Dear Neighbours, Do you remember when this tower mattered?

Not as an object we pass by, but as something that quietly sustained life around it. Today it stands still. But what if it could flow again?

This project begins with water. Rain is harvested, lifted back into the old tank, and then released slowly, moving down through planted systems, filtering, feeding, and transforming as it goes. You can see it, hear it, follow it. The tower becomes less of a building, more of a living cycle. Something you experience rather than just look at.

And what happens when water slows down? People do too.

Around the tower, the ground opens into terraces, steps, and soft edges. Places to sit, to pause, to watch. Small pavilions appear lightly in the landscape as cafés, shaded tables, simple structures that don’t demand anything from you except your presence.

You might stop for a coffee. Or just sit for a while. Or run into someone you didn’t expect to see.

These little in-between moments, the ones that don’t need planning make your everyday life lively. The kind that slowly stitch a neighbourhood together.

Who finds a place here? Maybe an elderly neighbour resting in the shade, watching the day unfold. A group of teenagers moving between steps and water edges. A parent keeping an eye on a child near the shallow pools.

Someone passing through, who decides to stay at the cafe, looking out through the tower’s windows. Or you cooling off in the pool after a long day’s work. And everyone who visits!

There isn’t one way to use this space. And that’s the point. The different levels allow things to happen at once. Quiet and active, slow and social, without one overtaking the other. Over the course of a day, the space shifts. It belongs to different people at different times.

Can something old feel alive again?

The tower is no longer just a memory of infrastructure. It becomes part of everyday life again – supporting water systems, yes, but also conversations, routines, and small encounters. It reconnects to the larger green corridor of the neighbourhood along Viale Luigi Buffoli, becoming one moment within a continuous landscape. A place you arrive at, pass through, and return to.

Not just a landmark. But a place to be.

A place where water flows again. And maybe, where we do too!

“The concept is highly convincing and restores a renewed vitality to the site without compromising its original nature. In particular, the integration of vegetated systems is coherent and well aligned with the infrastructural memory of the site. Overall, it is a project that successfully balances ecological sensitivity and urban value in a harmonious and considered way.”

Michele Cassino – Studio 3Mark

A New Civic Life Inside the Water Tower

Suspension Within reimagines the Milanino Water Tower not through additions to its protected exterior, but through a radical act of interior renewal: a new civic world suspended within the old. The proposal preserves the historic façade and the powerful existing structure, while inserting a lightweight prefabricated timber system that gathers the tower’s fragmented levels, programs, and movements into one coherent spatial experience.

The project is conceived as a space within a space: a suspended timber figure held inside the existing tower. Rather than treating adaptive reuse as a series of scattered insertions, the proposal introduces one holistic architectural gesture capable of transforming the entire building. This new structure threads through the tower, weaving community life, art and design, dance and performance into a continuous vertical sequence of rooms, platforms, niches, and thresholds. It gives the tower a double life: a daily civic interior for gathering, working, and socializing, and a seasonal cultural venue for exhibitions, events, and performances. It creates a new life inside the old: warm against concrete, precise against historic texture, intimate within monumentality.

The program weaves together community, café and bar, art and design, dance and performance. It is specific enough to give each level a strong identity, yet flexible enough to support continuous use throughout the day by children, students, families, professionals, local associations, older adults, and people with reduced mobility. In daily life, the tower becomes a place to work, read, meet, rehearse, rest, and socialize. During cultural seasons, it transforms into a vertical venue for exhibitions, performances, workshops, and gatherings, extending Milan’s culture of design, art, music, theater, and performance into Milanino.

At the heart of the project is a suspended cylindrical volume that opens the first floor and upper tower into one spatial experience. Visitors ascend through a slow spiral, moving between the new timber structure and the original concrete frame, eventually arriving beneath the historic water tank and dome-like structure. The tower’s former infrastructure becomes a new civic ritual: to enter, gather, climb, pause, look, and rediscover the city from within.

On the ground floor, an elliptical timber platform forms a café and bar environment: seating, communal table, display surface, and social edge. In the basement, the same elliptical geometry becomes an intimate dance and performance room, with an acoustic timber lining and poche spaces for storage and support. Outside, the front yard becomes an arrival plaza and outdoor café, while the rear yard is transformed into a stepped performance landscape connected to both the upper level and basement.

Built with economical strategy primarily from solid wood and plywood, with minimal steel support, the intervention is warm, low-carbon, prefabricated, and reversible. Suspension Within turns the Water Tower from an abandoned vertical relic into an inhabited cultural instrument: a monument that no longer only stands above the neighborhood, but belongs to it.

“A project with a strong and recognizable identity, where the use of wood as a warm and distinctive material is particularly appreciated. The spatial continuity between the different levels is also compelling, making the intervention coherent and unified as a whole, while creating spaces that invite people to pause and experience the place.”

Letizia Melzi – Tectoo

The basement and ground levels remain dedicated to theater, extending performances outward to a northern amphitheater and a regraded southern plaza.

A ramp on the northern façade provides universal access, while an open trench to the south brings light into the basement, spanned by a bridge from the plaza. These new paths are unified by a single gesture: a cabled steel mesh that wraps the historic façade. This veil provides safety through transparency, acting as a light, silent mask through which the stones breathe.

The interior finish is left raw, like a cave, and only finished with a gray plaster to match the concrete for bodily contact. While the lower floors engage the horizontal landscape, the upper three levels are carved into a vertical void. A fabric-wrapped “totem” is suspended from the primary beams, ascending into the dome of the water tower. This volume houses a café, bar, and gallery, culminating in a greenhouse at the summit. Steel gratings filter light down to the principal level, where an oculus offers a view from the theater below to the café above.

Services—restrooms and elevators—are concealed within large wooden “cabinets.” The legible intervention is thus reduced to two airy bodies: a shroud without and an organ within.

“By outlining the pure spatial volume through the use of a simple metal mesh, the project insertsitself effectively into the modernist structure of the tower with an almost weightless presence. Itcreates a consistent dialogue between two eras: the functionalist poetics of béton brut and our owntime, defined by adaptability and continuous transformation.”

Paolo Cesaretti – pc-|< Paolo Cesaretti Arch-

Water does not impose it adapts, carves and connects. This principle shapes the proposal as an act of adaptive reuse where the historic Water Tower is reawakened not as an isolated monument, but as a living civic landscape where culture, community and memory converge.

At the urban scale, the site revealed its own logic. Sitting along a green corridor, the tower was already embedded within a living strip of parkland. Drawing from the metaphor of a river, we introduced a linear promenade that follows this green axis, channelling movement from the surrounding neighbourhood directly toward the tower, making arrival feel inevitable, almost natural.

The landscape is reimagined as two distinct garden rooms. To the north, an octagonal reflection pool echoed the geometry of the tower itself, surrounded by a reversible, light timber café and bar; a space designed for the unhurried Italian ritual of aperitivo. Adjacent to this, the existing water collection structure; long used by the community, is carefully preserved and reclad as part of the intervention. The existing slope is remodelled into a terraced amphitheatre, its walls clad in reflective metal that shimmers like the surface of water, with a floor fountain at its base for children and community events. To the south, the original entrance yard is reactivated through modular timber cubes; moveable, stackable, reconfigurable capable of becoming a lecture stage, an exhibition pavilion, or an extension of the café above.

Inside, the same logic of water informs not only the atmosphere but spatial organization itself. Just as water takes the shape of the vessel it inhabits, the interior is conceived as a fluid framework of adaptable spaces, where functions are not rigidly fixed but able to transform according to changing uses, events and rhythms of occupation.

At the heart of the tower sits the ground floor, the social core of the entire intervention. A permanent café and gift shop anchor the space, supported by a full kitchen and service facilities. This is the point of arrival, the place people return to, and the pulse from which all activity radiates upward and outward.

The basement and first floor are carefully considered the sequence of atmospheres. It accommodates exhibitions, film screenings, sport activities, and informal gatherings with equal ease. The first floor hosts a co-working space and a library integrated into the walls, complemented by a flexible room for meetings, exhibitions or office uses.

The second floor acts as the tower’s most intimate threshold: dark, resonant and devoid of windows. It becomes an immersive chamber where a water-focused projection heightens awareness and contemplation, preparing visitors for the spatial and emotional ascent to the level above.

The uppermost floor is a triple-height sanctuary flooded with natural light. Suspended from the ceiling, hanging installations and light-catching forms evoke the shimmer of water seen from below.

Connecting all the levels, a spiral staircase connects all levels in a single continuous gesture like a waterfall-like gesture that connects the tower from top to bottom in a continuous flow.

“The project demonstrates the ability to transform the theme of water into an architectural, spatial, and narrative principle rather than merely a decorative element, supported by a program that is graphically clear and effectively communicated. The proposal works with great sensitivity on the relationship between the tower, the landscape, and the community, generating fluid, adaptable, and recognizable spaces capable of restoring a renewed public role to the building.”

Lula Ferrari – Lula Ferrari Studio

A hydroponic tower reactivating Milanino’s water infrastructure through production, public life, and landscape.

The Living Reservoir reimagines Milanino’s historic Water Tower as a vertical hydroponic garden, transforming its existing water infrastructure into the living core of a circular system of cultivation, food, wine, learning and celebration. Carefully preserving the tower’s façade, existing openings and architectural identity, the proposal avoids heavy alteration in favour of lightweight, reversible plug-in elements and sensitive internal adaptation. Drawing on Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City vision, it reinterprets Milanino’s legacy for the twenty-first century as a productive, social and ecological infrastructure, where water once again supports growing, gathering and collective wellbeing. The proposal aims to renew local pride and identity while positioning Milanino on an international stage as a model for adaptive reuse, productive heritage and community-led ecological design.

At basement level, the Harvest Lab forms the productive heart of the scheme. Here, vegetables grown within the tower are sorted, prepared and distributed as Garden City Produce, while Altura Wines supports small-scale wine making linked to the suspended vineyard above. The basement also connects directly to the hydroponic garden below street level, allowing visitors to look into the growing systems at work. Rather than hiding production, this level reveals harvesting, sorting, fermenting and making as part of the public experience.

At ground floor, the tower opens from the south through Piazza Ebenezer, creating a new public threshold between the building and Milanino’s wider landscape. Here, the Garden City Café becomes the everyday community hub of the project, serving produce grown on site and transforming cultivation into shared meals, seasonal menus, workshops and local gatherings. The café extends onto a lightweight plug-in wine terrace, elevated above the basement hydroponic garden and accessed through a subtle raised floor allowing movement through the existing Juliet windows.

On the first floor, the Visitor Centre and Hydroponic Education Facilities provide dedicated space for interpretation, ticketing, briefings, exhibitions and workshops. A separate entrance from street level on the west side allows schools, visitors and community groups to access the educational route independently from the café, giving the building flexibility throughout the day. This level explains how the tower’s former water logic has been reactivated through closed-loop hydroponics, linking heritage, technology and food production.

Above, the second floor becomes the main hydroponic growing volume. By selectively removing the third-floor slab, the upper tower opens into a tall vertical space where tiered hydroponic systems thrive within the historic shell. Water, nutrients and light circulate through stacked trays to produce vegetables, herbs and edible planting year-round.

Around the tower, planted terraces, the suspended vineyard and the Milanino Canopy Walk extend this productive ecosystem into the surrounding Garden City landscape. Together, the Harvest Lab, Garden City Produce, Garden City Café, Altura Wines, hydroponic gardens, education spaces, wine terrace and canopy walk create a place to grow, harvest, sort, cook, taste, learn and gather. What once stored water for Milanino now cultivates food, culture and collective wellbeing.

“The idea of transforming the tower’s interior space into a vertical hydroponic garden through the use of lightweight elements represents an original and feasible solution. The goal of positioning the tower on the international stage as a model of adaptive reuse, productive heritage, and participatory ecological design appears ambitious but credible”

Luciano Crespi – Politecnico di Milano

Intervento e riabilitazione della Torre di Milanino

La torre dell’acqua di Milanino trascende la sua antica condizione di infrastruttura tecnica in disuso per erigersi a pilastro fondamentale del patrimonio culturale e simbolico. Il suo valore storico risiede nell’essere un pezzo fondante della prima “Città Giardino” d’Italia, un traguardo che ha definito lo sviluppo del design urbano nel Paese. La nostra proposta si concentra sul recupero di questa eredità, consolidando l’edificio come cuore di un progetto di rigenerazione integrale che abbraccia la torre e il suo contesto immediato attraverso l’inserimento di giardini interni, cortili e interventi strategici in ciascuno dei suoi livelli. Per raggiungere questo obiettivo, valorizziamo la vegetazione mediante spazi verdi che fungono da nessi vitali, integrando nuovi programmi culturali con la struttura originale e preservando sempre la sua integrità e il suo valore costruttivo come patrimonio del quartiere.

Come strategia architettonica principale, introduciamo una serie di “protesi” prefabbricate in acciaio di un distintivo colore rosso. Questi elementi non intendono passare inosservati, ma stabilire un dialogo visivo franco e dinamico tra l’edificio, lo spazio pubblico e il visitatore: il contrasto tra il rosso del metallo e il verde della vegetazione, basato sull’armonia dei colori complementari, permette a ogni persona di identificare istantaneamente i nuovi percorsi, la volumetria originale della torre e i giardini legati a programmi specifici come la caffetteria, la libreria o le sale espositive e museografiche. La scelta di questo colore non è casuale; cerca una sintonia tonale con la luce e la natura, funzionando come un sistema di orientamento intuitivo che guida l’utente attraverso i diversi spazi.

Concettualmente, queste protesi operano come elementi che attivano nuove attività, usi e connessioni nella totalità del complesso, offrendo una seconda opportunità a una struttura che aveva perso la sua funzione. Il loro ruolo è fondamentalmente pratico, ma dotato di una profonda intenzione tecnica e poetica; da un lato, fungono da nodi di connessione mediante scale e ponti che risolvono in modo leggero la mobilità verticale e orizzontale, permettendo di esplorare la torre da prospettive inedite. In questo modo, l’edificio stesso diventa un museo diffuso dove gli interventi facilitano un percorso concepito come una promenade tra architettura e paesaggio. Dall’altro lato, la proposta recupera lo spazio attraverso l’adeguamento degli interni per usi pubblici e culturali che narrano la storia del quartiere e la sua evoluzione, rispettando la pelle originale dell’edificio ma adattandola con sensibilità alle necessità contemporanee. Tutti questi interventi mirano a immergere l’utente in un’esperienza didattica che inizia nella quotidianità, ma che si evolve verso una sensazione di meraviglia nello scoprire ogni ambiente e dettaglio del progetto.

“A highly recognizable project that reinterprets the Milanino Tower through a system of red architectural insertions capable of activating new pathways, connections, and public spaces immersed in the surrounding greenery.”

Lula Ferrari – Lula Ferrari Studio

La storica Torre dell’Acquedotto

Nel tessuto pianificato della Città Giardino di Cusano Milanino, la Torre dell’Acquedotto emerge come segno verticale e memoria tecnica del luogo. FLUMEN propone una reinterpretazione di questa infrastruttura, trasformando il flusso originario dell’acqua in un sistema contemporaneo di relazioni culturali, sociali e spaziali.

Il progetto si fonda su un principio di intervento minimo, volto a preservare integralmente la struttura esistente e a riattivarla attraverso nuovi usi. La torre non viene modificata nella sua essenza, ma riletta come dispositivo capace di accogliere una sequenza di spazi diversi, organizzati lungo il suo sviluppo verticale.

Alla scala urbana, l’intervento ridefinisce il rapporto con il suolo attraverso una piazza semi-pubblica che assorbe il dislivello naturale del terreno. Rampe e gradonate costruiscono uno spazio continuo e accessibile, capace di connettere i diversi ingressi e di attivare una nuova centralità per la comunità.

Il percorso ha origine nel livello ipogeo, concepito come estensione della piazza. Qui, attraverso l’apertura delle bucature esistenti e il riposizionamento delle lucernari, la luce naturale penetra negli spazi, trasformandoli in ambienti destinati a studio, workshop e attività condivise. L’inserimento di vegetazione contribuisce al miglioramento delle condizioni ambientali, affrontando le criticità legate all’umidità.

Salendo, il progetto articola una sequenza di funzioni complementari: uno spazio per la ristorazione in relazione con un giardino più raccolto, ambienti flessibili per attività collettive e uno spazio espositivo dedicato alla memoria della torre e alla storia di Milanino. Ogni livello è pensato come un episodio autonomo, ma parte di un sistema unitario.

Il percorso culmina nel belvedere a 360°, dove la torre si apre verso il paesaggio e il cielo. Da qui, lo sguardo abbraccia la città giardino, mentre verso l’interno emerge la presenza del serbatoio come elemento centrale, testimonianza della storia e dell’identità dell’edificio.

FLUMEN restituisce così alla torre un ruolo attivo nel presente, trasformandola in un’infrastruttura capace di generare connessioni tra memoria e uso, tra spazio e comunità.

“The proposal responds to the program with rigor and effectiveness, redefining a renewed urban and social role for the structure. The design solution is clearly represented and demonstrates a respectful approach toward the character and identity of the existing building.”

Matteo Scaltritti – Semarchitettura

In the dense residential fabric of Cusano Milanino, at the intersection of three streets, stands a former water tower — not as an obsolete mechanism, but as a silent witness of the industrial era. It is not being demolished; instead, it is transformed into a porous public organism that breathes with light, movement, and people. The massive brick walls create natural thermal regulation: cool in summer, warm in winter. The complex terrain allows entry from street level, blurring the boundary between outside and inside.

The visitor ascends through a sequence of functions. On the basement level, an art studio hosts classes for children by day and adults by evening. On the ground floor, a café, lecture hall, and drawing workshops transform at night into wine tastings and stand-up concerts. The first floor offers a welcome area with an administrator and elevator. The second floor contains a coworking space with a relaxation zone. On the third floor, a lecture hall with a library and a staircase to the mezzanine opens the sky through new windows.

Inside, historic brick meets warm contemporary materials. The site is bounded on three sides by roads, making the tower visible like an island. Schools, churches, and shops within walking distance form a steady flow of visitors; bus stops expand the audience to the entire Milan suburb.

Outside, every square centimetre has been thoughtfully transformed. Pergolas offer shade for café guests. A small pond with benches and a modest waterfall quietly recalls the tower’s original hydraulic soul. On the slope, an open-air amphitheatre nestles into the terrain for warm-evening performances. A once-grey wall is now an art wall — a living canvas that catches the eye. A service area for deliveries ensures smooth operation. These gestures do not compete with the tower; they complete its story.

This project is not about spectacle, but about belonging. It does not reconstruct the past; it gives it a second breath. The water tower quietly opens its doors, inviting neighbours, freelancers, and passers-by. Here, architecture becomes an active mediator: thick walls remember the pressure of water, while new functions remember the pressure of life. A decommissioned engineering structure becomes a round-the-clock public heart — a place to stop, learn, work, look, and feel. A breath between stone and sky, between past and future.

In the dense residential fabric of Cusano Milanino, at the intersection of three streets, stands a former water tower — not as an obsolete mechanism, but as a silent witness of the industrial era. It is not being demolished; instead, it is transformed into a porous public organism that breathes with light, movement, and people. The massive brick walls create natural thermal regulation: cool in summer, warm in winter. The complex terrain allows entry from street level, blurring the boundary between outside and inside.

The visitor ascends through a sequence of functions. On the basement level, an art studio hosts classes for children by day and adults by evening. On the ground floor, a café, lecture hall, and drawing workshops transform at night into wine tastings and stand-up concerts. The first floor offers a welcome area with an administrator and elevator. The second floor contains a coworking space with a relaxation zone. On the third floor, a lecture hall with a library and a staircase to the mezzanine opens the sky through new windows.

Inside, historic brick meets warm contemporary materials. The site is bounded on three sides by roads, making the tower visible like an island. Schools, churches, and shops within walking distance form a steady flow of visitors; bus stops expand the audience to the entire Milan suburb.

Outside, every square centimetre has been thoughtfully transformed. Pergolas offer shade for café guests. A small pond with benches and a modest waterfall quietly recalls the tower’s original hydraulic soul. On the slope, an open-air amphitheatre nestles into the terrain for warm-evening performances. A once-grey wall is now an art wall — a living canvas that catches the eye. A service area for deliveries ensures smooth operation. These gestures do not compete with the tower; they complete its story.

This project is not about spectacle, but about belonging. It does not reconstruct the past; it gives it a second breath. The water tower quietly opens its doors, inviting neighbours, freelancers, and passers-by. Here, architecture becomes an active mediator: thick walls remember the pressure of water, while new functions remember the pressure of life. A decommissioned engineering structure becomes a round-the-clock public heart — a place to stop, learn, work, look, and feel. A breath between stone and sky, between past and future.

“The project successfully conveys a warm and comfortable atmosphere that welcomes visitors and offers a variety of possible uses. Outside, water returns and becomes a reflective surface, mirroring the image of the restored tower. Particularly compelling is the idea of the library at the top of the tower, housing books on the history of the garden city and transforming the space into a quiet and protected place with panoramic views. Rather than relying on spectacular transformations, the project proposes a calm and thoughtful reuse of a historic building, allowing it to come back to life in a meaningful way.”

Lidia Arduino – Comune di Cusano Milanino

Il progetto di riqualificazione della Torre dell’Acquedotto di Milanino si fonda sull’idea di restituire all’edificio un ruolo centrale nella vita pubblica del quartiere, reinterpretandone l’identità attraverso il tema del fluire dell’acqua.

Il concept del progetto nasce dalla lettura della sezione longitudinale del lotto. Da questa interpretazione emerge un duplice sistema di flussi che struttura l’intera proposta: un flusso orizzontale, sviluppato sull’asse delle ascisse, che connette la piazza sud-ovest con la piazza a nord-est attraversando l’edificio, e un flusso verticale, impostato sull’asse delle ordinate, che si sviluppa all’interno della torre mettendo in relazione i diversi livelli.

Il percorso inizia dalla piazza a sud-ovest, dove assume un andamento sinusoidale che accompagna l’ingresso nell’edificio. Qui la rampa genera una sequenza di spazi pubblici dedicati alla sosta e all’interazione, nei quali l’utenza può trovare riparo sotto leggere coperture. Queste si distinguono come elementi architettonici riconoscibili e, al tempo stesso, come dispositivi funzionali: schermature solari e “imbuti” capaci di raccogliere e convogliare le acque meteoriche. Il flusso orizzontale attraversa la torre come un vortice e si conclude distendendosi verso la piazza a nord-ovest, dove il percorso si apre e si stabilizza in una traiettoria più lineare, naturale esito del sistema. In questo punto il tracciato si semplifica in una doppia rampa che connette la piazza a due livelli della torre e, attraverso gradini e gradonate, conduce al piano interrato, configurandosi come un vero e proprio anfiteatro civico.

All’interno della torre si intercetta il flusso verticale, il cui principio generatore è una rampa elicoidale. L’impianto funzionale si articola lungo questo percorso continuo, rendendo la torre in un organismo pubblico stratificato e permeabile. Dal primo piano, dove trova posto un caffè letterario, la rampa conduce al livello superiore. In questo punto lo spazio si trasfigura, assumendo la dimensione di luogo d’incontro e di ambito contemplativo, in cui i giochi di luce guidano la percezione dell’utente. I raggi solari, penetrando dalle aperture, attraversano l’antica cisterna che, nel progetto architettonico, si configura come una citazione: ne conserva la forma ma non la materia. La cisterna si trasforma così in un elemento leggero e trasparente, presenza evocativa che allude a una funzione ormai trascorsa. All’interno di questo assetto verticale, il piano terra e il piano interrato non sono attraversati dalla rampa, ma ne costituiscono le soglie di innesto e di propagazione. Il piano terra ospita uno spazio di co-working flessibile, configurato da pannelli mobili blu che richiamano il fluire dell’acqua. In continuità con questo sistema, il piano interrato accoglie una sala espositiva, dove pannelli dello stesso cromatismo guidano il percorso del visitatore.

L’intervento sull’involucro esterno si configura come un’operazione di restauro, orientata alla tutela e valorizzazione dell’identità storica della torre. La composizione architettonica, le aperture e gli elementi decorativi vengono integralmente preservati, evitando alterazioni della morfologia originaria. In questo quadro, l’unico segno contemporaneo visibile in facciata è rappresentato dai parapetti della rampa, che emergono puntualmente sui prospetti rivolti verso le piazze, configurandosi come tracce del flusso che attraversa la torre.

Reviving the water tower as a Repair commons

RE:PAIR-RING revives Milanino’s historic water tower by translating its original infrastructural logic of storage and distribution into contemporary civic infrastructure. Storage expands beyond water to include tools, objects, skills, time, and neighborhood relationships—resources that can be shared, maintained, and recirculated through repair. In the residential garden-city context, repair becomes an everyday practice that encourages repeated visits, makes sustainability tangible, and supports intergenerational knowledge exchange. Older residents bring practical needs and lived know-how, while younger users contribute making culture and workshop-based learning, together forming shared publicnessthrough recurring encounters.

Because the tower’s envelope is protected and difficult to modify, the project reopens the landmark through a reversible add-on layer and a layered access sequence. A lightweight external system of steel framing, perforated panels, and timber work surfaces stitches three approaches into one continuous public route: street-level entry, the park axis, and the sunken level. At the core, a ring ramp operates as both organizer and connector, enabling a smooth, barrier-free descent while binding multiple entries into a single civic loop. The Ring Sunken Plaza becomes the public heart, where stepped terraces and pocket plazas turn movement into moments of staying, pausing, watching, and meeting.

The program is organized as an operable everyday loop. A street-level intake and pick-up counter supports drop-off, consultation, and collection, directly linking the facility to daily routines. Below, a sunken-connected repair workshop concentrates noisy making, tool storage, parts sorting, and service rooms, and opens to the sunken commons so demonstrations and informal learning can occur naturally. Above, park-facing commons and workshop rooms support classes, community bookings, and shared making.

Inside the tower, setback ring work platforms amplify the perception of height and depth. As platforms step back upward, the central void becomes more legible and dramatic, allowing visitors to register the cylindrical volume layer by layer. This interior ring works with a water feature at the base: incoming light travels down through the tower, skims the water surface, and casts rippling reflections across the lobby floor and walls. The shimmer lets visitors sense water as an atmosphere, recalling the tower’s identity and memory of storage while reinterpreting it within an everyday civic setting.

In this sense, “ring” is not repetition for its own sake, but a consistent vocabulary with clear purpose: outside, the ring ramp integrates access and ensures inclusivity; inside, the ring platforms intensify spatial experience and frame inherited character through light and water. Through a seven-day rhythm of drop off, repair, pick up, and share, RE:PAIR-RING transforms an isolated monument into living neighborhood infrastructure—a Repair Commons where resources are continually renewed and relationships accumulate.

The Water Tower of Milanino is the manifestation of the Garden City vision, presenting itself as a singular structure within a lush landscaped corridor. Our proposal honors the Water Tower as both a reflection of, and a driving force behind, Milanino, with surgical interventions that activate the disused structure’s latent potential. The site intervention seeks opportunities to create multiple invitations into the tower, thereby activating its (three) ground levels to ensure year-round functionality.

To balance the rich, historical sensibility of the tower’s facade with an identifiable intervention, the material palette focuses on contrast and texture. The warm sienna tones of the tower are contrasted by a dark patinated bronze liner at locations where openings are created. The palette for the intervention presents a rich, but consistent tone across multiple materials, illuminating the path carved through the original structure. The tower’s board formed concrete is exposed at all opportunities.

We embrace the urban symmetry along Viale Luigi Buffoli by introducing a main circulation axis along the North-South corridor, while adapting the dramatic existing topographical contours to allow for a multiplicity of spatial and programmatic possibilities. One approach draws the visitor down through an amphitheatre, nestled in the landscape of the hidden garden, where performances may be held and events hosted. The Amphitheatre carves through a portion of the overgrown landscape while preserving a wild element at the edge condition and draws you through the Performance Court into the Lower Level, which is an extension of the Public Arts function.

The opposing approach enters through a keyhole on the South side of the site, revealing the Event Terrace with ample daylight and opportunity for programmatic connection between indoors and out. The Event Terrace has direct access to the cafe / bar and community kitchen, and is a place for people to gather and eat under the shade of the plane trees.  

In their current form, East and West edges of the site are bound by retaining walls, creating a visual barrier that requires an intervention. This is achieved through elevated overlooks, articulated as distinct metal forms which peer into the sunken gardens to reveal the activity within. These forms are strategically inserted between the existing trees, their edges softened by the lush planting of the gardens. One of these overlooks extends into a ramp that provides access to the third “ground level” – the Galleries.

The interior reconfiguration of the lower three levels foster spontaneity and multifunctionality by locating support spaces (restrooms and elevator) and stair circulation on either wing of the building. This frees the center space, allowing for unique adaptations.

The insertion of a ceremonious staircase traverses into the mezzanine gallery and towards the tower’s inner sanctum – the Bird’s Nest library. Separated from the energetic public courts, the water tank transforms into a haven for quiet introspection. Soaring arches that once supported the water storage of Milanino are now the formwork to the cradle of knowledge. As shadows on the bookshelves and seamless dialogue with foliage trace the passing of time, one may find refuge for communal memories and knowledge in the carefully transformed Water Tower.

In 1902, Ebenezer Howard prophesied an ideal life of “fresh air, sunshine, beauty, and peace” in Garden Cities of Tomorrow, a vision that later took root in Cusano Milanino near Milan. At the heart of this blueprint, the water tower once served as the vital functional core of the city’s operations but gradually fell into silence as eras changed. Adhering to the principle of “Minimal Intervention,” this design redefines the cold industrial relic through vertical functional programming, transforming it into a warm “Living Room of Memory.”

Courtyard Narrative: Jungle and Mineral Courtyard

The building’s base sits below ground level, where the north and south subterranean courtyards have evolved into two distinct characters through natural succession. The North Courtyard has been reclaimed by nature, forming a primordial “Jungle” of dense vegetation and climbing vines, while the South Courtyard retains its industrial imprints through mottled hardscaping and old freight ramps. The design preserves and intensifies this dramatic contrast: on the north side, majestic existing trees are preserved and the grass slopes refurbished with native species to enhance the “wild” atmosphere. To protect the ecology, suspended metal gratings are utilized for flooring and stairs—a translucent material that dissolves the boundary between the architectural construct and the natural habitat. Simultaneously, the South Courtyard is reconfigured as a “Mineral Courtyard” covered in gravel to ensure drainage and permeability. A new U-shaped ramp replaces the old freight path, gently guiding pedestrian flow from the street into the social heart, sheltered by existing London planes and newly planted shade trees.

Path Intervention: Lightweight Articulation

A lightweight metal bridge spans the North Courtyard, replacing the original exterior staircase. This bridge directly connects the external streets to the building’s “memorial entrance,” sustaining the site’s historical behavioral logic by preserving the traditional entry path. Structurally, the bridge is entirely detached from the historic facade, making contact only at the entrance junction. This approach ensures the integrity and continuity of the tower’s historical skin while establishing a clear logical boundary between the new circulation element and the original structure.

Core Reconstruction: Light Narrative and Vertical Circulation

The interior vertical circulation has been completely restructured. By removing the original stairs, elevators, and the concrete structure of the top water tank, an octagonal vertical system is inserted to traverse the building from base to summit. This core comprises a sculptural spiral staircase and a central accessible elevator encased in glass bricks. This material choice reconstructs the site’s “light narrative”: sunlight filters through swaying shadows and wide window panes, refracting through the glass bricks to project undulating ripples of light onto the inner walls. This sensory effect phenomenologically awakens the tower’s physical memory as a former water storage facility.

Functional Matrix: Vertical Community Hub

Supported by the new vertical core, the building’s program is organized into three logical zones. The top zone is defined as a Community Archive that anchors the spirit of the place; the space released by the removal of the concrete tank is transformed into an observation deck, offering a panoramic vista of the city. The first basement level, seamlessly linked to the South Mineral Courtyard, is converted into an independent café. Its revenue serves as a dedicated fund for the maintenance of the archives and activity center, ensuring the project’s long-term socio-economic sustainability. The second basement level functions as a community activity center, providing flexible multi-purpose spaces and essential utilities to support neighborhood interaction and community services.

Through the refined reconstruction of order, paths, and light, the water tower completes its metamorphosis from an industrial facility into a spiritual landmark. Serving as an emotional bridge across time and space, it initiates a vital new community narrative while continuing the legacy of the Garden City.

Where Paths Become Place

The water tower, long embedded in the local landscape, is reimagined as an open public landmark that embraces everyday life. This transformation goes beyond a simple change of internal program; it begins with the creation of external spaces that draw people in and allow moments of pause and encounter to occur naturally. No longer a solitary monument, the tower reconnects with the village through a continuous sequence of pavilions that extend across the site as a public promenade. The existing pedestrian flow from the sidewalk seamlessly continues into the pavilion without clear boundaries, gently drawing everyday movement into the site and expanding the water tower into an open civic space. The pavilion transforms movement from mere passage into experience, encouraging people to slow down, stay, and become aware of one another.

The yard between the veterinary clinic and the water tower, although physically shared, lacked spatial order and failed to express a meaningful relationship. By introducing a pavilion that articulates circulation, this ambiguous space is reorganized into a shared event ground that connects the two areas. Likewise, the small ancillary buildings to the north, despite being located within the same block, remained disconnected due to fragmented open spaces and an unclear spatial hierarchy. The pavilion resolves this disconnection by binding dispersed spaces into a continuous flow and creating a natural movement toward the tower even from a distance. In this process, the pavilion is carefully positioned to avoid and embrace existing trees, preserving the landscape while providing shaded and comfortable paths for walking and rest.

The previously undefined entrance is clarified through a connecting bridge, allowing the flow of the pavilion to extend seamlessly into the tower. This continuity transforms the experience of walking and resting outside into the internal program, making the tower a natural destination in everyday life. The pavilion is elevated approximately 500 mm above the ground with a grated floor, allowing it to lightly hover over the terrain without damaging the existing topography and vegetation. Rather than overwriting the site, this approach respects the existing environment while adding a new spatial layer. Beneath the pavilion, small events, conversations, and everyday interactions naturally occur, gradually activating the space.

Following this sequence, people are naturally guided into the tower, where it is redefined as a public library open to all. As one of the most inclusive civic programs, the library accommodates a wide range of activities, including reading, learning, rest, social interaction, and cultural engagement. The vertically organized space transitions from open and active on the lower levels to quiet and contemplative above. A central circular stair connects all levels, acting as a spatial core where movement and interaction intersect. At the top, the original water tank structure is revealed, allowing visitors to experience the time and memory embedded in the place.

Ultimately, the water tower and pavilion form a continuous spatial system that reconnects a once fragmented site, transforming it into a living public center embedded in everyday life.

Immersa nel suo scrigno di verde, la Torre dell’Acquedotto domina il cielo di Cusano Milanino e si impone sopra la chioma degli alberi e i tetti circostanti. La sua posizione, le sue dimensioni e le sue facciate iconiche le conferiscono un potenziale immenso e permettono di immaginare un progetto che risplenderà alla scala del quartiere e forse anche oltre…

Guidati da questa convinzione, abbiamo voluto fare del progetto un segnale ma soprattutto un progetto comune e condiviso. Ci è quindi apparsa un’immagine evidente: il faro.

Da sempre gli esseri umani hanno costruito edifici per orientarsi, segnalare e guidare. Slanciati sopra i mari e gli oceani, i fari sono il miglior esempio di questi punti di riferimento. Indicano la strada e ricordano ai viaggiatori che troveranno un luogo sicuro seguendo la loro luce.

È così che nasce “Il Faro” di Cusano Milanino. Un’icona e un luogo di riferimento, in ogni stagione, dedicato all’arte, alla cultura, agli incontri e all’apprendimento. Attraverso volumi semplici, spazi leggibili, programmi intuitivi, una forte modularità e una circolazione fluida, ciascuno potrà trovare qui il proprio spazio.

Anche gli spazi esterni contribuiranno alla convivialità del luogo. Il terreno e il suo naturale dislivello ci hanno offerto opportunità di sistemazione che ci sono sembrate evidenti: gradinate vegetate che diventano un luogo di ritrovo nelle sere d’estate per proiezioni all’aperto o concerti; giardino didattico per insegnare e scoprire la natura che ci circonda; cortile paesaggistico che si estende nel bar sociale dove amici e famiglie potranno ritrovarsi a ogni ora del giorno e della sera.

Tra la conservazione del suo patrimonio architettonico e un intervento sensibile, “Il Faro” ambisce a essere soprattutto un progetto umanista, in cui si coltiva il legame sociale.

The project proposes the reactivation of a historic water tower in Cusano Milanino, transforming a disused landmark into a vibrant civic space for the local community. Strategically located along the city’s green axis, the tower becomes a catalyst to strengthen connections between existing open spaces and enhance everyday public life. The intervention responds to its dynamic context, characterized by nearby schools, cycling paths, and rail connections, attracting a diverse range of users including residents, students, and visitors.

At the urban scale, the project extends beyond the tower itself, shaping a system of open spaces that integrate architecture and landscape. The ground level is articulated through a sequence of interconnected areas that take advantage of the natural topography. One of the main entrances is accessed from the open space of the auditorium and is defined by lightweight fabric panels that echo the rhythm of the historic façade. Here, the natural slope is transformed into an open-air theatre, offering a flexible space for community events and performances, built with local brick materials that frame and enhance the presence of the tower. On the opposite side, a second entrance leads to a children’s playground, creating an active and welcoming threshold. This area also accommodates bicycle parking and provides access to a small cafeteria located within the tower.

The intervention follows an adaptive reuse strategy based on precise and targeted actions that preserve the historic concrete structure while introducing clearly recognizable contemporary elements. The core of the project lies in the activation of the tower’s internal void, treated as its main spatial resource. Rather than filling it, a new cylindrical steel structure is inserted within the existing frame, establishing a clear dialogue between old and new.

This structure redefines the tower as a performative device. A circular path organizes vertical circulation, guiding visitors upward through a sequence of spaces that offer changing perspectives toward both the interior and the surrounding landscape. Each level acts as a balcony overlooking a central stage, creating a collective 360-degree environment defined by movement, centrality, and interaction. The space is flexible and adaptable, capable of hosting concerts, theatrical performances, lectures, and community gatherings. A retractable curtain system allows the atmosphere to be adjusted depending on the event, while a lighting system integrated at the top enhances the scenographic quality of the space.

Through minimal yet transformative interventions, the project redefines the tower as an inclusive and dynamic landmark, where architecture, landscape, and community life converge.

The proposal preserves the tower’s structure, reinterpreting its hydraulic heritage as a contemporary medium for public gathering. By celebrating water as a central tectonic and sensory element, the design transforms a closed industrial relic into a series of spaces for collective ritual and quiet reflection.

The design strategy focuses on a clear preservation of the tower’s form while introducing new, light-touch interventions. Outside, the courtyard is surfaced with a floating metal deck that allows the existing grass to grow through its gaps, maintaining a legible link to the site’s past. A shallow, external pool sits within this deck, serving as a public sculpture that slows the pace of entry and encourages community interaction. Through this engagement with water, the tower is reimagined as a piece of civic infrastructure that weaves together the neighbourhood and its history.

Ground Floor: The Permeable Arcade

The ground floor is converted into an interior arcade, functioning as a public thoroughfare that restores connectivity between the housing areas previously separated by the site’s fencing. This level acts as a platform for circulation—both across the site and vertically through the building—defined by durable new floor finishes, graphic decals, and loose furniture that allow for flexible community use.

Level 1: The Sensory Threshold

This level serves as a darkly lit transition space designed for cleansing and preparation. It functions as an atmospheric pause where the acoustic presence of water resets the senses; a strategic skylight provides a singular point of orientation, guiding visitors through the gloom toward the stairs leading to the primary assembly space above.

Level 2: The Elevated Sanctuary

Occupying the tower’s crown, the internal volume is defined by the geometry of the original water tank. Natural light fills the chamber, highlighting the building’s industrial tectonics and drawing focus to a central pan. This pan collects a rhythmic sequence of water droplets falling from the tank above, creating a serene environment for meditation.

Basement Level 1: The Subterranean Hall

This subterranean volume is designed for mass gathering, mirroring a conventional hall layout. The sacred atmosphere is heightened by the presence of the external courtyard pool directly above; narrow apertures allow light to reflect off the water’s surface, casting constant, rippling patterns across the ceiling to animate the concrete interior.

Basement Level 2: The Cloistered Suite

Tucked beneath the main assembly hall, this level provides private, living quarters for visiting pastors and guests. It prioritizes functional seclusion and quiet, offering a protected retreat for those facilitating the building’s programs while maintaining the project’s broader commitment to material simplicity.

In 1999, Massimiliano Cividati, moved by childhood memories, restored attention to the water tower of Cusano Milanino, which had lain unused for decades. From this premise “a memory” our proposal transforms the adaptive reuse project into a collective memory of the region’s culture. A poetic water droplet chandelier, suspended at the tower’s core, honours the building’s original function while marking its rebirth as a centre for culture and community.

Flexible Spaces for Daily Life

The interior is conceived for continuous, multigenerational use. The basement level hosts a flexible auditorium that transforms from a 50-seat theatre into an exhibition gallery or backstage dressing room supporting the outdoor theatre. The café-restaurant on the first floor offers a welcoming social space with an open kitchen. Above, the library features warm wood finishes and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, with an elevator ensuring universal accessibility. The upper reading room, bathed in natural light, provides a quiet retreat with white walls that emphasize the monumental concrete structure, and a water droplet chandelier recalling the building’s past.

The office zone demonstrates maximum flexibility: through movable aluminium and polycarbonate glass partitions, the space alternates between open-plan collective offices and individual private offices, accommodating a meeting room and archive.

Activating the Public Realm

Outside, a new public plaza with a contemporary fountain becomes a gathering point, shaded by olive trees and framed by native hedges (Lonicera xylosteum). An open-air theatre integrates stone and wood benches into the existing topography, hosting daytime and nighttime performances. A shaded seating area encourages social interaction and emotional well-being. The community events area features flexible design, serving as a rehearsal space or cultural gathering zone.

Sustainability and Responsibility

Environmental strategies are woven into the design. Photovoltaic panels (8.83 kWp) are discreetly placed on new structures, pergolas and the kiosk roof, preserving the historic facade. Rainwater is harvested in two 10,000-litre reservoirs for irrigation and toilet flushing, reducing public water consumption by 40-50%. Smart lighting systems combine photocell controls for exteriors with presence sensors and dimmers indoors. Permeable, photocatalytic paving cleans the air, while locally sourced wood and recycled steel minimise embodied carbon.

A Place for Everyone

Universal accessibility is ensured throughout: a stairlift serve the entrance; the elevator connects all levels. The Water Tower is no longer a dormant monument it is a living hub where history, culture, and community meet every day.

A while back, an old school teacher confided in me that after a structure dies, an energy remains stored within it for several years, undiminished, latent, capriciously insisting on reappearing and enduring. The old water tower exudes an indescribable beauty. Surrounded by its imposing verdant parkland, it has stood immutably on the outskirts of Milan since the early 1900s. A witness to different historical periods that have unfolded in this place, the new has gradually overlapped the old over the years. In the Lombard tradition, with a pure and elemental geometry, the structure in its natural state, rich in romanticism, invites speculation about non existent events that could unfold in that space and fill it with new life. The presences are understood as an atmosphere, cultivated and making use of the qualities already present. The intention was that the different parts would not clash, but rather influence one another. Immersed in a special alchemical blend, each space is imbued with a timeless beauty—an intrinsic purity that will always retain contemporary relevance. The most challenging aspect was capturing a sense of magic and intrigue, achieved through a choreography of scenes interwoven by a staircase and an atrium, elements that never existed and had to be invented. It was about imagining spaces where the unexpected vibrates, open to suspense as things that have always been present are combined with new desires, acquiring new meanings. These are tranquil and serene spaces that appear to have evolved naturally and unforced, destined to be offered to the community: understated but salient, designed for work and leisure. The imprint of the body of water at the summit of the structure has been extended, and together with the old window openings, they sculpt a kind of soft shell that replicates the existing contours; it is natural yet also somewhat strange. Smooth to the touch, with certain imperfections, made from a mixture of plaster and earth, intended to be appreciated as a form of abstract art enhanced by the passage of time, it crowns a special place for observing and contemplating the trees and gardens, to be enjoyed in company or in solitude. Descending the rustic plank staircase, they can be heard creaks and tapping sounds reverberating from the wood as if it were a resonant, breathing body. Its peculiar aroma can be smelled, which seems to condense the humidity and mist typical of the place and the countless footsteps of those who have passed through. The light gradually gives way to twilight. Within a body covered with a dark complexion, our eyes see differently. One wonders around the corral and choose a book while appreciating the pre-existing theater below. The atrium becomes a bustling bazaar. The allure of aging through the action of wind, sun, and rain was of particular interest. The materials were chosen for their inherent durability, while also considering their susceptibility to change and patina. Both factors are linked to a sense of value. Growing old is intimately connected to chance or vicissitudes, emotions, and transformations. A comfortable and generously sized sofa in the living room rests beneath the void that opens up and connects the different spaces. The chairs and work tables are simple, yet possess their own distinct character, free of ornamentation, ostentation, or cluttered decoration. These rooms convey a comforting sense of freedom. One connects with own work and with others. The wooden shutters anchored to the windows graduate the passage of light, changing the tone of the space at times, making it more intimate when closed. It is late, and one goes downstairs for a glass of wine. A sequence of arches reminds us of the geometry of the whole, forming a cozy space like a cave with a long table underneath, which at times is laden with delicacies for one to savor. The sun is low, and the diffused shadows of the trees enter through the windows, shifting with the breeze. The soft rain occasionally trickles down the ivy and splashes the cobblestones of the pavement. The sound of water from the fountain can be heared and the smell of the wood burning in the hearth. Night fell and the soir has just started.

The project reimagines a historic Milanese water tower as a contemporary cultural landmark, weaving together memory, landscape, and public life. Once adapted as a café andperformance venue, the structure is now revitalized through a more comprehensive andcohesive approach, transforming it into an open, layered environment that supports botheveryday use and cultural engagement. Rather than treating the tower as an isolated object, the proposal positions it as the central anchor of a broader spatial system, where architectureand landscape operate in dialogue.

At the heart of the intervention is the creation of a terracotta hued garden that extends thearchitectural identity into the public realm. Inspired by the material language of the tower andthe local context, the landscape is shaped through sculpted walls, textured surfaces, andintegrated planting. A network of illuminated pathways guides movement across the site, subtly activating the space during the evening and enhancing safety and atmosphere. Withinthis landscape, a series of pavilions emerge as shelters, offering shaded areas for rest andinformal gathering. These are complemented by an amphitheater and distributed seatingzones, which encourage social interaction and support cultural events. Together, theseelements establish a permeable threshold between the surrounding neighborhood and thetower, inviting visitors to enter, explore, and inhabit the space at their own pace.

The site is further defined by a difference in levels, which is used as an opportunity to createdistinct yet interconnected spatial experiences. One side of the tower opens onto an elevatedgarden that serves as the primary entrance sequence, while the other descends into a moreopen and extroverted terrace containing the amphitheater and bar seating. This layeredground condition enhances the diversity of use across the site, accommodating both intimateand collective activities.

A lightweight catwalk acts as a connective element, stitching together these spaces andcreating a new elevated pathway. Beyond its functional role in circulation, the catwalkintroduces a dynamic spatial experience, offering framed views and strengthening visualrelationships between the tower, the gardens, and the city beyond. It transforms movementallowing visitors to engage with the project from multiple perspectives.

Internally, the tower is organized as a vertical sequence of five levels, each defined by a gradual shift in program and atmosphere. The lower two floors house cafés and bars, formingthe most active and social zones of the building. The lowest level directly engages with theoutdoor amphitheater, extending performances beyond the interior, while the second flooroverlooks the space below through a large opening, maintaining visual and acousticcontinuity. Above, the third floor introduces a quieter program in the form of a library anddedicated spaces for reading and listening, providing a moment of retreat. The upper levelaccommodates a small museum and viewing point, combining historical narrative withcontemporary cultural expression while offering panoramic views of the surroundings.

Movement throughout the tower is organized by a central system of stairs and an elevator, ensuring clarity, accessibility, and continuity. Threaded through this vertical core is a distincttubular element highlighted in red, introducing a contemporary layer that contrasts with thehistoric fabric. This serves both as a Visual marker and a unifying feature, reinforcing theidentity of the tower while linking its diverse functions into a cohesive whole.

Together, the project balances preservation and reinvention. It positions the water tower notas a static monument, but as a living, evolving structure one that adapts to contemporaryneeds, fosters community interaction, and reconnects architecture with landscape in a distinctly Milanese context.

The proposal is based on the reinterpretation of the Water Tower, embedded in the garden-city fabric of Cusano Milanino, transforming it into a new cultural hub. In contrast to the intrinsic verticality of the existing building, a new canopy is proposed whose horizontality establishes a vertical/horizontal tension between the old and the new poles. Materiality further reinforces this temporal narrative, while terracotta evokes the industrial past of the region, the metal structure asserts contemporary industrialisation. The intervention also seeks to strengthen the identity of the place linked to the historic presence of water, proposing a thin layer over the new canopy. As a gesture of communication with the city, the tower reclaims its condition as an urban landmark through a vertical beam of light activated during nights of cultural activity, visually inviting the surrounding population.

The program is articulated between the interior of the tower and the exterior space created beneath the new canopy. Above it, the water mirror introduces a reading that is simultaneously contemplative and functional. Beyond the reflection it creates, it brings nature into the ensemble, as it helps attract birds from the surrounding green areas, reinforcing ecological concerns within the intervention.

Due to its reduced height, this horizontal canopy projection, visible from the surrounding streets, establishes a silent presence, allowing all outdoor activity to take place below street level, giving the space a sheltered condition. The columns supporting the canopy symbolically recall the trees that once stood beside the water tower.

The northern section of the exterior space accommodates an open-air amphitheatre. Between the stage and the seating, a water curtain, fed by the tower’s reservoir, can, when necessary, separate the stage from the audience, assigning water a scenic function and giving the tower’s reservoir a renewed functional purpose. A void in the canopy allows a tree to pass through, breaking the structure and introducing a vertical tension associated with the existing condition.

To the south, the space assumes a more mutable character. A system of floor pins allows flat profiles to be fixed and the space to be reorganised according to use, enabling configurations such as a market, grand events, exhibition, or continuous route. The canopy also integrates a transparent acrylic zone, functioning as a skylight that allows light and water reflections to pass through to the pavement.

Inside the tower, the rehabilitation is subtle and functional. Level -1 serves as backstage for the amphitheatre and a flexible rehearsal room, divisible by curtains; Level 0 functions as reception and cafe; Level 1 offers an adaptable exhibition gallery through modular platforms that allow the curator to manipulate the space. Finally, Level 2 accommodates a creative studio with inspiring views over the surrounding urban fabric.

The spatial mechanisms of the proposal allow events to be hosted, variable uses to be accommodated, and the ecological dimension of the intervention to be reinforced. Rather than rehabilitating an isolated object, the aim is to establish an active urban system in which architecture, nature, and culture operate dynamically over time.

The project reimagines the former water tower as a contemporary public landmark, transforming a piece of infrastructure into an active social condenser. The proposal is based on a careful balance between preservation and intervention, where the historical identity of the structure is maintained while introducing new layers of public life. Rather than imposing a radical transformation, the design establishes a dialogue between the existing architectural language and a series of lightweight, reversible insertions.

The first panel presents the tower as a “vertical hub,” a new civic anchor embedded within its urban context. The base is opened and made transparent, creating a direct relationship between the building and the surrounding public space. This intervention activates the ground level as a community café and meeting place, allowing the tower to become part of everyday life. Above, the historic mass of the tower is preserved and carefully adapted, with new elements inserted in a way that respects its original geometry and materiality. The project emphasizes verticality not only as a physical condition, but as a conceptual framework—organizing program, movement, and perception into a continuous upward journey.

This vertical logic continues in the second panel, which focuses on the interior as a spatial experience. The tower is conceived as a sequence of connected platforms organized along a vertical promenade. Visitors move from the lively and social atmosphere of the café, through intermediate levels dedicated to workshops, exhibitions, or informal gatherings, and ultimately reach the panoramic observation deck at the top. Each level offers a different degree of openness, interaction, and contemplation, creating a layered public environment within a compact footprint.

Accessibility is a key principle of the proposal. A centrally positioned elevator ensures that all levels are fully accessible to everyone, making the vertical experience inclusive rather than exclusive. The elevator is conceived as a transparent and lightweight element, reinforcing the perception of vertical movement while remaining visually subordinate to the historic structure. In parallel, a sculptural staircase wraps through the interior, offering an alternative, slower path that enhances spatial awareness and encourages social interaction.

The architectural approach is intentionally restrained. The existing concrete shell, windows, and structural elements are preserved and exposed, allowing the building’s history to remain legible. New interventions—such as platforms, railings, and circulation elements—are designed with a clear and contemporary language, using materials like steel, glass, and wood. This contrast is not aggressive but complementary, ensuring that the old and the new coexist in a balanced and respectful relationship.

Light plays a fundamental role in defining the atmosphere of the interior. Existing window openings provide soft, lateral illumination, while the top of the tower introduces direct zenithal light that penetrates deep into the space. This creates a vertical gradient of light, guiding movement upward and reinforcing the perception of height. As visitors ascend, the quality of light changes, culminating in the open and expansive experience of the observation deck, where the tower reconnects with the city and the distant landscape.

Together, the two panels describe a coherent vision: a transformation that is at once minimal and impactful, where a historic structure is not only preserved, but reactivated as a vibrant, inclusive, and meaningful public space.

Adaptive Reuse of the Cusano Milanino Water Tower

Reclaiming the Water TowerFrom Infrastructure to Public Landmark

1. Concept & Urban Strategy

The project reinterprets a decommissioned industrial water tower as a contemporary publiclandmark. The design adopts a subtractive approach rather than an additive one; by strippingaway low-quality interventions added over time and reopening sealed apertures, thestructure’s original architectural logic is made visible. Consequently, the building “lightens,” re-establishing a profound relationship with light, air, and its urban surroundings to revitalizethe site as a 7/24 active public hub.

2. Programmatic Organization

The building is reorganized as a public program with vertical continuity, merging production, interaction, and experience:

3. Materiality & Circulation

A balance between industrial aesthetics and spatial warmth is established through a refinedpalette of polished concrete, copper, glass, and terracotta. A central copper-clad spiral staircase serves as the continuous vertical spine, transforming functional circulation into a sensory path of spatial discovery. The reflective qualities of the copper contrast with thebrutalist concrete, creating a dynamic interplay of light throughout the day.

4. Landscape Approach

The landscape design is defined by a duality of usage:

5. Sustainability & Technical Integration

Architectural Motto: “Revealing the brutalist soul of the past through contemporarylightness and materiality.”

Water is the source of life and essential for humans. It is an everyday need for humans from the moment they are born and until their death. It is also a shared cultural and spatial experience. In Cusano Milanino, an area shaped by its industrial history since the early 20th century, the existing water tower has been transformed into a modern civic landmark.

The project honors the tower’s original purpose, making water visible and tangible for everyone. Visitors move through a series of settings that reinterpret water in its various forms: submerged, contained, flowing, and vaporized. This design creates an immersive climb from the depths to the sky.

At the center of the project is a spiral, lightweight metal staircase that serves as both a circulation path and a storytelling element. Built with the idea of adaptive reuse, the addition attaches to the existing structure without causing damage, creating a dialogue between past and present. The staircase links all different areas, guiding people from enclosed spaces to open viewpoints that overlook the landscape of Milan.

Expanding beyond the tower, the project expands into a network of connected public spaces. A water management system captures and reuses rainwater for irrigation and non-drinking purposes. This approach brings environmental sustainability into daily use, emphasizing water both as a resource and an experience.

The project is designed to be inclusive and accessible, functioning every day, and welcoming to an unlimited range of users. People of any age have the possibility to use the space in any kind of activity: creative, social, relaxation.

The landscape around the tower features a series of “waves” of activity, including fountains, gardens, an amphitheater, and elevated viewpoints. Above the amphitheater, a light, undulating structure stretches outward, its form echoing the rhythms of moving water. Beneath it, light is filtered and softened, creating a shifting atmosphere that evokes the sensation of being immersed, as if the space itself were gently enveloped by a fluid surface. These elements extend the tower’s impact into the community, serving residents while also attracting visitors from all over the city. Open day and night, the project aims to become a new urban monument: one that is alive, continually experienced, and reinterpreted.

Located in Milan, The Water Tower is an adaptive reuse project designed to act as a social catalyst for the surrounding neighborhood. While the authentic exterior of the historic structure has been carefully preserved, the interior has been entirely reimagined to encourage social interaction. The design focuses on creating shared spaces that draw local residents together, transforming the former industrial structure into a multi-functional vertical hub.

The spatial layout is organized across three primary levels and the upper tower volume, all connected by a central elevator and staircase to make the building accessible to all. The lowest level, situated below the street, features a workshop studio. Reached by an integrated ramp and stairs, this space maintains a direct connection to the outdoors, creating a sunken social area. At the street level, the building hosts a café designed as an inclusive gathering point. This floor is accessible from the street level via a dedicated ramp, ensuring that the facility is open to all members of the community.

The third level is dedicated to a two-tiered climbing facility. The arrival zone includes changing rooms, gear rental, and a bouldering area, providing a transition into the building’s active zones. From here, the facility extends vertically into the tower itself, offering a larger climbing wall for more experienced climbers. The monumental climbing wall extends upward, organically merging with the shell of the former water tank to form a continuous, fluid architectural shape. At the very top of this wall, nestled completely within the old tank, a unique resting area has been created, offering climbers a place to relax. By integrating these diverse functions within the original structure, The Water Tower provides a dynamic environment where the local community can meet, create, and engage in physical activity.

The project blends productivity, social connection, and an active lifestyle into one welcoming environment. The journey begins on the ground floor, where a flexible coworking and creative area opens directly into a lush garden, providing an inspiring backdrop for collaboration, outdoor work, and cultural events. Moving up, the atmosphere transitions into a cozy community lounge and café, offering the perfect spot to relax, meet with friends, or simply unwind on the outdoor terrace. For those seeking movement, the upper levels are dedicated to health and fitness, featuring a dynamic climbing zone complete with comfortable changing rooms. The experience culminates at the very top with an impressive, large-scale climbing wall designed to foster teamwork and personal growth, rewarding climbers with a truly unique relaxation space nestled inside a beautifully transformed former water reservoir.