CAN A LOGISTICS HUB BECOME SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE?
Faced with the challenge of transforming a former railyard into the first intermodal, innovative logistics hubs, we take a different approach. What if, alongside the flows of goods and data, the site could also host urban forestry, public spaces, and a 2-kilometer solar canopy?
CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and The Blossom Avenue Partners won the international competition launched by Sistemi Urbani for the urban and architectural design of X-Change—one of Italy’s largest multimodal logistics hubs, located on the site of a former railway yard in Alessandria. The masterplan—which development is promoted by logistics leader VLD, by Fabrizio Bertola—is the result of a collaborative effort involving CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati (urban planning and architecture), The Blossom Avenue Partners (logistics planning and land development), LAND (landscape architecture), GET Consulting (sustainability), and Mobiliter (transport and mobility). X-Change will be developed by VLD/ Bertola, in partnership with Prelios Spa, and CLF-Costruzioni Linee Ferroviarie Spa. The project rethinks Italy’s logistics infrastructure, doubling as a renewable energy plant and featuring green public spaces, cultural, and civic hubs for connectivity, while accommodating all modes of transport.
Once a vast and zoned-off railyard, the site is now being reimagined as the most connected, innovative and intermodal logistic hub, supporting Alessandria’s chances to become Genova’s back port thanks to the new, upcoming, fast rail freight connection through the new tunnel called ‘Terzo Valico’.
Alongside with the infrastructural development, the project envisions an integral public space, transforming a site built for rail distribution into an innovative one, designed for any kind of freight connection, accessibility, and urban life. At the center of the design project is a 2-km-long (1.25 miles) walkable and bikeable photovoltaic solar canopy that covers the area, generating clean energy and providing shade. It will form one of the largest photovoltaic-powered parks in Europe, powering the logistics hub.
But there is more. By merging the industrial dispatch center with its natural surroundings, X-Change acts as connective corridor between the rail yard and its nearby urban centers. A new park for residents complements the agricultural landscape along the Tanaro River, with over 5 Km of cycling and pedestrian paths linking Alessandria to its outskirts, revitalizing peripheral areas and improving urban mobility. Additionally, the former Trenitalia Officine shed site will become an extension of the university campus, featuring offices and incubators.
“X-Change is not just a logistical hub—it’s a new way of thinking about how different types of infrastructure can be integrated,” said Carlo Ratti, founding partner of CRA and curator of the Biennale Architettura 2025. “Logistical hubs, like rail yards before them, are typically introverted developments. Here, we are trying to open them up to the city. By reconnecting Alessandria with its surroundings, we aim to create new spaces for innovation, experimentation, and community life.”
“Alessandria shows its potentialities thanks to its unique location: the innovative logistic hub highlights its crossroads position, from south to north, connecting Genova’s port with the Alps and northern Europe, and from east to west, reaching Piacenza and its large logistic region. The hub becomes a contemporary interface to foster exchanges and intermodal transit, reducing journeys on roads and boosting freight travels on tracks, joining the most sustainable European trends and unifying into a larger, inter regional rail network the most relevant logistic hubs of northern Italy”, said Marco Facchinetti, CEO and founder of The Blossom Avenue Partners, leader of logistic infrastructures design and development in Italy, Spain, US and south America.
“X-Change develops along a green-blue infrastructure offering a chance for ecological reconnection and the reintegration of this historically railway-divided part of the city with Alessandria and its surrounding area”, said Andreas Kipar, CEO of LAND, leading the landscape project. “Our Parco del Movimento merges nature with energy, fostering a green continuity enriched by vibrant functions and spaces. The new hub is held together by a Nature-Positive, productive landscape, serving as both a development opportunity and a community catalyst.”
CREDITS
CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati
Carlo Ratti, Monika Loeve (partner-in-charge), Chiara Borghi, Günes Idil Altun, Iratxe De Dios, Luca Antonio Liddonici, Gabriele Sacchi, Sonia Simone, Gary Di Silvio, Pasquale Milieri, Gianluca Zimbardi
TBAP-The Blossom Avenue Partners
Marco Facchinetti with Marco Dellavalle and Alessandra Balletta, Lorenzo Gorrasi, Francesca Manzoni
LAND Italia
Andreas Kipar, Matteo Pedaso, Martina Erba, Eleonora Boffano, Arianna Finatti
GET Consulting
Daniele Guglielmino, Elia Lupo, Elisa Sirombo
Mobiliter
Ivan Genovese, Veronica Indelicato
Tea Consulting
Dils
Nicola Bassi
Livio Dezzani
Alessandro Gentile
Sebastiano Grasso
