Rural redevelopment. San Lorenzo in Mombello di Torino

The restoration of the small Romanesque church of San Lorenzo in Mombello di Torino by studio Maccagno involved both refurbishing the historic architecture and working on the landscape design outdoors to offer new ideas for using the territory.



San Lorenzo in Mombello di Torino is actually located on the border of the Asti and Turin provinces, a UNESCO Site - Riserva della Biosfera CollinaPo - as part of the Man and Biosphere programme. A territory with extraordinary environmental qualities, dotted with small villages, small country churches and a long tradition that required the Maccagno studio - appointed to restore the Romanesque church - to carefully study the setting and propose design options aimed at encouraging use of the territory by locals and visitors alike.





So, the restoration in Mombello di Torino involved fixing the roof, redoing the interior stucco and paintwork and restoring the external facades and flooring. But it doesn't stop there, because the parish priest insisted that the restoration activity should also create new social dynamics amongst the population. So, recovering a material cultural element turned into a reason for cohesion and consensus, to the point where almost half the cost of the works was covered by donations.





While the interior restorations preserved what was already there, Marco Maccagno proposed landscaping design ideas that would underscore the intrinsic beauty of the site, ranging from white flowering trees in springtime through to foliage and coloured berries in autumn, in a harmonious pattern that liaises between the hills shaped by farming and the historical church building.





The area around the church is owned by the municipality of Mombello di Torino that invested in this project to make the most of the Romanesque church of San Lorenzo as a point of interest, for the many users of the bike and hiking trail as well as for local cultural events.





A virtuous example where traditions and new uses become close allies to protect a rural environment with its own unique biodiversity and beauty.

Christiane Bürklein

Project: Studio Maccagno, http://www.studiomaccagno.it/
Location: Mombello di Torino, Italy
Year: 2015-2016
Images: © Marco Maccagno