The greenhouse regeneration project at the Giardini Margherita in Bologna, curated by Laprimastanza studio, can be seen as an experiment in hybridisation between human and non-human, between artificial and nature, which aims to be more radical than average. The plants are not just a presence: instead, the rhythms and times of certain plants have been assumed in order for the project to mature. The restored architecture, which is now called Serra Madre, is in fact the last step in a ten-year-long project
It is a new cultural production centre envisioned by Kilowatt cooperative – after 10 years of managing the area, which also resulted in several editions of a festival – to bring contemporary art into dialogue with scientific research and technology through residencies, exhibitions, public programmes, educational and creation workshops.
This is how the regeneration of the architectural artefact came, where “regeneration” – the architects want to specify – is more than “renovation”, it is starting from the few fragments of authenticity still in existence, from the set “of aspects that in the history of this space have represented moments of aesthetic, functional, technological and social virtue”.
Regeneration is like the principle of cuttings in botany, from a twig of an existing plant a new life is created. Regenerating Serra madre is a cutting of authenticity.
studio Laprimastanza
So the early 20th century building first intended to contain life, and then abandoned, returns to contain it, in a hybridised and enhanced version: having consolidated the structure and renewed the glass shell, its new spaces are shaped by the Serra Madre programme. An area destined for experimental pedagogy houses a village of small wooden box-in-the-boxes, divided into living and sleeping areas, while a larger space is dedicated to the events and work of the centre: reconfigurable and experiential in one part, in another it gathers around three tables made by recovering the pipes of the original greenhouse installations.
The active potential of vegetation has been enhanced to counteract climate change: selected on the basis of the amount of CO2 they can assimilate, fast-growing plants have been placed in the greenhouse, while an aquaponic algae cultivation system – developed by Aquaponic design – fed by rainwater will make it possible to absorb a maximum of 27 tonnes of CO2 per year.
On the outside, a philosophy of ground de-sealing dominates, with grass, new trees and draining stabilised earth paving – in warm tones to limit glare, overheating and heat islands – which, by working on rainwater regimentation, help to prevent risks from water bombs.
By integrating with the structure, the lighting aims to make the greenhouse itself look like a luminous body: this component has emphasised Serra Madre's role as a driving force in the transformation of an urban area, as well as a cultural epicentre destined to be an evolving reference in the life of the city.