San Faustino Therapeutic Garden and Community Green Network
Location: Giardino Condiviso San Faustino, Milan, Italy
Type: Applied botany, planting strategy and community landscape design
Scale: Shared garden, neighborhood green network and detailed planting areas
Team: Alejandra León, Panagiotis Papadopoulos, Rahima Rahdari, Maria Rálio, Renzo Saux
Tools: Site analysis, planting design, vegetation mapping, masterplanning, landscape sections
Description
The Harvest & Haven Park proposes the transformation of Giardino Condiviso San Faustino into a therapeutic, productive and ecological community landscape. Located near Ortica, Lambrate and Rubattino, the garden sits within a wider system of fragmented green spaces, including Parco della Lambretta, Orto Botanico Città Studi and railway-edge landscapes.
The project begins at the urban scale, reading the garden as part of a larger green network. Existing pedestrian routes and surrounding open spaces are strengthened through vegetation, accessibility improvements and clearer spatial connections. The railway edge, which currently acts as a visual, acoustic and physical barrier, is treated as an opportunity to create a softer buffer and improve the experience of the garden.
At the site scale, the design focuses on well-being, biodiversity and community use. The proposal includes a therapeutic garden with aromatic, textured and visually stimulating plants; a kitchen garden for education and urban agriculture; waterscape elements such as ponds and rain gardens; and pollinator strips designed to support ecological health. Existing native vegetation is preserved where possible, while invasive species are selectively removed to create space for new planting and clearer spatial organization.
The result is a shared landscape that connects people, plants and everyday outdoor life. It combines ecological restoration, sensory experience, food production and social gathering within a garden that contributes to Milan’s metropolitan green network.
Project focus
Therapeutic garden · Community landscape · Pollinator planting · Urban agriculture · Waterscape design · Green connectivity