The Teatro dell'architettura is unveiled

The "Teatro dell’architettura" of USI Università della Svizzera italiana was officially presented this evening, at the Mendrisio campus. The new venue has been designed to foster the cultural dialogue in the field of architecture and the visual arts, in close relation to the other academic disciplines covered at USI and the region.

The ceremony was attended by State Secretary for Education, Research, and Innovation Mauro dell’Ambrogio, by the Director of the Department of Education, Culture and Sport of Canton Ticino Manuele Bertoli, the Mayor of Mendrisio Carlo Croci, USI Rector Boas Erez, the Director of the Academy Riccardo Blumer, and Architect Mario Botta, who designed the building.

The new venue was presented to the political authorities, the academic community, entrepreneurs, and citizens concerned with the project and the world of architecture. The 'Teatro' will be the home of freethinking, a laboratory of contemporary experimentation able to capture and convey the cultural trends of our time. 

Financed by USI, federal subsidies, and private contributions, the building cost around 15 million Swiss Francs. The exhibitions programme is the result of the cooperation between USI/Academy and the Fondazione Teatro dell’architettura.

From March, the new space will host a series of events aimed at testing its potential. First in line, the workshop “Sette architetture automatiche“ (Seven automated architectures) on the works by students who attended Blumer’s Atelier, promoted by the former Academy Director Marc Collomb. The workshop will present innovative interactive installations. Lessons, debates, film screenings, and other cultural events will follow in the Spring. 

The public opening of the Teatro dell’architettura will be held on Thursday, October 11, 2018, with the exhibition “Louis Kahn e Venezia”, dedicated to the 1969 projects by the famous American architect for a congress centre in Venice: works that had a strong influence on the European architectural debate of the time.

For further information: www.arc.usi.ch