When you meet Luca Zanon who is looking at a building you know that something special will probably happen there. An architect «who loves public space and cities crossed by rivers», as he defines himself, he is among the founders of «Inchiostro Festival» and also among the greatest admirers of Alessandria. «But not because I was born and raised here», he underlines. He pure objectivity.
Zanon, a colleague of yours told me that Alessandria is ugly. Agree?
“No. Maybe it’s because I’m biased, because I’m secretly infatuated, but it’s not ugly. And it’s not just me saying this. I have Spanish and English friends who thought it was beautiful. It certainly does not have a glaring, obvious beauty, like Ferrara, Vicenza, Treviso, to give examples of cities of similar size. It doesn’t show off, it must be discovered slowly, calmly. You, the visitor, are not conquered, but you have to earn your beauty a little, it isn’t shoved in your face.”
But what is the beauty of it?
«I define it as a city with a strong atmosphere. It’s difficult to explain: it’s a set of colours, scenarios, materials, shapes that make it unique and only when you’re away for a while and come back do you realize how evident this aspect is. The words of the legendary and late Mario Mantelli come to mind, when he described the atmosphere of Alessandria as an impalpable element, a quintessence, something that resembles music that accompanies you through time, inherent in the silver of the granite, in the red of the exposed bricks of eighteenth-century civil and religious buildings, in the polenta yellows of the milk of lime of the plaster of nineteenth-century buildings. I add the red of the wrapping of Gallina’s kisses and the gray of the most beautiful shirt in the world.”
If you could choose one architectural style to rethink Alexandria, what would it be?
«I would like there to be no repetition of what Gian Maria Panizza defined as the “architectural slaughter” which from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present day has caused the city to lose a whole series of buildings. It would be nice to have some eighteenth-nineteenth century inserts back in our battered historic center, to give even more strength and value to the architectural uniqueness that our city could be. But I am also a fervent anti-nostalgist and I am therefore convinced that if we managed to create fertile ground for creating works of contemporary architecture in the city, our urban fabric would benefit.”
So more Meier Bridge and fewer 70s buildings?
«The Meier has value as an urban sign and has already entered the collective imagination; now when Alexandria needs to be depicted, that arch often appears next to the bell tower. It is a very successful operation, I would say the only time in which it was understood that if you go looking for beauty you will find the answer.”
Is there an area that needs saving?
«The riverfront, a potential place of urban rebirth. It’s my obsession. I would like sooner or later Alessandria to have a riverside promenade with a promenade along the water, steps and green paths.”
And an area that needs to be re-designed from scratch?
«Piazza Gobetti, the gateway to the city. No more parking, but a green square. By demolishing the public housing buildings that surround it and reconstructing architecture that enhances that space, always allocating them to subsidized residences, but giving dignity to that place. And then my other obsession is the issue of street furniture, neglected for years, never designed for years. We need a regulation and we must try to harmonize floors, benches, fountains, baskets, vases. The initiatives that network traders are good, but we need to have an overall vision.”
And areas that you would leave exactly as they are?
«I really love architectural wings, which in the Baroque and Late Baroque eras were a reason for design research. And for this reason I would say Piazzetta Santa Lucia and Via Gagliaudo. But I also appreciate everything that our city knows how to hide very well and I am referring to those medieval elements that we have lost almost entirely, but of which there is still something left.”
You are among the founders of «Inchiostro Festival». What future would you like for the event?
«I am secretly convinced that we will become the city of illustrators, even if as an Alessandrian I don’t shout it. It wasn’t easy at all at the beginning. The Alexandrian however, when you manage to hit him and pierce that apparently impenetrable armour, becomes fond of him and adopts you. Together with all my traveling companions we created a festival that has carved out an important space for itself in the illustration panorama. We made it by working hard and believing in beauty. Here it is, the element that returns: beauty. This city needs less mediocrity and more desire to create beautiful things that last over time.”
