POLLENZO 2.0
The University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo has chosen to entrust the Stefano Boeri Interiors studio with the assignment of rethinking the University’s old structures and designing new ones. The challenge taken up by Stefano Boeri Interiors is to conceive a structure capable of representing and, at the same time, responding to the needs and methods of the University of Pollenzo, while taking into account the history and peculiarities of the area. The aim is to combine the practical requirements of didactic and productive worlds, with the social, environmental and economic issues that underlie this world and that cannot be ignored today in the formation of a food culture that is not only healthy, but also educated and conscious. The University of Pollenzo 2.0 will be articulated around two main poles dedicated respectively to the “organization of knowledge” and the “transmission of knowledge”. Mainly of an administrative nature, the pole dedicated to the “organization of knowledge” will be the teachers’ space and will include the complex of the Agenzia and the Tavole accademiche. The Agenzia of Pollenzo building will be the administrative headquarters of the university, where a reception area will be inserted and the professors’ offices will be concentrated. Currently composed of closed office-rooms, the professors’ area will be transformed into a large room with free spaces, a central table and walls made of furnished shelves (with research stations, screens and lockers). Reservable areas will also be introduced, which, if necessary, can be transformed into meeting rooms of different sizes, thanks to a system of sliding windows and acoustic curtains that can be opened or closed according to the needs. The space of the Tavole accademiche will instead accommodate the 255 square metres of the dining hall. In addition to its primary function, the versatile and flexible furniture, such as modular tables on wheels, can be assembled in different configurations, transforming the dining hall into a study room in the morning and afternoon hours, or if necessary, into a conference room or a venue for special events.
“To imagine the future of the University of Pollenzo means to develop Carlo Petrini’s intuition of a university entirely inherent to urban spaces, where the transmission of knowledge flows everywhere and the places and furnishings of the teaching acquire a variable geometry, adaptable to all the forms of teaching that food practices suggest. A great little school of excellence at the gates of the Langhe.” Stefano Boeri
The pole of knowledge transmission is located within a recently acquired lot, the project designed by Stefano Boeri Interiors involves the demolition of part of the existing structure in favour of a new building that will allow the formation of a central internal court onto which the classrooms, the new aula magna, the food lab, the sensory lab, the library and the secretary will face. The centre dedicated to teaching will bring together the new structure of the Casa della Segreteria and the former Savoia, along with the Cascina Albertina and the Chiesa della Madonnina. The Casa della Segreteria, which is the listed building, will actually house the university secretariat, a new reception area and reception rooms on the ground floor, while small study rooms will be located on the second floor. The building that will be built will instead be the space of the new library, composed of a central volume made of “walls” of sliding books to ensure the adaptability of the environment: a space that is also flexible, used for consultation or designed to host presentations or meetings. Around the central core of the library will be arranged, on two levels, free places for study. The new building, which will have a corner structure, will be characterized by a part entirely dedicated to experimentation, designed for both students and the companies with which the university collaborates. The sensory laboratory for tastings and the food lab, consisting of lecture rooms, professional kitchens and offices, will be located here. The other side of the building will, on the other hand, consist of classrooms open onto the inner courtyard, which can be used as a unified space or divided into several rooms, at the head of which will be the new Aula Magna: the official hall for major conferences and celebrations, which will also be architecturally recognisable. The Cascina Albertina will also be occupied by classrooms, the configuration of which, thanks to the furniture on wheels, could be modified according to the needs and the different activities to be carried out: from the set-up for frontal lessons, the arrangement of the desks could be transformed to favour group work, to turn the classroom into a study or conference room; the desks could be tipped over and stacked in a corner, together with the chairs, to free up the entire space. Finally, the Chiesa della Madonnina will also be connected to the new building and transformed into the space of the “Granai della memoria”, a series of video testimonies, collected over the years, with which to retrace the history of the area and the experiences of local farmers and winemakers. A deconsecrated church will be used as an exhibition hall with a large central table with integrated screens, for display or consultation.
“The university that becomes a creative city that opens its borders to the spaces of connection between the two new poles, the organization and the transmission of knowledge. All for an ever more active teaching, supported by flexible spaces that can be modulated according to the needs of teachers and students.” Giorgio Donà
Project: Stefano Boeri Interiors
Client: Università di Scienze Gastronomiche di Pollenzo
Location: Pollenzo, Bra, Cuneo (Italy)