Un ponte ciclo-pedonale per Parco Nord: Connecting the Park — a structural intervention in Parco Nord, Milan

Project Brief:
This project was developed during my Erasmus exchange at Politecnico di Milano (Campus Leonardo), where I studied Building Architecture between September 2023 and February 2024. As part of the “Laboratorio di Strutture e Infrastrutture nel Paesaggio,” our team was tasked with designing a pedestrian and cycling bridge within the Parco Nord of Milan — a large urban park that spans multiple municipalities and plays a critical role in the city’s environmental and recreational landscape.

Site and Challenge:
Our intervention focused on a specific location at the southwestern edge of the Bresso airfield, where major roads (Via Gian Carlo Clerici, Via XX Settembre, Via Ambrogio Strada, and Via Antonio Gramsci) intersect to form a large traffic roundabout. This vehicular node creates a disconnection between residential areas and the park, disrupting the continuity of pedestrian and bicycle paths. The challenge was to restore this continuity through a structural solution that integrated seamlessly into the landscape while minimizing disruption.

Design Response:
We designed an elevated pedestrian and cycle bridge that connects the park's inner pathways with adjacent urban areas. The bridge takes the form of a curving, gradually narrowing pathway — not just linking points A and B, but enhancing the movement experience through form and spatial awareness. Prefabrication played a central role in the design approach: the main structure is a steel box girder system, assembled from modular segments to allow rapid on-site construction and limited interference with road traffic.

Structural Characteristics:
The bridge features a variable-width cross-section — from 4.5m to 8m — to accommodate functional nodes such as staircases and vertical access points. Each span is composed of 11.5m long steel modules, joined with bolted steel plates. The piers consist of 65cm diameter steel tubes, anchored via fixed connections at the base and elastomeric joints at the top. This modular approach ensures ease of transportation, assembly, and structural stability.

User Experience and Finishes:
The bridge surface is a layered bitumen-asphalt system matching the park's existing paths. Cyclists and pedestrians are guided by a differentiated surface color, and the structure is painted red to create a visual identity. Integrated LED lighting in handrails and foot guards ensures night usability. The railing system uses a transparent metal mesh for minimal visual obstruction, aligning with the low-impact philosophy of the project.

Conclusion:
The result is a lightweight, adaptable, and context-sensitive structure that reinforces sustainable urban mobility. It improves access to green space, strengthens inter-neighborhood connectivity, and demonstrates how infrastructure, when well-integrated, can become a meaningful part of the urban experience.