DIDACTIC PAVILLON
BANCA DEL FARE, DIDACTIC PAVILION. Theoretical and Practical Self-Building Workshop for the Design and Construction of an Educational Pavilion made in local Chestnut Wood.
Banca del Fare is a project that began in 2016, founded by Laura Sottovia, with the aim of recovering the vernacular architectural heritage of Alta Langa, addressing the abandonment and degradation of the built landscape in a concrete manner. The transmission of knowledge and traditional construction techniques occurs through the “learning by doing” method, bringing together craftsmen and students in a school-workshop setting to bridge the increasingly deep divide between hand and mind in the Italian educational system. The courses take place at Cascina Crocetta, an educational farm owned by the Municipality of Castelletto Uzzone (CN), which has been renovated for the summer workshop activities of Banca del Fare. Since 2021, Banca del Fare has been a department of Fondazione Matrice ETS, an organization committed to supporting territories and communities, operating in social and cultural fields to trigger generative processes.
The Didactic Pavilion is a temporary structure built within the Cascina Crocetta complex, home to Banca del Fare's courses. It is designed and created as a teaching and exhibition support for themes related to the stars and light pollution, particularly to support the new solar observatory that will soon be installed near a hazelnut grove. The idea is to create a versatile external structure that can also host events such as exhibitions and photographic displays, contributing to the cultural development of the area.
The workshop included a participatory design phase followed by the construction of the structure, aiming to provide theoretical and practical knowledge on carpentry and wood processing techniques. In the summer of 2024, workshop participants, under the guidance of Söderin Valencic Arkitektur – Designer Asia Valencic and Arch. Gudmar Söderin - Arch. Mariella Gentile and Arch. Luca Fiammetta, along with the Banca del Fare staff, were tasked with designing and building the pavilion within a set timeframe (10 days), adhering to specific design constraints: integrating the structure into the garden of the Cascina, harmonizing it with existing trees, and using only locally sourced chestnut wood. The need to create a temporary structure led to the choice of dry foundations.
The structure has been placed at the boundary of the land, in a position that makes it almost imperceptible from the road. The pathway connecting the social spaces of the Cascina, where outdoor cinema nights and concerts take place in the summer, culminates at the entrance to the educational area marked by two totems that replicate the shapes of the main pillars of the pavilion. Two benches, one on the right side and the other on the left, frame the landscape. The positioning of each pillar and the entire complex of structures is intentional, respecting a precise grid created by the trees in the hazelnut grove: the pillars occupy the voids created by the absence of trees in the grid, at a distance of 4 meters from every other element in the same grid.
The pavilion, located at the back, features voids at the center of each facade. The entrance is on the North side, while on the East side, the structure aligns with the new solar observatory. Finally, the West side opens onto the landscape and sunset. Four panels are placed at the corners, acting as filters to the outside and on which exhibition elements are fixed.
In the construction of the pavilion, 4 cubic meters of chestnut wood were used with the following dimensions: 6x6 cm, 6x8 cm, 3x3 cm, and planks of 3x13 cm, at a total cost of approximately €5,000. The construction system consists of foundations made with four vertical profiles of 6x8x120 cm arranged in a cross pattern and connected by a double row of horizontal profiles. Before proceeding with the laying of the foundations, the wooden elements underwent a burning process to protect them from moisture and increase their durability over time. Once assembled, the elements were then placed in deep excavations filled with stones of varying grain sizes. To address the issue of the slope of the land, the four main pillars, made with four 6x6 cm profiles, were secured within the foundation profiles.
The roof was constructed almost entirely with double beams of 3x13 cm profiles crossed with single beams connected at specific points with vertical elements of 6x6 cm. At the center of the roof, the intersection of the beams is left open to create a skylight or window that looks up at the sky.
After its construction, the structure has been used for lessons and a photographic exhibition while awaiting the installation of the observatory. The design and construction of the pavilion were developed over 10 days by 11 participants from 7 different nationalities with limited woodworking knowledge, accompanied by 4 craftsmen and the staff, embracing the philosophy underlying the Banca del Fare project: learning by doing, in a context of co-design. The project has been selected as one of the 12 finalists for the Wood Architecture Prize 2025 organized by Klimahouse.
CREDITS
TUTORS:
Söderin Valencic Arkitektur – Gudmar Söderin e Asia Valencic
Mariella Gentile
Luca Fiammetta
BANCA DEL FARE’S COORDINATORS: Filipa Farreca, Marco Indolfi
BANCA DEL FARE’S STAFF: Chiara Bonfiglio, Michele Cattaneo, Bastien De Simone, Laura Mannucci, Tiziano Rossi, Emma Yeonsun Hwang, Rachel Baum, Laura Aquilechia
PARTICIPANTS: Sara Bernardini, Simone Bianchi, Gloria Damonte, Saga Eurenius, Giulia Fabro, Maurice Horras, Monika Kantor, Antònio Rebelo, Sofia Tarfanelli, Nicole Palma-Wehr, Martina Zappitelli
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS:
Valerio Rigamonti
Laura Mannucci
DRAWINGS AND ILLUSTRATIONS:
Sofia Tarfanelli
Bastien de Simone
