Opened in December 2012, Piazza Gae Aulenti is the real core of the Porta Nuova Garibaldi project north of the historical city centre of Milan. The project focused on the new square with a highly suggestive water mirror in the middle. Animated by the reflections of the surrounding buildings and ever-changing clouds, the space used for the water installation performs as a dynamic runway where architectural figures and shapes catch the eye, especially at night thanks to a sophisticated lighting system.

The gangways look like floating on the water surface, allowing easy walking across the liquid area where visitors can enjoy the milder climate produced by water in this environment. Within the watery area, three egg-shaped waterfalls mark the locations where air naturally flows down to the parking level underneath. The water sound and the motion produced by these just apparently bottomless waterfalls build a strong contrast with the calmness of the surrounding water surface. In the dry time, water jet clusters cheer the gangways interacting with people attracted by the music water features. In December 2014, slightly more than a year after the completion of this work, Watercube was assigned to repair and renovate the job and replace all of the technical installations that had suffered from major, and occasionally permanent troubles, which had even led to the shutdown of the fountain.

Because of the strategic importance of the reference venue, and the seriousness of the troubles occurred, this time the owners decided to appoint a water consultant with proven experience in the design and production of water features, and additionally ready to operate by ways of a multitask team of design professionals able to interact and provide efficient and rapid help in that emergency situation.

So, we redesigned a completely new installation with new nozzles, lights, pumps, filters, and electrical panels complemented by a fine technology capable of producing an attraction as well as the top performance that was expected at the very beginning.

Everybody can now touch the result with hands. Watercube made this magic in a very short time, acting within a seriously compromised setting, full of difficulties resulting from the existing architectural and structural constraints.