The urban regeneration intervention in Viale Ottavio Mario Mai is part of ToNite’s strategy, which envisages the renewal of urban spaces as an enabling element for a safe and quality use of public spaces, thus contributing to the improvement of the quality of life for inhabitants and city users. The project of urban regeneration in Viale Ottavio Mai is realised by the City of Turin, and precisely by the technicals offices “Divisione Trasformazione Periferie, Beni Comuni e Rigenerazione Urbana”.
WHY, IN VIALE OTTAVIO MAI?
Located in a strategic position, Viale Mai runs along the Luigi Einaudi University Campus, connecting it to the Edisu university residence. It is a link between the pedestrian and cycle path F. Mellano along the Lungo Dora and Corso Farini, allowing to reach the Vanchiglia district and the center. It is a pedestrian area of 4,500 square meters, a passage for both the inhabitants of the area and for students attending the University. In recent years, however, the area appeared as “forgotten”, with poor public lighting and no possibility of use, despite its strong potential.
The avenue represented, in fact, a “scar” in a neighborhood that, after the construction of the university center, has undergone a strong urban transformation and is still experiencing new balances and new ways to experiment relationships and inclusion between the different people that inhabit and frequent the neighborhood.
VIALE OTTAVIO MAI, TODAY
Viale Ottavio Mai is a urban space designed to encourage an open, inclusive and multifunctional use and today it is a pleasant and safe place to frequent, especially in the evening and at night. The new identity is multiple: an “outdoor campus” where people can study and discuss, an accessible, pedestrian and cycle path to get to Lungo Dora, but also a “square” where people can stop to meet, organize public initiatives, play or have a rest.
THE SOIL
To preserve the nature of the stretch and act with a view to conservation, it was decided to enhance the existing gravel as an element of resilience but also by virtue of its permeability. The soil allows the permeability of rainwater and the increase in greenery improves the breathability of the air.
THE PATHS
The avenue is crossed by several and connected paths. A new concrete pavement was created (ecological pavement in stabilized earth made with a mixture of ground and concrete, compacted and rolled) for the cycle path on Corso Farini, which links to the one on Viale Mai, along the Edisu university residence.
URBAN FURNITURE
The design of the furnishings has followed the present transformations, playing with the concept of distance without limiting sociality: a social table with benches that are spaced apart, but which can be brought closer together, and which allow people in wheelchairs to sit, or to add additional seats when necessary. New benches and chaises-longues, a ping-pong table and bike racks positioned at the intersection of the avenue with Corso Farini and, on the northern side, in the connection with Lungo Dora Siena.
PUBLIC LIGHTING
A new public lighting system was built, designed in collaboration with Iren, which included the insertion of 13 new lighting poles, one of which lights the mural created for TOward 2030).
NATURE
Next to the already existing row of plane trees, four new plantings have been created, as well as flower beds of aromatic herbs and ornamental grasses – non-allergenic – which fit well into the gravelly soil.
THE RAIN GARDEN
Viale Ottavio Mario Mai is a public pedestrian area built on the principles of environmental sustainability by applying nature-based solutions for the adaptation and mitigation of climate change. In the area there is a green infrastructure for the collection of rainwater also called a rain garden. The Rain garden is a landscaped depression that uses a mix of sand, compost and greenery to allow rainwater runoff to seep into the soil and be filtered, thus absorbing excess water. Inside it hosts a variety of herbaceous plants and shrubs resistant to water stress conforming to the landscape characteristics of the place.
IMPOLLINATOR INSECTS
Viale Ottavio Mai was born with the intention of recreating a green ecological corridor and allowing pollinating insects to find a comfortable habitat to live and reproduce in the urban ecosystem. The green areas are rich in herbaceous and shrubby melliferous plants selected for their abundant blooms and the intense scent of the inflorescences capable of attracting pollinating insects such as bees and butterflies. These insects are essential for our ecosystems and the maintenance of biodiversity and numerous causes including climate change, habitat destruction, insecticides, predators … put their survival at risk. Viale Mai aims to counter the decline of pollinators and contribute to conservation, counteracting the causes and increasing awareness of the problem in line with the EU Pollinator Initiative.
THE COMMEMORATIVE METAL STATUE
To introduce the area from the long Dora stands a sheet, in corten steel, evocative of Ottavio Mario Mai, director, actor, poet and founder of the International Gay Film Festival, to whom the avenue is named.
THE PROJECT WITH THE UNIVERSITY
The area, owned by the University, was made available to the City of Turin through the signing of a memorandum of understanding which provides for a five-year free loan. The University of Turin also undertakes to extend some of its services aimed at students, such as the study rooms, to the evening hours, to guarantee the safe use of the avenue and to further enhance the potential of the area, also in the framework of the ToNite project’s objectives.
WHO WAS OTTAVIO MARIO MAI
Ottavio Mario Mai (Rome, 9 December 1946 – Turin, 8 November 1992) was an Italian director, screenwriter, actor, writer and poet. He was born in Rome and after diverse working experiences, he arrived as a metalworker in Turin, where in the early 70s he graduated and enrolled at the University – Political Science first and then Philosophy. He intensively followed the courses in History of Cinema and, self-taught, trained in cinema. In 1977 he met Giovanni Minerba with whom he made several cinematographic works, awarded by festivals around the world. In 1986 Ottavio and Giovanni founded and directed the first edition of the International Film Festival with Homosexual Themes “From Sodom to Hollywood”, today known as the “Lovers Film Festival” and at its 37th edition. November 8th, 2022 will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the death of Ottavio Mario Mai. Between the 70s and 80s, with his life and works he significantly contributed to the birth and success of a cultural project with a GLBT theme, in Italy.
VALUE OF THE REGENERATION INTERVENTION
The amount for the urban intervention of the area amounts to 495,000 euros, fully funded by the Urban Innovative Actions program, within the European Regional Development Fund.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE URBAN INTERVENTION
