Pavia. L’Università e il modello multipolare

This essay examines Giancarlo De Carlo’s development and complex implementation of the Development and Restructuring Plan for the University of Pavia, commissioned in 1970. Designed as a radical alternative both to the isolated Anglo-Saxon campus model and to the fragmented, introverted dispersion typical of Italian university seats, De Carlo’s project introduced the concept of the universicity based on a multipolar network. The plan organized the university into a constellation of central, intermediate, and peripheral poles. The central poles comprised the historic city center for humanities departments and the Cravino site to the west for scientific disciplines, featuring a modular grid system of horizontal plates and vertical circulation towers designed for physical growth, spatial flexibility, and structural adaptability. Intermediate and peripheral poles were integrated into outlying residential districts, such as Vallone-Crosione, to decentralize urban pressure, stimulate social regeneration, and foster shared civic-academic services. Central to De Carlo’s methodology was extensive public participation and political dialogue with citizens, local committees, student assemblies, and trade unions. However, the ambitious scope faced severe political, bureaucratic, and financial obstacles, leading to long delays and a progressive downsizing of the original vision. Although key elements were eventually built — most notably the CNR Institute and the Faculty of Engineering at the Cravino site, officially inaugurated in 1986 — the final outcome realized only a fraction of De Carlo’s original vision for full urban-academic integration.