Opening of the SON center for mental fragilities “Cascina San Carlo” in Milan
The SON center for mental fragility, is now completed. Located in the outskirts of Milan, it consists of a cluster of housing and social services, distributed within two residential buildings and a pavilion for civic and public activities. Moreover, the project includes the refurbishment of Cascina San Carlo – a building dating back to 1915 – and the redevelopment and expansion of the adjacent public park.
The buildings and the landscape dialogue with the historical signs and paths present in this fragment of the city, with the aim of creating an inclusive environment, but also a discreet landmark which, during the night, like a lantern, becomes visible to the neighbourhood.
The relationship between living spaces and natural elements – the light, the landscape, the passage of time and the seasons – is at the core of the physical and social project. Materials, shapes, and colours are the result of a careful research on the domesticity of the place, extended to the perceptive aspects linked to cognitive fragilities.
The intervention – subject of a specific urban planning agreement with the public administration – is carried out within the framework of the law “Dopo di noi”, that protects the rights of people with disabilities left without family support, and it is entirely financed by private donations and fundraising.
Cascina San Carlo, 1930 circa
Photography: B22 / Filippo Romano / Simone Marcolin
Press: Diletta Trinari – press@b22.it