Cycling & pedestrian track

The new cycling and pedestrian track Fior di Loto by MICROSCAPE architecture urban design AA doesn’t interfere with the lives of the rich area’s fauna and brings to light a true “environmental jewel”.

The area covered by the project is part of the northern basin of the lake Massacciuccoli, Tuscany; until the 40s of the twentieth century the area was occupied by the cultivation of rice, then replaced in the late '60s by the Lotus’ flowers – today one of the largest camp in Europe.

The site was in a state of decay and neglected and the public use was denied. Today with the new pedestrian and cycling path it brings to light a true “environmental jewel” that opens a new scenario in an area unfortunately largely deteriorated by urbanization strongly pervasive and of poor quality. The Cycling & pedestrian track “Lotus Flower”, in its length of 1km, connects the train station of Bozzano to the centre of Massarosa and it is an integral part of the system of the regional cycling routes dedicated to Giacomo Puccini and places related to his life.

The project is included in the environmental context interpreting materials and shapes, meeting the complex technical and hydraulic requirements of the area and the need of harmonious insertion into the landscape. The inaccessibility and the abandonment of the area made it possible to preserve it in time, nevertheless it was an essential public intervention (albeit with reduced economic resources) that made it fruitful and known in the larger community. This project can be represented as a true environmental stage, where nature, cultivation and infrastructure, established a new and balanced dialogue. The hydraulic constraints are solved with raised tracts and with wooden wharf of 150m longitude, which leads to alteration of the travel speed, the perceptions of perspectives and variations of sounds. The wharf is made of laminate and solid wood of red spruce on steel poles, the wood essence allows a long operating life (maintenance is extremely limited) and a correct integration with the dominant marsh vegetation.

The project had “zero” environmental impact, all used materials are natural, permeable and without added chemicals that would interfere with the lives of the area’s fauna (herons, snipes, reed warblers, coots, nightingales of river, carps, perches, tench). The raised tracks are outstanding with their environmental systematisation of rows of populos that create shaded areas and linear sequences of shrubby essences (Aromatic, Berberis, Cistus, Genus, Coronilla, Cytisus, Hibiscus), and they create an osmotic boundary between the wild nature and constructions. Cycling & Pedestrian track as a naturalized architecture where “constructed nature”, with the passage of time, will hybridize with the “natural nature” while maintaining its legibility: thin, bright, shimmering lines changing through seasons.