The Mendrisio Architecture Atelier on a Visit to the Monferrato

From 12 to 14 March, the design Atelier led by Professor Simona Della Rocca of the Academy of Architecture of the Università della Svizzera Italiana in Mendrisio carried out an intensive three‑day visit and study tour in the Monferrato.
The design theme of the Atelier for this semester is the school—conceived as a collective building that will be designed collectively by the students, and interpreted both as an educational space and as a primary place of community life and cultural activities.

The Monferrato was chosen as the area of investigation for its geographical, landscape and historical characteristics: a territory shaped by hills, woods, fields and vineyards, with a strong tradition of autonomy and a unique geological and mining history.

In line with an approach based on “experiential learning”, the visit programme included various contexts, so that knowledge could emerge from interaction rather than from frontal teaching alone.
The history of cement was indeed one of these contexts. The students wished to deepen their understanding of the territory and, in particular, to examine the relationship between the Monferrato and cement in its different forms: from extraction to production, from use to today’s forms of recovery, restoration and reuse of former industrial sites.

Thanks to the coordination of the association Il Cemento nell’Identità del Monferrato Casalese, students and lecturers—accompanied by an interpreter, as eight of them did not speak Italian—visited the “Micem” in Ozzano Monferrato and the “Gabanon” in Casale Monferrato on 12 March, and continued on 13 March in Trino with the visit to AREA907.

The visit focused in particular on explaining the cement production cycle in the past and today, and it also provided the opportunity to inaugurate the new educational wall recently installed in the museum’s WelcomePoint.

Welcomed by the facility with great willingness and enthusiasm, the Atelier expressed the wish to return to the Monferrato at the end of the semester to present the results of their final design exercise—an opportunity to give back to the territory the ideas, visions and insights generated thanks to this encounter.

ph: @gianlucagentilephoto