SEM – CENTRO FEDERALE D’ASILO, BALERNA-NOVAZZANO – SWITZERLAND, 2018 – 2024

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
1ST PRIZE
WITH FILIPPO BOLOGNESE
BUILT

THE PROJECT STARTS WITH A TERRITORIAL READING.

THE ‘PASTURE’ AREA BETWEEN THE MUNICIPALITIES OF NOVAZZANO AND BALERNA, LIES WITHIN A WIDE PLAIN DEFINED BY THE TRACES OF TWO DIFFERENT INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTEMS.

THE FIRST, THE ROAD NETWORK, DETERMINES AN ORTHOGONAL GRID TO WHICH MOST INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS ARE ORIENTED. 

THE SECOND, THE RAILROAD, INTRODUCES A CURVILINEAR GEOMETRY INTO THE AREA, ALONG WHICH THE RAILWAY BUILDINGS AND WAREHOUSES HAVE BEEN TRACED. AMONGST THEM, ALSO THE BUILDING ALREADY EXISTING ON THE PLOT, WHICH WILL BECOME, IN THE FUTURE, THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING SUPPORTING THE NEW CFA.

THE SITE IS ACTUALLY A LEFTOVER AREA REMAINING FROM THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN THESE TWO INFRASTRUCTURAL TRACES. 

THE PROJECT FOR THE CENTRO FEDERALE D’ASILO STARTS FROM THIS CONDITION AND FROM THE WILL TO DEFINE A BUILDING THAT, THROUGH ITS OWN TRACING AND GEOMETRY, CLEARLY DEFINES THE SPATIAL AND FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THE PLOT.

THE NEW BUILDING ACTS AS A MEDIATOR BETWEEN THESE TWO SYSTEMS, CAPABLE OF BELONGING, AT THE SAME TIME, TO BOTH THE ROAD AND THE RAILROAD GEOMETRIES.

Collaborators: Ela Zdebel, Simone Marmori, Verena Argenti, Michel Luppi, Stuart Porzi, Alessia Rapetti, Camilla Maitan
Team: Borlini & Zanini, Visani Rusconi Talleri, Elettroconsulenze Solcà, EcoControl, Cispi, Giorgio Aeberli
Photos: © Marco Cappelletti, Walter Mair
Aerial photos: © Maurizio Fraquelli