Residential Complex at Via Watt 22/24

Thanks to its carefully calculated façades, the cluster of homes designed by Giuseppe Tortato Architetti on Via Watt, Milan, interacts with its immediate urban surroundings rather like a clump of coral interacts with its marine environment. Overlooking the Naviglio Grande canal between Via Morimondo and Via Lodovico il Moro, this new-build is part of the overall redevelopment of the site of the Richard Ginori ceramics plant abandoned in the 1990s and subsequently earmarked as a quarter fostering innovation and creativity. The residential complex is the final piece of a successful urban revitalization project where Tortato’s practice has been a key player since the early 2000s.

This small residential complex, the last chapter in the regeneration of the brown site left by the historic Milanese ceramics company, stands now where a small warehouse – now demolished – had served for a time as an art studio after the factory closed. Although a critical plot hemmed in by several neighboring buildings, the new residence provides a series of comfortable, bright, airy private living spaces and pleasant communal areas. Tortato’s signature style – measured, unaggressive architecture that blends with its context – is clearly apparent in the two sleek, elegant, minimalist volumes in soft shades rising just three levels above ground. Connected by a ground-floor
community space, the two buildings contain a total of 11 residential units: five studio-apartments, five two-room apartments, and one three-room apartment.

The design springs from the owner’s wish to keep the property – an urban lot of only 1,000 sq. m – “in the family”. Although seemingly randomly disposed, the two dynamically articulated buildings are in fact the result of careful study, creating a system of outdoor spaces that contributes significantly to the overall quality-of-life
offered by the different interiors. As a...

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