La Fabbrica dell'ospitalità of the students of the Academy of Architecture

Students of the Lacaille-Ayoub Design Atelier worked on the themes of hospitality and the reception of asylum seekers. The results were a project that breathed life into the streets of Chiasso and an association.

During the 2023-24 autumn semester, guest professors Vanessa Lacaille and Mounir Ayoub, joined by architects Ginevra Masiello and Tania Perret, invited students from the Design Atelier and people living in the border areas, such as asylum seekers, to work together to imagine and build possible alternatives to the existing reception conditions, emphasising the political nature of architecture.

The first part of the atelier took place in various towns in Ticino, comparing and observing the current situation through a series of workshops on the construction of architectural models made together with the local population. These models not only describe everyday reality, but also have an "imaginative dimension". Students then visited and documented the various reception centres throughout the canton. This part of the information gathering was completed with a short stay on Lampedusa, an Italian island that is located about a hundred kilometres from the Tunisian coast and is one of the main places of disembarkation.

Back at the Academy of Architecture, the work continued, on 9 and 10 November, with an opportunity to share the experiences and knowledge acquired, which led, on 14 and 15 December, to the collective project of building a Hospitality House near the Chiasso Cultural Centre. An association called 'Fabbrica di ospitalità’ (The Hospitality Factory) was also established from this experience.

On 20 and 21 December, some of the facilities and projects realised by the students for the Hospitality House will return to the Academy. A number of books are also being produced to chronicle the work done during the semester.