Palazzo Sistema

Palazzo Sistema embodies a contemporary vision of institutional architecture, where infrastructure, sustainability, and civic engagement converge. Designed by Park as the new operational headquarters of Regione Lombardia, the project redefines the role of public buildings in the urban contextmoving beyond functionality to become an active, open presence in the life of the city.

Positioned at the intersection of Via Pola, Via Rosellini, Via Taramelli, and Via Abbadesse, the building operates as a strategic hub for emergency response, public service coordination, and crisis management. By consolidating previously dispersed agencies into a single, purpose-built structure, Palazzo Sistema offers an integrated environment tailored to evolving institutional needs. It functions not only as a workplace, but as a civic infrastructure: a space that supports governance, interaction, and inclusion.

The architectural strategy promotes permeability and openness. Rather than asserting itself as a self-contained object, Palazzo Sistema adopts a porous urban form. The ground floor is conceived as a continuation of public space, with training rooms, an auditorium, and dedicated civic facilities. A rooftop garden, open to the public, crowns the building, reinforcing Regione Lombardia’s tradition of transparency and accessibility.

A large internal garden, designed according to Dry Garden principles, forms the heart of the site. This autonomous, low-maintenance landscape reduces the heat island effect, enhances biodiversity, and provides a welcoming green space for the neighborhood. Beehives placed throughout the garden and rooftop contribute to urban biodiversity and support ecological balance. What was once an impermeable, introverted plot is now transformed into a new civic coreopen, accessible, and green.

The building is composed as a stratified system of public and institutional layers. Its façade is defined by a dynamic rhythm of solids and voids, animated by vertical shading fins that adjust to solar exposure and enhance energy performance. In the courtyard, more transparent zones of the façade invite visual connection between the institution and its users, offering insight into the building’s daily life.

Inside, flexibility underpins the spatial configuration. Workspaces are designed to be transformable, reflecting a shift away from rigid hierarchies toward adaptable, operational models. The architecture supports internal change, enabling Regione Lombardia’s entities to evolve in response to new challenges and forms of collaboration.

Palazzo Sistema is conceived as an infrastructural gesture that responds to the city’s ecological and climatic responsibilities. A smart water management system has been integrated into the landscape design: the plaza acts as a retention basin during heavy rainfall, enabling a gradual release of water and reducing pressure on the municipal drainage network.

By rethinking the relationship between institutions and the public realm, Palazzo Sistema establishes a new paradigm for civic architecture. It reimagines the office building as a connective, inclusive, and ecologically conscious presencean architecture that participates in urban life, invites collective engagement, and fosters a resilient, future-oriented city.