UpCyclinGravina

TEAM DATA

Team Representative: Caterina Rigo (IT) – architect; Associates: Benedetta Staccioli (IT), Martina Campanelli (IT), Nicolò Agostinelli (IT), Claudia Massioni (IT), Leonardo Binni (IT) - Students In Engineering

Via Monte Rosa 19, 63074 San Benedetto del Tronto (IT)
+393346194207- nicol.agostinelli@libero.it 

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^{C. Rigo, B. Staccioli, M. Campanelli, C. Massioni, L. Binni & N. Agostinelli}

INTERVIEW

1. How did you form the team for the competition?

We are a multi-disciplinary group from the Marche Polytechnic University of Ancona (an architect - Ph.D candidate - and five students attending the last year at Building Engineering and Architecture Course). We met thanks to a research team with whom we share common interests. We entered the Europan competition after different individual experiences in international workshops, such as the Villard seminar, Laboratori Metropolitani, Piranesi Prix de Rome, and Erasmus+ programs.

2. How do you define the main issue of your project, and how did you answer on this session main topic: the place of productive activities within the city?

The idea of the project is to consider tourism as the main economic resource for this geographical area, having a wider view of the unique landscape where Laterza is located. The word “tourism” suggests an approach of a circular economy: starting with local production and consumption, creating paths attracting people from different targets, involving commercial activities and touristic facilities, including citizens with their needs, the concept of Up-CyclinGravina aims to reconnect Laterza with its territory making it a “productive landscape”.

3. How did this issue and the questions raised by the site mutation meet?

The theme of the “productive cities”, dropped into the context of Laterza, led us to consider the whole territorial pattern of which the city is part. For us, for the economic revitalization of the area, the project interventions that are carried out inside the urban structure of Laterza must be part of a strategy that is networked with the territory.

4. Have you treated this issue previously? What were the reference projects that inspired yours?

This is not the first time that we have reflected on projects that address these issues, in the academic field. We decided to use a methodology on a territorial scale that refers to research projects developed by Jörg Schröder and Maddalena Ferretti ("Scenarios and Patterns for Regiobranding", Berlin 2018) and an urban analysis that refers to Kevin Lynch's studies ("The Image of the City", 1960). We also used section drawing as a tool for investigation and design in territorial projects, referring in particular to the work of Marco Navarra with his publication on “fragile lands” (“Terre Fragili”, Siracusa 2017) and other several researches carried out by Iuav University of Venice in recent years. “Banyoles old town public space”, a project by Mias Architects that restores circulation of water and people, redefining a place that used to be deteriorated, was also a source of inspiration.

5. Urban-architectural projects like the ones in Europan can only be implemented together with the actors through a negotiated process and in time. How did you consider this issue in your project?

We used a survey to better understand the city and imagine what Laterza people could wish as design strategies. We analyzed the collected data, categorized by age and social extraction, and we imagined that the results of the competition could be discussed through a guided-participatory process, for the implementation of the project.

6. Is it the first time you have been awarded a prize at Europan? How could this help you in your professional career?

Yes, it’s also our first time taking part in Europan. We believe this prize could be a source of motivation for taking part in future international competitions and working with other multidisciplinary teams. We look forward to meeting the other winning teams to discuss with other professionals our ideas on the site of Laterza.

TEAM IDENTITY

Office: …
Functions: Heritage, Architecture, Landscape Design and Social Interest
Average age of the associates: 25 years old

Has your team, together or separately, already conceived or implemented some projects and/or won any competition? If yes, which ones?

We took part, not as a complete team, to several competitions/workshops. Here below are listed the main ones.

• Villard seminars 2013/14 - 2017/18 (VILLARD15, VILLARD19 -mentioned projects)
• Laboratori Metropolitani (2015, 2018 editions)
• Piranesi Prix de Rome ( 2017-2019 editions - mentioned projects)
• Concorso Nazionale di idee Pescara del Tronto, 2018 (Caterina Rigo - first prize)