Aaron Chan
OPENING THE VIEW TO BELMONTE
Belmonte is a small hilltop town which has suffered from the youthful population leaving for education and employment in larger cities like Cosenza and Lamezia. This has also had an effect on the marina adjacent to the town, leaving a large number of building empty- shops are closed and homes are left half built. The government has made attempts to provide for the town, but efforts are futile, leaving new build projects seen as a “waste of money” and impractical- these buildings are where my project begins.
The proposal spans over three sites, which include, the old train station (which no longer operates), a plot of land where concrete foundations were implanted but nothing was built on top of and a concrete frame structure, built for the purpose of a market, but has been left empty since the day it was built.
The goal is regenerate the town by re-establishing the train service to Belmonte allowing people but mainly the youth and migrants to come back to Belmonte to spend their summer in the renovated market space. This will act as the hub or casa for the whole site allowing space to cook, live and share skills between the locals, students and the migrants. The space will also have a designated workshop area where the occupants can learn woodworking skills in order to build something meaningful on the concrete foundation site. This site will then act as the main activity space where temporary structures are built with the intention of locals interacting with it and changing it to fit their needs.