniture) and yet different. Let me know in the comments if these far off urbanism stories are of interest or if I should stick to Ottawa.
I enjoy seeing other approaches from other cities in countries, from the perspective of someone looking for ideas to improve our city. I’d love to read about Sparks Street ideas. It always makes me a little sad when I’m there. Boarded up shops and a sense of missed opportunity abound.
I always like your tours. They give new ideas of what is possible for poor old me who rarely travels to exotic locales
I am all for your descriptions of other places, as you give great details. For example, I was exited reading about the Bosco verticale building, then you showed that not all greenery thrived, reminding me that even the best engineering is not a silver bullet. So often the reporting we get on contemporary urbanism or community development projects only give a cursory look or have more of a marketing approach. I like your blog, it is down to earth and more of a conversation with your readers.
I find your blogs refreshing and so accessible and easy to read. Great photos always. I’d like to hear more about the Sparks Street Mall potential. Changes in that area always fall flat, but I remember when it was vibrant (well maybe not at night).