Regenerating Pontedera: the Former IPSIA Site and the New Crastan Center

The project stems from the ambition to deliver a large-scale urban regeneration scheme capable of revitalising a significant part of Pontedera through a unified and coordinated strategy. The former IPSIA site and the Crastan area are not conceived as separate interventions, but as complementary components of a broader transformation process aimed at restoring quality, accessibility and identity to an urban context that is currently fragmented.

The aim is to transform the existing spaces and built volumes in order to create new relationships between architecture, public space, landscape, mobility and urban functions. On the one hand, the redevelopment of the former IPSIA site returns an active open space to the city, designed as a landscaped public square with integrated parking; on the other, the Crastan Center is conceived as a new architectural and functional focal point, capable of reactivating a strategically located part of the urban fabric.

The former IPSIA site is transformed through the demolition of an existing building and the reconfiguration of the resulting open space. This urban void is not understood as a mere absence of built form, but as an opportunity to create a new public, functional and recognisable place. The landscaped square with integrated parking moves beyond the conventional idea of parking as a purely technical space, combining vehicle access with pedestrian routes, trees, permeable surfaces and areas designed for social interaction.

Landscape plays a central role in shaping the project. Rather than occupying residual areas, greenery becomes the compositional framework of the entire scheme. Trees, planted strips and permeable surfaces define the edges, guide the arrangement of parking spaces and create a more comfortable, shaded environment that also encourages people to stop and spend time. Cars remain part of the site, but are integrated into a broader spatial strategy in which parking does not dominate; instead, it is organised through the landscape.

Building on this transformation of the open space, the project develops into the vision for the Crastan Center, conceived as a new urban focal point. The intervention aims to recompose the area as a whole by establishing stronger relationships between architecture, circulation, accessibility, landscape and public space. Rather than being designed as an isolated object, the new center forms part of a broader urban system, capable of connecting different parts of the city and accommodating contemporary uses.

The relationship between the Crastan Center and the former IPSIA site is therefore fundamental. On the one hand, a new open space improves accessibility and introduces greater environmental quality; on the other, an architectural hub activates new functions, flows and relationships. Together, these two elements establish a strategy based on the balance between built and open space, architecture and landscape, infrastructure and the public realm, restoring value to a strategically important part of Pontedera.