The Maffeo Bagarotti project by ARW Associates reimagines a peripheral public housing complex in Milan not as a marginalized “dormitory,” but as a dynamic engine of urban regeneration, connection, and social empowerment. Located in the Baggio district, the intervention confronts the challenges typical of post-war housing, isolation, social fragility, and energy inefficiency, and turns them into opportunities to redefine how public housing can contribute to the city and its communities.
Rather than hiding the limitations of its context, the project embraces them as starting points for a broader urban transformation. On approximately 21,800 sqm, the complex evolves from a passive residential block into an open, interconnected system that generates value and establishes meaningful relationships between people, buildings, and the surrounding urban fabric.
At the core of the design is a modular retrofit strategy that introduces advanced industrialized solutions, enabling a process that is fast, cost-effective, and minimally disruptive but, above all, capable of maximizing architectural, social, and urban quality. The architectural approach recasts the typical compact and introverted public housing units into environments with enhanced spatial and energetic qualities, transforming everyday living into a dignified, comfortable, and socially engaged experience.
From Passive Block to Urban Ecosystem
The transformation is organized across six key design dimensions, each contributing to a holistic vision of contemporary housing. Outdoor spaces, once residual and underused, become active public infrastructures: shared gardens, lightweight sports equipment, and modular pergolas that can host community-run services. These spaces integrate renewable energy systems and rainwater harvesting, reinforcing the environmental resilience of the complex and activating social life beyond the private realm.
The ground floor is reimagined as an “inhabited threshold,” a hybrid zone that welcomes coworking spaces, intergenerational workshops, and multipurpose rooms. By opening facades and creating visual permeability, the project dissolves barriers between domestic intimacy and public interaction, generating new rhythms of life and opportunities for economic and social exchange that extend beyond typical residential use.
Architectural and Material Innovation
Facades are rethought through high-performance prefabricated modular panels, easily installable even on occupied buildings. Starting from standardized components, these panels generate renewed visual identities by varying rhythm, scale, and orientation, while integrating technical elements such as movable shading devices and photovoltaic modules. The building envelope thus becomes an intelligent interface between interior and exterior environments.
Internally, the housing units benefit from a prefabricated modular exoskeleton that expands loggias and balconies, introducing more light, ventilation, and flexible use. These threshold spaces enhance comfort and visual connection with the neighborhood, fostering a stronger sense of belonging and community identification among residents.
The mechanical and structural systems are optimized to support expanded outdoor spaces and strengthen the seismic response of the existing structure, while the roof becomes an active surface featuring urban gardens, social areas, photovoltaic panels, and rainwater collection systems that contribute to environmental sustainability.
A Scalable Model for Public Housing
Maffeo Bagarotti’s transformation goes beyond renovation, it is a declaration of intent about the role of architecture in social and urban regeneration. The project demonstrates that public residential buildings can be drivers of urban life, transforming the right to housing into the right to quality living, meaningful social relationships, and shared space.
By offering replicable, scalable solutions, the project positions itself as a model for future public housing strategies in Italy and beyond, aligning architectural quality with social equity, environmental responsibility, and economic viability.
