The Udine Design District urban regeneration project aims at transforming two existing abandoned buildings into a mixed-use development focused on design and local know-how and traditions that contributes to the reactivation of the surrounding neighborhood. The two buildings, respectively 8000 and 4500 m2, host a design university and school, retail spaces, design and art gallery for temporary events, professional co-working spaces, student accommodation and food & beverage.

The new modular facade, design according to DfMA principles, gives the building a contemporary and iconic presence and is characterized by tridimensional vertical elements which depts is parametrically adjusted according to orientation, shading the building specially on the west facade and allowing as much diffuse daylight as possible from the north.
The smaller building is conceived as a “design object” and contains the core-function of the district: the design university and school with classrooms, labs and informal meeting spaces. The facade recalls the modular subdivision of the existing building but reinterprets its architectural language with a reflective cladding that plays with the sunlight, changing color throughout the day.
The Udine Design District shows the full-potential of urban regeneration, where architecture and urban design contaminate each other to create a new platform for thriving urban life. A new centrality for the city of Udine and a fist step towards its future.