Top of the World
The Science and Technology Park "Kilometro Rosso" is a complex for tertiary and industrial use, created on the initiative of Brembo s.p.a., which has built its representative office and offices for industrial research here. Nouvel's design partly recovers some instances of the one, never realized, that Le Corbusier designed for the new Olivetti electronic computing centre in Rho (1959-1965). It is located along the A4 motorway, towards which the project faces a kilometre-long wall made of red lacquered aluminium panels which, besides becoming a strong sign on the territory, also acts as a barrier to noise coming from the automobile artery. Inspired by the poetics of road-movies and the work of Wim Wenders, this contemporary fortification, which reflects on the theme of the perception of architecture in motion, protects a park of over 400,000 square meters - also equipped with an artificial lake - in which many buildings are immersed, built according to different types and technologies and oriented orthogonally to the motorway. All the blocks, however, are organized according to a specific subdivision, which provides reinforced concrete bases on which upper volumes are supported, entirely made of glass and steel to promote views of the greenery, the Park of the Hills and Upper Town (which serve as a perspective backdrop to the settlement) and maximize the benefits of natural lighting for the offices. Between the wall and the green area there is a plate for parking and the thickness of the barrier varies, along the path, to structure a series of pedestrian walkways leading to the different areas designed by the masterplan.
