La Scala’s ‘Magnificent Factory’ – a new 70,000 square metre green home for laboratories and studios

The winning project of the international competition to find a design for the ‘Magnifica Fabbrica' (Magnificent Factory) has been won by the Italian-Spanish group headed by designer Massimo Giuliani. A single, large volume of light made up from a regular modular grid, will be surrounded by greenery and the canals of the Lambretta Park and flanked by the Palazzo di Cristallo (Crystal Palace), restored and converted into a winter garden, called the Green Factory of Biodiversity.

The presentation took place this morning in the spaces of the current Scala workshops in via Bergognone in Milan, a former industrial area that has become a centre for fashion and museums.

There were 59 projects submitted, and seven chosen for the final selection. During the presentation, it was announced that, “The structure is elegant and harmonious, responding to the obligations dictated by the pre-existing industrial construction and configured as a new, large building to welcome the public as well as being productive, and it fully meets the criteria of sustainability, durability and maintenance.”

The Project

The Magnifica Fabbrica will be a wood and steel construction with clean lines and 25 metres in height. It will create an area providing 66,778 sq metres divided into 4 bays, each 30 metres in length. In this space there will be 34,000 sq metres for creating sets and props as well as rehearsal rooms, a costume department, and set and costume warehouses giving space for over 2,500 containers stacked on 4 levels. In addition there will be multifunctional and refreshment areas.

The outside walls will be made of recycled polycarbonate, and the roof will have a 3600 kw photovoltaic system, making it a Zero Energy Building. There will be an open-cycle geothermal system to purify underground water.

The Spazio dei Sogni (Space of Dreams) gives more than 4,000 sq metres for hosting exhibitions, workshops, courses and events.

The Ring is an elevated high public pathway for visitors, allowing touring groups to see the Fabbrica's activities from a distance of eight metres, without interrupting the work in process.

Another elevated wooden structure, called the Piazza Flottante, will characterise the nearby Crystal Palace, which will be able to host cultural events of the city and other organisations.

The Lambretta Park will be developed, doubling its size to almost 100,000 sq metres, creating a landscape of green meadows with paths running along the banks of the canals, orchards, rows of trees along the paths, and the Water Gardens with natural phyto-purification meadows that will also offer educational opportunities for schools.

The first stage of the project, at a cost of 120 million euro, will concern the expansion of the Park, and work will begin in 2024.

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.