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Lugano – There are plans to create a floating garden and reconfigurable roads in Lugano that will increase links between the city and the lake. The project also intends to partly pedestrianize the congested waterfront.

Plans have been unveiled for Lugano that will increase links between the city and the lake with a system of innovative public spaces to ease traffic congestion. Features include a floating garden island connected by a new water navigation system and reconfigurable roads capable of responding to people in real time.

The project, which is the brainchild of Carlo Ratti Associati (CRA) and Mobility in Chain (MIC), aims to overhaul the main traffic artery cutting through Lugano’s shore, according to an article in World Architecture news. 

As well as becoming partly pedestrianized, the congested waterfront will be redesigned with a dynamic road system that can be configured with different numbers of lanes depending on the amount of traffic. The proposal also includes smart signage, responsive street furniture and infrastructure that produces clean energy from heat absorption. The historic design of the city will be maintained.  

“By analyzing mobile and traffic data and backing up the mobility concept’s definition with a model-based scientific approach, we supported CRA’s urban vision of transforming the fracture of today’s Lakefront vehicular axis into a responsive space, hosting new mobility solutions and enabling the waterfront to adjust dynamically to the vibrant ecosystem of Lugano, “ commented Federico Parolotto, Senior Partner MIC, in the article.