Biblioteca degli Alberi - Milan project

 Part of the weekly reader was to research the Biblioteca degli Alberi in Porta Nuova, Milan. Designed by Petra Blaze with collaboration from Piet Oudolf, the 10-hectare site aims to work as an urban connector. Paths run straight in different directions, starting in contrasting areas, residential, commercial, and governmental, liking the site, creating a grid of connections that overlap and cross over one another. 

The planting design for the fields was designed to be a series of spaces, with carefully selected species to offer different types of growth patterns and aesthetics. The iconic circular forests scattered over the site include foliage of different colours and structures, providing year-round interest. 

While I am fond of the park in plan view, my personal opinion is torn when the human experience is brought into it. The sheer scale of the park sometimes makes it appear quite barron to me personally. I don’t know if I could see myself frequenting it, if I were local, as anything more than a commuting route. And with a name like Library of Trees I would have wished for more coverage, though I understand that is not a unanimous opinion.