Diploma 2026 - Ticino. Side Views: A reflection on 16 valleys for a comprehensive territorial vision of the Canton - Atelier Bonnet

With the aim of establishing complementarity and concluding the valuable contribution to the region offered by the three previous diplomas on Ticino (L’alptransit e la “Città Ticino”, 2008; Città Ticino, 2014; Chiasso-Ponte Chiasso, 2020), which focused on the main valley floor, the 2026 diploma Ticino. Side views will extend its reflection to sixteen “side” valleys – one for each studio – which will allow students to work on the Ticino area as a whole. The sixteen valleys, each with its own specific identity, have been selected on the basis of precise criteria: they are urbanised and inhabited valleys; they flow into the main valley floor, where there is a railway station; they are potentially well connected to the main valley floor and could therefore represent a plausible and concrete extension of it. This approach seeks to restore the image of a rich and complex territory, made up of interconnected valleys, stretching from the mountain peaks to the shores of the lakes, with a variety of unique economic, social, cultural and climatic conditions that deserve close attention. The intention is that each studio, in complete freedom to pursue its own research and in line with its specific educational offering, will explore the entire territory of the valley assigned, thus providing its own original contribution to a collective reflection that will seek to develop and be nourished by stimulating and constructive dialogue with the actors operating in the area.

The Diploma work  lasts one semester and takes place in spring. In the autumn semester some teaching activities are scheduled with lectures and meetings. In the following spring semester students will work distributed into 16  design studios, each directed b a full professor or visiting professor of design, assisted by an architect collaborator. The number of students for each design studio will range between 8 and 12. The Diploma work deals with a single territory or city each year, proposed by the Diploma Director, while the specific design theme is chosen by the professor of each studi

• Sustainable cities and communities
• Life on land

In presence

The Diploma syllabus involves:

• individual architectural design work in studio sessions (on a site and topic presented by the faculty member in charge of the design studio) and the related critiques
• participation in seminars dealing with the Diploma topic held by the faculty members in charge of the supplementary subjects, assisted by the architect-assistants from the design studios
• participation in the field trip to the place chosen for the Diploma
• participation in the collective critiques of the Diploma design studios

Final review with the studio professor, the Diploma director and the whole Committee. Members of the Jury: Loreta Castro Reguera (Mexico City), Angelo Bucci (São Paulo), joined by other internal and external members of the Academy.