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It's convention centers day, today!
So I propose you a short dive into two major urban restructuring projects, sparked by competition in the fairground market that prompted the moving of two major fairgrounds outside of city centers in the 2000s:
Munich and Milan
So I propose you a short dive into two major urban restructuring projects, sparked by competition in the fairground market that prompted the moving of two major fairgrounds outside of city centers in the 2000s:
Munich and Milan
Both cities embarked in major urban projects (and real estate schemes) to build a modern, larger and more attractive fairground, a structure that normally occupies several hectares, pushed by the necessity to give up their older site, unfit for modern operation
Let's start with Munich: The Alte Messe (old fairground) was located just near the Octoberfest esplanade. It developed over time with small, incoherent additions of new pavillons. Over time, it became unfit the logistics and large crowds of modern expositions
The moving of the messe outside of city center is part of an even larger scheme: Building a new airport far out, moving the fairground and a whole new neighborhood in the site of the old airport and then redevelop the Alte Messe site. It took more than a decade
The new neighborhood built around the new Messe, called Munich Riem, boasts a large park, several thousands residential units and commercial space, an U-Bahn extension and is, honestly, a very nice medium-rise suburban neighborhood
The site of the Alte Messe, still under redevelopment today (when I visited it in 2008 was barely starting), is being filled with a mix of residential, institutional and other function with the usual plain, passivhaus, green-roofed German architecture
Now, let's move to Milan. Like in Munich, the FieraMilano was developed overtime, on the site of the 1906 Simplon Exposition. Over time it became ill-organized bunch of buildings put together in a constrained space surrounded by the growing city
The new FieraMilano was inaugurated in the early 2000 on a peripheral greenfield site, with a flamboyant glass gallery, a M1 2-stops extension, a rail station for S, R, RE and HSR right by, but too many new roads, unfortunately. A classic example of European car&train urbanism
The Old site was sold to a big redeveloper via an international competition based on money offered and quality of the urban design proposal. The winner, CityLife, boasted all the major (but not the best, IMO) archistars. The center of the project are three **iconic** towers
The new M5 has a station right in the middle and the public spaces, like the central plaza and the park, are a nice feature, but this Dubai-style bric-à-brac mix of flamboyant architectures, complete of a Fashion Museum (Milan!
) is maybe not the best urban project ever
) is maybe not the best urban project ever
Despite that, the construction of the fairground, that costed over 2 Bn€ in Munich and more than 1Bn€ in Milan, has been the engine of large urban transformations, transit projects, new public spaces. The 2015 Expo in Milan was, in fact, built just right-by the new FieraMilano
Unlike Convention centers, those fairgrounds are large equipment that are more suitable outside of the dense core, especially given their awful parking needs and very uneven usage. But they are important enough to move billion in urban development money around
