The urban regeneration and redevelopment project involves properties, buildings and lands belonging to the historic centre of the Municipality of Vizzola Ticino, in the province of Varese. The redevelopment scope covers a large area, including portions of the buildings within the old hamlet (Corte Bellezza and Corte Santa) and a larger area, consisting of three courtyard buildings (Corte Giovanna, Corte Vincenza and Corte Emilia) built around a green area.
The urban regeneration project allows for a multiplicity of intended uses, including services of public interest.
The urban regeneration project involves buildings and lands that represent an important part of the historic centre of Vizzola Ticino, including parts of structures within the old hamlet and a larger area, located transversely to the local road, consisting of three courtyard buildings laid out around a green area. The existing buildings are very interesting from an architectural point of view due to their typological and morphological characteristics and are well suited to being redeveloped for new uses and services of public interest. The setting, with its strong historical identity, offers great potential for socio-economic development by virtue of its geographical location and the richness of its landscape. Fashion and design are topical themes for the area, considering the proximity to Milan and the well-established presence of well-known international brands in the area. A fashion house could be established, with ateliers, laboratories, factories, a research centre and a training one, also by exploiting the possibility provided by the Territorial Zoning Plan (TZP) to create new volumes within the Vincenza court. These functions of territorial interest can be accompanied by other commercial, craftsmanship and tertiary functions, including a small part of temporary residences, linked to the TZP forecasts, thus creating a balanced functional mix that minimizes the risk of not meeting the demand for spaces present on the market local.
The greenfield area may be affected by the construction of a new route for free public use, in order to guarantee pedestrian permeability on the southernmost front facing the Villoresi canal, a vegetation screen and an ecological corridor to the east of the settlement, adjacent to the Corte Giovanna building; an area destined for green-parking and areas for free public use could also be created in order to strengthen the physical and visual interconnections between the open spaces.
The entire project proposal is pending approval.
The project provides for the redevelopment of several buildings of historical-architectural value and free areas located in the hamlet of Vizzola Ticino (population 586), a small municipality in the province of Varese (population 890,090), in the Lombardy Region (population 10,008,349). The area is well served by the local road system and is easily accessible from the regional and national one through the junction of the SS-336 located less than 1 km away. Milan Malpensa Airport’s Terminal 1 (second airport in Italy for passenger traffic) is located at the same distance and it hosts the railway station of the MalpensaExpress line, which connects the airport directly with Milan, and of the Swiss railways TiLo, which connects the city to Lugano. Thanks to the Trenord regional railway network, the area is in direct connection with the entire national railway network. Furthermore, in the vicinity of the airport, the terminus of the local, regional and inter-regional public transport bus lines can be found. A 4-star hotel can be found in the immediate vicinity of the area, whilst a second hotel of the same category is currently under construction. The geographical location guarantees a breathtaking panoramic view of the Ticino Valley and of the regional park of the same name, and ensures an easy connection with the network of bicycle and pedestrian paths already present in the area.