MACIROSSA

Museum of Unlimited Growth

Architects: Davide Macullo Architects

The Rossa experience caters to the valley's population and visiting public with a series of projects. MACIROSSA means museum of unlimited growth, a concept expressed by Le Corbusier in his unrealized vision of 1939. Rossa houses a vision of rehabilitation in terms of quality of life in the broadest sense and cohesion through the care of the territory. This attentiveness occurs through the commitment of individuals and local entities united in creating what we call basic infrastructure. The project is composed of a series of public interventions aimed at redeveloping and rediscovering the area, so that the foundations are laid to motivate residents in particular to work as individuals to sustain a sustainable economy that will influence the future of the region.

The new museum is characterised by being a structure of unlimited growth, therefore destined to grow as the number of works available increases. It can be visited 24 hours a day because it is made up of a series of pavilions-windows located in a new park which can be accessed from outside. This concept reinforces the general vision of the Rossa project as a place where art, nature and man coexist, allowing people to visit freely and enjoy artistic research immersed in the extraordinary landscape of the Calanca valley.  As part of the larger project, tailored to the context, the new museum fills the cultural offer, which includes: targeted cultural events, integration of art and architecture in the construction of urban space, artists' studio, art library, youth hostel, sensorial spaces in the forest, revaluation of historical monuments, new private buildings through contemporary interventions, exhibition and congress hall, etc.

The Rossa project as a whole is based on targeted and conscientious planning, respecting the Alpine attitude developed throughout history, minimising the economic commitment but maximising the impact of ideas. The new museum is a synthesis of Central European art collections focusing on the production of 20th century artistic research. An extremely rich and fruitful period for the investigation of the relationship between man and society, the 20th century laid the cultural foundations of our contemporary world, and this showcase immersed in nature, as a complement to the Rossa project, invites us to reflect on a series of questions relating to our existence, our history and our future. The new museum is a satellite of collections and institutions that are concerned with preserving works of art. The sense of this initiative, in addition to cultural promotion, care for the territory and people, and the social and economic value it adds to the region, is to represent the reality of Swiss collecting, first and foremost, by bringing together and revealing in a single place and moment the wealth of research spread throughout Switzerland.

The pavilions can be visited without entering them and respond to the idea of unlimited enjoyment of art, as with the rest of the interventions in the Rossa project. They are timber containers, insulated and air-conditioned with a minimum expenditure of (solar) energy, sealed and secured. The valley itself, which offers only one way in and out, provides a large degree of additional security. Designed for a regulated incidence of natural light so as not to compromise the state of conservation of the works, the containers are accessible to the public with large arcades protected from the weather. The lighting is activated by motion sensors.

The simplicity of the thinking behind this new structure makes it unique.

Text by Davide Macullo