Research involving the study of the urban renewal continues, pressing on towards the identification, among all the recently discovered techniques, of new solutions for an appropriate use of urbabized
areas. Prominent among these is the use of the underground, where it is now possible to plan service networks that will leave their maark on vast areas of society in the future.
A precursor of this concept (later propounded by the Cocis) od an underground city organized along systems and non episodes was Gianfranco Magrini (Chairman of the Domani Commission in the Cocis) with his “Tubolario” plan - that is, a new road consisting of a tubolar construction fully submerged in Lake Como at an average depth of 20 metres below the low water level. In a typical part the artery is made up of two cylindrical tubes connected with trusses. Statically, the structure has been scaled in such a way that even with a full load it tends to float, but it is kept submerged by stay rods anchired to ballast resting on the bottom of the lake.
Each of the parallel tubes is subdivided into four chambers: the upper tubes will accomodate the two road lanes; the two lower chambers will carry double-track rails for internationals railway trains of the Underground type adopted in regional areas.
The plan provides for the descent of a fully equipped artery from the Piani di Spagna, in the upper lake towards Bellagio; here it forks out, the two parts moving respectively towards Como ad Lecco.
The railway and the “lake” road respectively connect with the International Como-Chiasso railway line and with the international Milan-Lugano highway, while the Underground train will emerge at the Ferrovie Nord station in Milan. Each junction point will have an exit onto a highway and a moving staircase to the Underground stations.
Besides connecting several points on the shores of the lake, the structure in practice also manages to serve the small towns in questions with underground structures obtained during the construction of the tunnel. These tunnels can accomodate a whole range of public facilities, all connected by means of the Tubolario and with surface transport in the towns by means of moving staircases and lifts.
The application of this engineering plan opens new vistas of the world of planning and suggests the possibility of modernizing and servicing the entire territory. This helps to define the present tendency
of design, which would have the new architecture scaled to state-of-the-art technology, and to clarify how the territory can be linked up for a better definition of its services.
