The Ghesc project
A place can be revitalised and developed through the research and participation of people from all over the world.
A small village of eight buildings abandoned for decades has thus become the center of the activities and study of traditional architecture organized by the Canova Foundation.
The strongly local dimension is measured on/against a global scale in a fruitful and mutual exchange of knowledge and expertise.
The recovery project
The small group of buildings owned by the Canova Foundation have been acquired over the years, beginning in 2010, to provide practical didactic projects and activities each year for workshops and field camps. The remaining five houses are destined for private homes, with the recovery and restoration of two of these already started.
Projects for the recovery and re-use of the buildings are based on ideas shared by the participants and call for reconstruction using rubble, stone and other material salvaged from the originals, with a view to keeping alive those traditional techniques adopted over the centuries.
Casa Alfio
In 2007, two active members of the foundation - Maurizio Cesprini and Paola Gardin - decided to purchase one of the buildings in Ghesc, carrying out the restoration work themselves with an approach based on enhancing what already existed and employing sustainable materials. They have been living there permanently since 2012 and in April 2018 the hamlet’s population increased by one, with the birth of their first child, Emil.
In 2015 Casa Alfio received special recognition from the jury of the prestigious international prize for sustainable construction in the Alps awarded by the Constructive Alps.