AHI Architectural Heritage Intervention

“Contributing to enhancing our heritage, as the way forward for 21 st Century architecture is our raison d’être; to emphasize a diverse, rich vision that necessarily complements the intervention is our mission, and achieving it with reflexive and purposeful efforts is the challenge”.

This project, founded in, and directed since, 2011 by Ramon Calonge, Oriol Cusidó, Marc Manzano and Jordi Portal, architects and members of the Group of Architects for the Defence and Intervention in Architectural Heritage (AADIPA), has, through the years become a platform that includes four actions that are both independent and transversal.
 
The European Award, a biennial event that brings together and showcases the multiple approaches of intervention in Europe.

The International Biennial, a framework that serves to compare and gain closer insight of quality interventions in architectural heritage in non-European countries.

The digital Archive, a live and open window that provides a panoramic view of interventions in the history of our surroundings.

The Forum, a meeting place where you can participate in on-going debates about the main preoccupations and lines of thought about interventions in architectural heritage in Europe.

EUROPEAN AWARD AHI 2025

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Cave di Arzo, Arzo quarries

Cave di Arzo, Arzo quarries

The project for the redevelopment of the area and the reuse of the buildings within the Arzo quarries, promoted by the Patriziato di Arzo, focussed on three areas. The Natural Amphitheatre: a project for the reuse and promotion of the great disused Cava Caldelari approximately 4,500 square meters of rich natural diversity. The project has cleared an area that was cluttered with quarrying detritus, now replaced by four rows of seats made from marble blocks, arranged in a semi-circle. The steps can be used as seating and allow the staging of public events. The Quarry Workshop: the conversion of the ancient sheds where marble was processed into workshops and exhibition spaces. The workshop spaces have been retained, and the original machinery for handling stone has been restored. The Educational Trail: a path that leads to the ancient quarries in the wood above. At the start of the trail, a new building houses the public conveniences, this is entirely built from marble blocks with different surfaces and finishes.

Category

Built heritage

Edition

4
Shortlisted

Year

2017

Author

enrico sassi architetto
Enrico Sassi

External collaborators

Collaborators: Roberta Blasi, Irene Lucca
Civil engineer: Pietro Brenni, Brenni Engineering SA
Environmental engineer and landscape consultant: Oikos 2000 Sagl
Electrotechnical engineer: Dante Solcà, Elettro Dinamic Sagl

City

Mendrisio

Country

Switzerland

Surface area sqm

5.000

Cost €

1.167.860,12

Client

Public

© Photographer

Marcelo Villada Ortiz