Case Study
The “Casa del Parco”: an interactive multimedia facility, located inside the Cascina Centro Parco.
Contact name
Tomaso Colombo
Institution name
Parco Nord Milano Administration
Region & country
Lombardia - Italy
Summary
The “Casa del Parco” has been created with three main purposes: 1) archive 2) inform 3) attract. After 40 years of history, the Parco Nord has felt the need to collect and catalog photos and films, to let the new users know the history of the Park, which is often unknown and taken for granted. It was really important to inform and reflect on the great change that has transformed a so bare and industrial place of a half-century ago, into a large park with over 400,000 trees and 450 acres of public green.
Visitor at the multimedia center
Photo by: Archivio Parco Nord
Multimedia center - "Casa del Parco"
Photo by: Archivio Parco Nord
Multimedia center - "Casa del Parco"
Photo by: Archivio Parco Nord
Background of the project
The Park did not have a multimedia center that welcomed visitors and explained the change over the years, which affected the whole area on which the park is now standing. The Park’s documentation was not available to be viewed by the users and was not well organized from an archival point of view.
Therefore, it was decided to create a place that, with a simple, economic and versatile set-up, could accommodate various and updatable contents that would tell the story, the present and the future of the Park. To start the project it was necessary to find and organize the multimedia documents and create a multidisciplinary team including differents skills and know-how.
Solution and actions taken
Once the needs were identified, being aware that should be approached an external partner, it was chosen to adopt a procedure that would allow bidders to declare the contents of the “concept” in the most versatile way. To solve the need to increase and organize multimedia documentation, it was necessary to call professionists to recapture the material already available and made internally, including composite materials.
A call for invitations was made that summarizes the main contents that were to be mentioned in the House of the Park. An expert awarding committee has been set up. An immersive reality has been built in which the contents of the Park can be viewed by the users. Meanwhile, it began to increase the photographic material, by professionals as well as by passionate users.
Other institutions or parties involved
The external partners are:
- Studio Librizzi, for the architectural aspect;
- Videografia italiana, for film content and editing;
- Compagnia Teatrale “Casa degli Alfieri”, for voices and texts;
- Loundscape for professional photographic materials;
- Soul Designer, who has handled hardware and software.
Results
The “Casa del Parco” is today an excellence of Parco Nord Milano. Every year, thousands of visitors of every age come to visit it. We are always working to enrich its content and make it more interactive, with the aim of making the Park ever more an emotional and cultural center.
Challenges
The issues were: accessibility and attendance. Being inside the Farmhouse, it is necessary to organize the autonomous entry from the outside. We worked on direction signals to make easier the access. The problem of festive openings has been solved thanks to the precious work of volunteers and boys of the National Civil Service, which allow the structure to stay open and visitable during holidays and weekends.
Lessons learned
The most important lesson we obtained is that you should never stop believing and investing in culture. We need to find the right way for people to learn, offering current content that let they look with a new hope for the future.
Contact name
Tomaso Colombo
Institution name
Parco Nord Milano Administration
Website(s)
