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Fortress of Solitude – Galfetti and Castelgrande

From: milan, italy to Bellinzona, Switzerland

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monichin

fradandi

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Never set out on your journey being prejudiced! Switzerland a country of banks, chocolate and sloping roofs? Our MINI tour of the Ticino has shown us a territory proud of its origins and its past, but nevertheless open to the new and modern, especially as far as contemporary architecture is concerned. A country where experimentation passes through the use of Gasbeton and the red brick. Lines become essential and geometry sharp. The result you get is for us, architecture students asphyxiated by the Terragnis and the Aldo Rossis, unexpectedly successful, above all regarding the restoration work on the castle. Intervention, this last one, of architect Galfetti, that’s added value and significance to an historical symbol, deep-rooted in the territory but before that little lived by the city. Monica Cazzamani Bona, Francesca Eandi

Original Briefing

What are the ethics of radical restoration?

If you think of Switzerland the first thing that comes to your mind is a monumental blockhouse bank stuffed with money from international crooks, you’re not far from being wrong. Though hardly complimentary to the pretty Alpine towns that make up the bulk of Switzerland, one can’t help but notice the government’s uncomfortable neutrality and discomforting relationship with power. Well, Bellinzona has its own stronghold, in the rocky heart of the city, surrounded by the river Ticino, but it's not a bank. It is a singular castle. Roman emperor Augustus was the first badass to step onto the stony promontory where today the towers of Castelgrande in Bellinzona stand. After him, on the top of the city's central hill, many dominators developed and rebuilt the citadel, from the Goths, the Byzantines and the Viscontis. This strategic position enabled during the centuries the installation of defensive buildings and outposts to control the access from the passes. In 1981 the architect Aurelio Galfetti (already working on other architectures in Ticino) started the work of repairing and remodeling the fortress. But it was more than a simple restoration, it was a monumental project of transformation, redevelopment and regeneration of the whole hill, converted for the occasion to a huge urban park called the “Collina del Sasso.” Though it’s been named a UNESCO World Hertitage Site, some critics have called the project a “severe, unsentimental” renovation, as it fit Galfetti’s ideas about the radical modernization of Italy.

Gallery

Well, Bellinzona has its own stronghold, in the rocky heart of the city, surrounded by the river Ticino, but it's not a bank. In 1981 the architect Aurelio Galfetti started the work of repairing and remodeling the fortress. But it was more than a simple restoration, it was a monumental project of transformation, redevelopment and regeneration of the whole hill, converted for the occasion to a huge urban park called the “Collina del Sasso.” Though it’s been named a UNESCO World Hertitage Site, some critics have called the project a “severe, unsentimental” renovation, as it fit Galfetti’s ideas about the radical modernization of Italy.

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