The Forte of Pietole in Mantua. The im-perfect machine

Exhibition-Exponere, Wellness-Sanare, Accommodation-Habitare and Landscape-Explorare are the themes of the project for the International Design Workhsop \#ReViEWAL 2016, held at Politecnico di Milano in the seat of Polo Territoriale di Mantova, under the patronage of the Municipality of Borgo Virgilio and Parco del Mincio, into Advanced School of Architecture program’s. ASA is a training ‘additive’ program, addressed to a selection of students from the School of Architecture Urban Planning Construction Engineering, the School of Design and the School of Engineering of Politecnico di Milano, and it is meant as ‘experimental teaching facility’ in relation to the programs and to the specificities of each Schools. In Mantua, the experience has focused on the issues of recovery and protection of the heritage, consistent with the specificity that characterizes our School, headquarters of UNESCO Chair in Architectural Preservation and Planning in World Heritage Cities. The study case chosen for the project is the Forte of Pietole, subject of an agreement signed between the Municipality of Borgo Virgilio and Politecnico di Milano in December 2015. The Fort is an example of military architecture of great value and importance, because it combines the distinct peculiarities of Austro-Hungarian and French architectural formulations to a much more ancient tradition, as it is located on a slight hill-Mons Virgilii, Virgil’s Hill-where it is believed to be located the birthplace of the Latin poet. In addition, the Fort area is strongly characterized by environmental and natural features, unique in Mantua territory. The project aims to rethink the Fort area as a connection between the old town, the lakes and the protected area of Parco del Mincio, enhancing the tourist attractiveness through the establishment of a range of services and facilities. Specifically this proposal has faced several thematic areas: enhancing the appeal of the territory, seen from a tourist point of view, through increased accessibility-by land and by water-which can always be experienced, thanks to the creation of new spaces, indoor and outdoor; the economic and environmental sustainability of the entire interventions in its different stages, from the choice of materials to be used and the most adequate construction technologies-also in view of its future use-maintenance over time and their recycling with reduced environmental impact; the system of accessibility to the site and the internal paths-especially in relation to the large size and the complex morphology of the soil-also by improving the environmental comfort of the existing spaces and their equipment; the adequacy of interventions in relation to the place, recognizing its specificity and its tangible and intangible heritage, improving its identity with a critical approach that allows to consider the Forte of Pietole as a layered palimpsest of signs, from the origin until the contemporaneity. The outcomes of the proposals were presented in an exhibition staged into the entrance gallery of Forte di Borgoforte, another military settlement including into the defensive building program of this area. The virtually underground space of this gallery-similar to the galleries and corridors of Forte of Pietole-was set up by evoking the suggestion of the environments envisioned in the project. The video was the instrument chosen for the presentation of the project, supported by models and maquettes: along the exposition route the exhibition was divided into six multimedia stations that presented monothematic short films: interviews of visiting and phases of work with students; the relief and the story of the fort through aerial images and footage with drones; the four thematic parts of the project, Exhibition-Exponere, Wellness-Sanare, Accommodation-Habitare and Landscape-Explorare.