Heritage and its avatars. Notes on two recent works in the Canton of Ticino

Abstract

The text analyses two houses, namely, Cà da Paes in Aurigeno, by Buzzi studio di architettura and Casa Ferretti in Bedretto by Baserga Mozzetti architetti. Although they present different formal outcomes, what they have in common is the contrast between the appearance and reality of the construction system. This reality is finally revealed by the clues prepared by the architects, with an approach that is not intended to dissimulate but rather to slow down the perception of the work, or rather of its constructive character, which is grasped only on closer examination. A reconstruction of the genesis of the two buildings enables us to clarify this observation, showing that they are the result of an attempt to reconcile not only regulatory and budgetary constraints, but also the different conceptions of heritage cultivated by the clients, architects and the municipal and cantonal control commissions. Each of these is reflected in a different image of “heritage”, the result of their different beliefs and convictions. The works discussed here seek to deal with this plurality of interpretations (and the divergent impulses arising from them), by embodying them as a theme of the design, which they interpret by treading with delicate poise (on the verge of ambiguity) the fine line between dissimulation and exhibition: an original path, in the recent architecture of the Canton Ticino, but not without its pitfalls.