Spoke 4 organizes the educational workshop "Designing the Alps of tomorrow: new production scenarios" NODES - Spoke 4 consolidates relations with the Aosta Valley area, introducing the design visions resulting from the educational workshop "Designing the Alps of tomorrow: new production scenarios"
The day of 11 July 2024 developed through the meeting of around forty students from the Polytechnic of Turin with local stakeholders from real municipalities in the valley.
This design experience - the outcome of the six-monthly workshop which saw the students try their hand at designing pilot projects in some of the municipalities covered by the Nodes, Spoke 4, RM1 research - was articulated through a series of meetings in the area, including the the last one, which took place on 11 July 2024 at Skyway, in Courmayeur, which saw the participation of numerous stakeholders from the Aosta Valley area.
Specifically, the educational exercise proposed to the forty students involved within the educational workshop "Designing the Alps of tomorrow: new production scenarios" (Polytechnic University of Turin - teachers Roberto Dini, Valentina Serra, Valerio Lo Verso, Francesca Thiebat ) was focused on the development of a series of pilot projects, with the aim of proposing possible processes for the recovery and reactivation of abandoned properties: the Linguistic high school of Courmayeur, the former railway station with the adjoining Morgex warehouse, the former barracks of Saint Marcel and the former mining complex of Ollomont.
The day - promoted by the Courmayeur Mont Blanc Foundation and the Polytechnic of Turin, and held at Skyway in Courmayeur - was a moment of reflection on these possible transformative scenarios, bringing together the local actors directly interested around the projects: mayors and municipal councilors, facilitators social, but also the local Order of Architects.
The issues addressed on this occasion can be traced back to different dimensions and scales of the project: on a technological-energy level, wondering what sustainable materials and construction systems could be, in terms of both the impact of emissions and their presence or absence within the local production chains; but also in terms of the social and economic impact that these projects can have within territorial systems with variable networks.
The day took place around two complementary moments: in the Pavillon's La Verticale conference room in the morning, during which the maquettes and graphic designs were set up in front of which the discussion took place, culminating in the award ceremony of the three projects deemed most interesting by the local jury (made up of Roberto Ruffier, Sandro Sapia, Michele Saulle). In the afternoon we moved to the highest Punta Helbronner, to admire the surrounding snowy landscape from a privileged point of view.
The didactic dimension is therefore intertwined with both the research and dissemination dimensions, allowing students to plan through an experience that brings them as close as possible to reality, and to the territory to receive input and visions resulting from lenses different from those to which they are most accustomed.
Below are experts, local stakeholders, teachers involved in the process and present on the final day:
Politecnico di Torino – Roberto Dini, Valentina Serra, Valerio Lo Verso, Francesca Thiebat, Silvia Lanteri, Alessandro Depaoli;
Fondazione Courmayeur Mont Blanc - Roberto Ruffier, Elise Champvillair
GAL Valle d’Aosta - Marta Anello;
Comune di Saint-Marcel - Andrea Bionaz, Alessandro Grange;
Comune di Ollomont - David Vevey;
Comune di Morgex - Barzagli Federico;
Comune di La Thuile - Mathieu Ferraris;
Ordine degli Architetti della Valle d’Aosta - Sandro Sapia;
Michele Saulle;
Piero Brunod.
