One design theme that has always utterly charmed me is the love story between plants and architecture: this is the main subject of the project for Manifattura Tabacchi in Florence.
Suffice it to think that this place had already become a highly inspiring urban jungle while waiting since 2001 – when manufacturing activities in a walled-in factory stopped to make way for the site’s new future, completely open towards the city. The charming factor is that the first movers in the site’s regeneration were those plants that spontaneously started to connect to architectures. The landscaping plan I created with my Studio was a development of the initial Masterplan of Holland’s Studio Concrete, and an integration and completion of the final Masterplan designed by Sanaa and Studio Mumbai.
Once the barriers enclosing the factory were torn down to open it towards the city, the botanical selection was inspired by the natural landscape of Florence: a unique city, where art history, monuments, craftsmanship and local know-how all easily connect both with the countryside and with the wilderness. Architecture studio Q-Bic proved to be an innovative ally, carefully making room for the plants’ provocative and regenerative energy.
The scene set by sober architectures and the site’s strategic location, just off Santa Maria Novella, near the large Cascine park, between the Macinante and Mugnone waterways, allowed us to carve out many of the themes that define the final scheme, including the secret Hanging Garden at building 11, the wooded courtyard at the Chimney, the tree-lined walks, the central Forest, the formal Clock courtyard and – most importantly – all the open spaces where draining surfaces were enhanced to add new trees and to accommodate pioneer species: a virtuous strategy for an innovative project that encourages colonisation by regenerating pioneer plants, and that urges the Manifattura visitors to observe the cosmopolitan nature of Florentine landscape with a fresh eye. Architecture is designed by Q-BIC.
