LUGANO

The reason for our research, a middle sized Swiss city, is related to the present state of Swiss cities, where the downtowns are turning into mere stages and boundaries are desintegrating beyond recognition. Our research has enabled us to find a method against these developments: The -Urban Project -. 

This catalogue of designs made between 1985 and 1990 shows the efforts made by the tutors and the students and illustrates the range of our research on the Urban Project. Our intention was teaching a method, rather than purely academic exercises, selfcentered design or the study of styles. This method leads to projects that let the worth and interpretation of the city prevail. Recognizing the worth of a city means understanding the city in its entire complexity and range. The Urban Project tries to establish its design with the help of the exact knowledge and detailed analysis of the place. 

Bernard Huet, the French architect and theorist defined this very precisely: "...The dialectics between unity and the fragment, continuity and intermittance, identity and difference, which is to be found in every city..." are the themes that the Urban Project should contain. The examples provided by this catalogue are for the city of Lugano. It is more than a statement: it is the presentation of a demanding research program that is not yet completed, but continues in the cities of Winterthur and S.Gallen. 

The studio concentrated its research on the public spade of Lugano for four years. The airport, theaters in the town center, the public space along the river Cassarate were topics to which answers to urban problems were sought for using the method of the Urban Project. Our intention was rather the process of the coming to terms with the actual city than providing a model solution. 

Prof. Mario Campi

Published in Lugano - Urban Architecture 1992