Architecture Summer School "Sewing a Small Town: The Renaissance of a Historical Center"

Located 15 km from Turin, in the center of Piedmont, a region internationally known for prestigious wine (such as Barbera, Moscato, Barolo and many others) and the slow food concept, one hour by train from Milan (host of Expo 2015), three hours from the town of Genoa, in Liguria, and only an hour and a half by plane from Paris, Gassino Torinese is characterized by a medieval historic center waiting for a new reuse. The design themes developed during the summer school (July 20-August 01, 2015) will focus on the renovation, reuse and re-utilization of old and valuable buildings, now in disuse, and the rethinking of public places (streets, squares and gardens) to be integrated into the urban context, now partly in ruins and without an active identity to enhance the past of the town. Addressing the new buildings within the residual spaces, the re-utilization of buildings (public and private) and interventions at the seam between the old core and the peripheral parts are the main goals of the projects developed by the participants during the two-week workshop. In fact, the summer school will explore the possibilities of conscious interventions in the historic center of Gassino Torinese through contemporary sustainable architecture.

The activities consist of theoretical evening courses and a design workshop for 20 participants, selected through the evaluation of portfolios and curriculum vitae by a scientific committee. The meanings of the historic center, given today in Italy and in Europe, and consequent problems related to the integration of today’s needs and lifestyles within a core of ancient origins, impose certain reflections.

One challenge that the summer school addresses is sensitization of participants to an ideal modern and sustainable architecture as a solution to the qualitative reuse of the existing heritage. The urban context of the historic center of Gassino Torinese, strongly consolidated and characterized by a precise identity as compared to other municipalities of the periphery of Turin, represents the ideal place for experimental studies on the quality of modern living in historic context.

The theory courses organized within the summer school also address issues related to the European significance of historical centre, sustainable design, history of the construction and design of new buildings made in a city center. The historic core of Gassino Torinese becomes an open-air laboratory in which experimentation suggests new and innovative ways to reconsider the built environment, re- evaluating the physical memory of the regionn’s past.

Gassino Summer School is open to a maximum of 20 participants, students or graduates in architecture (Bachelor or Master), Ph.D. students and architects less than thirty years old on August 1st, 2015. These 20 participants will be selected through the evaluation of portfolios and curriculum vitae by a scientific committee.

The registration process takes place in two phases. By March 31th, 2015 applicants are requested to send a PDF file (four A4, landscape) including a CV and a presentation of their work, making sure to include the following mandatory information: name, surname, date of birth, educational background, email address, home address, phone number, Skype contact. The file should be sent to: summerschool[at]comune.gassino.to.it and be named after the applicant “name_surname.pdf”. The maximum file size is 10 MB.