With Oniversea group in which brands such as Calzedonia, Intimissimi, Tezenis and Falconeri gravitate, just to name a few, Sandro Veronesi he is used to facing challenges by learning to look further ahead. The same philosophy that inspired the birth of Ideas Contest, a contest which aims to enhance Verona and its territory, sponsored by the San Zeno Foundation and the Veronese Diocese.
The object of the initiative is the redevelopment of the former Seminary of San Massimo, a large abandoned area located in the western quadrant of the Venetian capital, with an ancient history dating back to the early 17th century. Used as a vocational place for seminarians, including students, professors, educators and service personnel it came to offer residence to more than 700 people, it was a sort of village dedicated to the growth and education of young people who chose to become priests. As often happens, over time, the monastery saw a decline in attendance and was progressively abandoned, dispersing the voices that resonated within its walls.
From place of vocation to vocation of the place
Today the intent is precisely to bring back voices, light, but above all life. For this reason, under the gaze of a jury composed of Mons. Domenico Pompili, Sandro Veronesi, Giacomo Borrella, Marco Morganti, Don Luca Albertin and Alessia De Biase, as well as under the slightly inquisitorial gaze of all the bishops who appear in the majestic rooms of the Palace of the Diocese of Verona, have been revealed the projects of the participants in the tender who worked for this noble purpose. A call that attracted not only the interest of the local and territorial community, but also internationally, with many 75 proposals arrived both from Italy and abroad. Of these, 3 were selected which stood out for having responded in a more adherent and proactive manner to the commission’s requests. In fact, some mandatory constraints were foreseen: first of all, that of keeping the ecclesiastical part of the former Seminary unchanged, which will have to preserve the church inside as a place of faith and meditation, and that, equally important, of not converging towards proposals of a commercial nature. The choice took into account a triptych of essential focuses: environmentunderstood as the creation of more open spaces and less land consumption, generations, with solutions aimed at improving the relationship between the different age groups, from the elderly to the youngest, and migrations, in the sense of commitment to transforming migrants not only into an active workforce, but also into a precious resource to be put back into circulation in society.
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Architecting the future
The first prize was awarded to Extra seminar, a project conceived by Pool landscape in concert with the architects Ludovico Centis, Ilaria Forti, Francesco Laserpe and Federico Vascotto. What impressed the jury was the importance given to landscaping, with the provision of large open spaces such as hanging gardens and urban vegetable gardens, with a large structure designed to host agricultural-related activities, also including a themed educational centre. Second the presentation SAN MASSIMO DISTRICT by Oasi architects studio associate together with Almo collegiate Borromeo, who redesigned the area giving it the shape of a small rural center revitalized by an active residential community. Third prize was awarded to SEMIinary by the Bunch architecture studio, which proposed a progressive redevelopment aimed at involving migrants by promoting a virtuous encounter between beneficiaries and the host community.
«My job with Oniverse is to promote ideas, bring people together and find solutions and to try to make them happen. I tried to do the same thing with this initiative too. This is the phase that I define as sketches, the embryonic one», declared Veronesi. «Before arriving in the store and being bought, each product must go through many steps and not all of them are guaranteed to be successful. In this competition we are at the ideation level, we have planted a seed. The next step will be to understand how to materialize, what are the possible paths to take. I always say that the difficulty is not finding the money, but the ideas. We definitely started off on the right foot.”
An idea that can act as a model and be potentially replicated infinitely, with the virtuous aim of redeveloping the many abandoned spaces in the area, not just at a local level. For an urban rebirth that draws its strength from the community and is aimed precisely at it.
Source: Vanity Fair
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