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The project aims to transform the historic Ex Manifattura Tabacchi into a new cultural and archival hub, reactivating an entire portion of the city by integrating university facilities, archives, housing, retail, and public services into a single flexible, sustainable urban ecosystem connected to the riverside park.

The new archive building is inserted among the historic structures with a contemporary and sustainable architectural language. It is conceived as a hinge between the city and the landscape, featuring a ramp-square that rises to the rooftop – turning the volume into an active node of pedestrian connections, public spaces, and green pathways.

Sustainability is a core focus: bioclimatic strategies, green roofs, rainwater harvesting and reuse, natural materials, and solar panels integrated into the building envelope. The structure not only reduces consumption and emissions but becomes energy-positive, adapting to the climate and producing more energy than it consumes.

The project enhances the site’s industrial heritage by preserving original architectural elements and reinterpreting them with contemporary technologies. Public space flows through, connects, and regenerates the area: courtyards, ramps, gardens, and squares become places for gathering, culture, learning, and everyday life.