raumlaborberlin

raumlabor installted the CROSSING PATH SUPER BENCH at the Public Design Festival in Milano. For few month, the CROSSING PATH SUPER BENCH ”institutionalized” an informal network of footpaths, right behind the train station Porta Garibaldi: An area like a piece of periphery right in the centre of Milano.

Right behind the train station Porta Garibaldi: An area like a piece of periphery right in the centre of Milano. Not a place to rest but to traverse.

Here, at the end of Cavalcavia Eugenio Bussa, which connects the quarter Isola over the railway track with the more central Zona 1, over the years pedestrians formed footpaths on a small patch of lawn.

The existing network of paths does not entirely comply with the needs of movement in the city. It is rationalized in a slow process by daily use. The network of informal paths superimposes the planned and paved alleys and complements these with shortcuts and a bike lane parallel to the stairs.

We substantiated this common phenomenon temporarily. The areas which are a result of the superimposition of official and informal path networks were “developed” with ordinary Milan benches, which were positioned precisely along the edges. For few month, the crossing path super bench ”institutionalized” the informal network of footpaths, which is not a result of top-down planning, but originates in an act of appropriation of public space.

foto (c) raumlaborberlin