PRATO URBAN JUNGLE - Macrolotto 0 Covered Market

Prato Urban Jungle is an innovative urban forestation, greening and efficiency plan in Prato, created with the aim of reconfiguring the relationship between the city, the environment, resources and inhabitants. Winner in 2019 of the fourth edition of the 2019 UIA – Urban innovative action call, the program provides for the redevelopment of abandoned or degraded areas, the planting of trees and plants in strategic areas, the creation of productive gardens, the conversion of mineral surfaces into plant walls and phytodepuration of contaminated areas. Within the Prato Urban Jungle masterplan, PNAT is carrying out interventions in two pilot areas: the Farm Park in via delle Pleiadi and Macrolotto 0.

In Macrolotto 0, Prato Municipality designed the conversion of an industrial building into a covered market, for the sale and consumption of local agricultural products. In this renovated space, PNAT designed the facades and the internal bistrot integrating various plant-based solutions, which will generate benefits in terms of environmental microclimate regulation, temperature mitigation, air quality, thermal and acoustic insulation and rainwater regulation. The plants will be the technological and formal fulcrum of the space.

The external area of the industrial warehouse will be affected by an intervention to enhance the entrance square, as a rest and meeting area, through the creation of a green facade and parklet, or street furniture with the dual function of seating and tub for planting of plants, entirely manageable with low-maintenance technologies. The conversion of the shell and shed roof will be a model for the reuse of the abandoned industrial heritage of Prato. The interior spaces will host a market for local agricultural products and an indoor greenhouse for botanical filtration of the air.

The Indoor Jungle will include the construction of various botanical purification devices with the Stomata^® system, our exclusive air purification system tha involves plants both suspended and on the ground; the combination of strategies will allow to remove and degrade most of the contaminants present within the space, through active and passive filtration. It will therefore be the largest creation in the world of the Fabbrica dell’aria^TM. In this way, the entire building will enjoy a healthy and comfortable environment. Citizens will be able to buy locally grown vegetables, consume local foods and spend time in a real Urban Jungle, enjoying the psycho-physical benefits of being immersed in nature.