Centro Culturale Chiasso

The "Quadrilatero della cultura" in Chiasso takes the organised form of a Cultural Centre with the beginning of the 1990s, thanks to a far-sighted political choice that intended to launch a flywheel for the urban redevelopment and attractiveness of the border town, impoverished in its historical trade and commerce with the Schengen treaty.

The project tangibly implements the idea of a general “vision”, of a pilot “concept” that first saw the restoration of the historic Cinema Teatro, then the renovation of the Spazio Officina and the construction ex-novo of the m.a.x. museum, with a careful Master Plan and the subsequent construction of the Palestra CPC. Today, this area is a qualifying example of contemporary architecture.

m.a.x. Museum and Spazio Officina, DURISCH + NOLLI ARCHITECTS, 2005

In 2001, the m.a.x. Museo project was launched by Aoi Huber Kono and Silvano Repetto, curated by Durisch + Nolli Architetti, to redevelop the disused area of the former Garage Martinelli in Chiasso. The museum, completed in 2005, becomes the centerpiece of a new urban Cultural Hub, flanked by Spazio Officina, created from an existing industrial building. The project as a result of a strong public-private partnership, was later expanded with a a twin sports hall designed by Baserga Mozzetti according to Durisch + Nolli’s Masterplan, completing an exemplary urban transformation for Ticino: from a degraded area to a Citadel of Education and Culture.