THE SMALL + THE GREEN
Regeneration of Piazzale Cassin, former Piccola Velocità area
THE SMALL + THE GREEN takes its name from the place and from what it has become: “the Small” comes from the Piccola Velocità, the former railway goods yard in the centre of Lecco; “the Green” is the square and garden, open to the city, that has taken its place. Where there was asphalt the ground breathes again: about 80% of the site has been depaved, rain is collected by planted beds and by drainage paving with grass joints, almost 50 new trees shade the square and new paths link it to the surrounding streets. Native trees, shrubs and flowering meadows support pollinators and urban biodiversity. The stone paving is reused material, salvaged by the Municipality from the old paving of corso Matteotti. The effects of the project on the urban heat island are now monitored by the Politecnico di Milano.
- Location
- Piazzale Cassin, Lecco (LC)
- Client
- Comune di Lecco
- Year
- 2024–2026
- Status
- Completed
- Area
- 3,500 m²
- Depaved
- about 80% of the site
- New trees
- almost 50
- Role
- Design, works supervision, safety coordination
- Planting design
- Gianna Galgani – Frea Studio
- Photos
- Alessandro De Giorgio
Disciplines involved
Designing open spaces as living systems, where ecology, water and people shape the form of every place.
Shaping streets, squares and public spaces around the way people live, move and meet.
Managing water on site — drainage, retention and hydraulic invariance — so that rain becomes a resource.
Composing species, layers and seasons so that planting grows, changes and thrives over time.
Habitats, ecological networks and biodiversity: designing so that every species finds its place.
In the press
- Lecco NotiziePrende forma l’area esterna della Piccola, al via la posa dei lastroni di corso Matteotti
- Lecco NotiziePiccola, avanti con i lavori: completata la scala verso il Politecnico
- PrimaleccoNuova vita per la Piccola: al via il progetto che trasformerà l’area esterna in un corridoio urbano verde e accessibile