Mediolanum Garden
milan
milan, italy
Concept Design
Design Engineering
2017
When a structural element holds the promise of a tree.
Harnessing Monumentality as Promise
At the heart of a corporate dining space on the outskirts of Milan, the renovation began with a powerful architectural presence: an enormous structural element anchoring the roof. Its scale and geometry suggested not burden but potential — not something to conceal but to liberate. Embracing this monumental form, the design embraced its latent promise, inviting an abstract reinterpretation of nature to emerge from structure itself.
The Abstract Tree as Spatial Catalyst
Rather than mimic organic curves, the design abstracted the idea of an arboreal gesture. The central element was “vegetalised,” its trunk, branch like projections, and overhead planes reshaped into a geometric composition that rises above 1,000 sqm of space. The form departs from natural imitation by asserting a consciously different identity — bold in its geometry, deliberate in its abstraction, and unmistakable in its presence.
Colour, Presence, and Intentional Difference
The chosen acid yellow hue not only differentiates the abstract tree from its surroundings but also reinforces its architectural autonomy. This chromatic decision ensures that the intervention does not risk becoming a derivative echo of nature; instead, it stands as a self aware artefact of space and intention. In doing so, the project transforms an everyday staff environment into a site where structure, colour and imagination coexist as distinct yet related forces.
