CENTRALE DELL'ACQUA -

One of Milan aqueduct’s oldest pumping stations - designed towards the end of the19th century by the engineer Franco Minorini and first brought into operation in 1906 - it has become the first facility entirely focused on the public water supply, its history, protection and underlying values.
MM has opened the waterworks to the public. Full of history, they provide an overview of the dedicated work of thousands of professionals getting to grips with the planet’s most important resource. An experiential, multipurpose location open to local and students hosting a range of miscellaneous interdisciplinary activities designed to inform people about the public water supply service. A place for meeting the key players in this field, enjoying interactive workshops, taking part in debates and training courses, reading and being informed about the quality of the water that comes out of the city’s taps. 
The design concept of the integrated FUD and DEGW team (both brands of theLombardini22 Group, specialising respectively in brand design and strategic consultancy for office spaces) was the result of bringing together two value systems: the waterworks’ architecture and the element water itself. This has generated a multilevel image: liquid, transparent, Milanese, cutting-edge, connected. 
A concept in which the states of water - solid, liquid, gaseous - are visualised ingraphs and turned into three distinctive patterns. Each represents one aspect of the new Milan Waterworks: Architecture, Aqueduct, Digital. 
Bringing together architecture and water created the new colour scheme, which combines various shades of blue with the reds of the bricks that are the most distinctive feature of the facade of the old waterworks. 
The user experience of Milan Waterworks is comprised of five areas. An immersive, flexible layout geared to different needs and types of visit (cultural, informative, interactive, educational...): Reception, Library, Main Hall, Multipurpose Area, Virtual Reality. 

Photo credits: DEGW – Lombardini22
Countries: ITALY
Designer: LOMBARDINI22
Status: Completed
Inaugurazione: 2018
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