Laura Merlin
Along the town limits of Balerna and Novazzano, the A2 runs on top of a small hill, drastically enhancing the noise pollution produced by the cars, causing problems to the inhabitants. The aim of the project is to solve the noise pollution and transform the reality of this border from a mere line to cross, into a place to live. Proposing a professional university of natural sciences (faculty of agriculture + faculty of enology), which requires a large amount of cultivable land, my idea is to build a secluded garden over the highway, where students can learn and experiment. Recognizing the spatial potential of the unique configuration of the site, my intention is not to negate this border, but rather to exploit it to generate an alternate reality for people to experience: a building as a new landscape.
I imagine to build a large vase on top of a hill, which allows to have a sense of disconnection and different depth of earth. From the outside the vase appears as a linear, hermetic object. Upon entering it, one finds the garden: a parallel world, open only to the sky, which appears to be infinite. The school spaces develop as an appendix to the garden, hanging from its walls, giving a new perspective on the surroundings. Like flâneurs in the landscape, students adventure between the different vegetations of this open air laboratory, walking, crossing, and living the limit, adding a new dimension to their daily lives.
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