We are pleased to announce that Fondazione Canova is a partner in the BlitzArt project, a new initiative funded by the Interreg Italy–Switzerland Cooperation Programme 2025–2027. The project is led by the Associazione Musei dell’Ossola and carried out in collaboration with the University of Eastern Piedmont (UNIPO) and the Ossola Protected Areas Management Authority. On the Swiss side, partners include the Municipality of Naters and the World Nature Forum, a museum dedicated to the Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch UNESCO World Heritage Site and an international reference point for scientific communication related to mountains and climate change.
BlitzArt takes its name from the acronym “SensibilizzArte”, an expression that encapsulates the project’s main goal: using art as a tool for awareness-raising and community engagement. The three-year programme focuses on three key themes that are fundamental to the future of the Alps and inner areas:
climate change and the protection of natural heritage;
conservation and reuse of traditional architectural heritage;
promotion of conscious and sustainable tourism capable of generating cultural and environmental value.
Fondazione Canova’s contribution
In the second year of the project, dedicated to the theme “living in the Alps”, Fondazione Canova will act as a key partner in the development of a rich programme of cultural, educational and design-oriented initiatives. These activities will take place in the Ghesc village laboratory, a symbolic site of our work and a place where, for many years, we have been experimenting with innovative models for the regeneration of Alpine rural heritage.
Fondazione Canova’s contribution will be structured around several actions. First, a series of educational and technical workshops will be organised, focusing on material reuse and bio-architecture, with particular attention to traditional stone construction techniques and sustainable restoration solutions. These training activities will be aimed at professionals, students, craftspeople and interested citizens, with the goal of spreading practical knowledge and fostering a respectful and informed approach to historic built heritage.
Another area of activity will involve the design of new natural and cultural routes in the Ossola Valley, conceived to enhance the landscape, historic villages and rural architecture. These itineraries will target both Italian and Swiss audiences and will offer an integrated reading of nature, history and architecture, in line with the objectives of the Interreg programme to promote slow, sustainable tourism that is attentive to the fragility of Alpine territories.
A central role will be played by the new collaboration with the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), which will be involved in research and design activities on a building currently in the process of being acquired by the Foundation: Casa Lunga. This intervention represents an important step in the ongoing regeneration of the village of Ghesc and will provide an opportunity to experiment—together with students and researchers—with contemporary architectural solutions rooted in traditional construction techniques.
Through these actions, the BlitzArt project strengthens Ghesc’s role as a laboratory for cultural and architectural innovation, confirming the village’s central position in the regeneration of inner areas and in the construction of a cross-border network for research and experimentation.
For Fondazione Canova, this collaboration represents a valuable opportunity to expand the activities developed in recent years, strengthen networks with Italian and Swiss institutions, and contribute to the dissemination of new visions for the future of Alpine living.
