Water is the source of life and essential for humans. It is an everyday need for humans from the moment they are born and until their death. It is also a shared cultural and spatial experience. In Cusano Milanino, an area shaped by its industrial history since the early 20th century, the existing water tower has been transformed into a modern civic landmark.
Courtyard
Amphithatre & Workshop
The project honors the tower’s original purpose, making water visible and tangible for everyone. Visitors move through a series of settings that reinterpret water in its various forms: submerged, contained, flowing, and vaporized. This design creates an immersive climb from the depths to the sky.
Restaurant & Cafe
Library
At the center of the project is a spiral, lightweight metal staircase that serves as both a circulation path and a storytelling element. Built with the idea of adaptive reuse, the addition attaches to the existing structure without causing damage, creating a dialogue between past and present. The staircase links all different areas, guiding people from enclosed spaces to open viewpoints that overlook the landscape of Milan.
Axonometrical View
The landscape around the tower features a series of “waves” of activity, including fountains, gardens, an amphitheater, and elevated viewpoints. Above the amphitheater, a light, undulating structure stretches outward, its form echoing the rhythms of moving water. Beneath it, light is filtered and softened, creating a shifting atmosphere that evokes the sensation of being immersed, as if the space itself were gently enveloped by a fluid surface. These elements extend the tower’s impact into the community, serving residents while also attracting visitors from all over the city. Open day and night, the project aims to become a new urban monument: one that is alive, continually experienced, and reinterpreted.
Axonometrical Sections
Team Members: Emre Olmez, Ioannis Peistikos
