Smart Solutions
Cultural Hub for Isolated Village
Creation of an innovative cultural centre in isolated and depopulated communities to attract new visitors to the village with high quality services and cultural productions.
Implemented in : Ostana
Country : Italy
How do you rate this example?
- What’s the solution?
- What makes it smart?
- How is the solution implemented?
- In what local context has it been applied?
- Who was behind the implementation?
- What was the local journey?
- What have been the main outputs & results?
- What does it bring the village/community?
- What’s needed
- What to do…
- and not to do.
Where and when
Implemented in : Ostana
Country : Italy
Population : 85
Date : 2013 – Ongoing
Find out more
Contact person : Laura Cantarella
E-mail : laura.cantarella@visoaviso.it
Link(s) :
Last updated : 03/08/22
What’s the solution?
A hub organising high-quality cultural events and services, hosting training activities and cultural productions, but also activities aimed at involving the local community (public library, area for young families and children, co-working space, etc.). It is a model activity at different levels, fulfilling the needs of the families, but also providing a reference point for visitors, students and researchers.
What makes it smart?
The solution is smart because:
- It fosters the quality of life in isolated areas, by providing basic services to families as well as a meeting space for local and valley communities.
- The library, the co-working space and the Auditorium are cultural and physical infrastructures to host universities and research activities. Lou Pourtoun works as an attractor for temporary but qualified inhabitants.
- Lou Pourtoun can effectively work with its cultural processes to fight all the stereotypes about mountain villages.
How is the solution implemented?
- Identify a suitable location for the cultural centre
- Engage local stakeholders
- Design the cultural centre based on high architectural quality and taking into account the specific local characteristics, traditions, materials etc.
- Seek finance for the construction of the cultural centre (e.g. Cohesion Funds)
- Identify appropriate cultural and social activities
- Communicate actively about the centre and its activities
In what local context has it been applied?
Ostana is a rural village located in the Piedmont Region, in the North-Western Alps facing the Monviso mountain in Italy. In 1921 there were 1,200 inhabitants. At the end of the 20th Century only six inhabitants were left with a depopulation rate of 99,5%. Therefore, the initial challenge was to populate a village from zero.
The creation of an innovative cultural centre is part of a wider strategy fostering the creation of a renewed community spirit, starting from a shared vision and imagining an infrastructure of community for the Ostana of the future, responding to a long-term vision. Ostana was a depopulated area, which was relaunched also thanks to an integrated action, involving a community which is much wider than its current 85 inhabitants, as it counts on alliances with regional and national stakeholders as well as wide national and international networks.
Who was behind the implementation?
- Municipality of Ostana
- Politecnico of Turin
- University of Turin
- Bouligar Cultural Association
- Viso A Viso Community Cooperative
What was the local journey?
- In 2012, the municipality decided to create an innovative centre combining cultural production and civic engagement. The area was chosen because S.Antonio hamlet was at that time completely abandoned but historically had been one of the most important of the village. The position facing the Monviso mountain is spectacular and it is at an altitude of 1300 m, (Ostana municipality altitude range from 1200 to 1800) so in a position easy to be reached from all the other hamlets.
- Finding resources for creating the cultural centre of 1000 square meters was a relevant challenge. The resources for the creation of the centre were taken from public funding: Regione Piemonte, Plan Rural Development ERDF 2007-13 (Strategic Measure 3.2.2)
- The construction of the Cultural Centre called ‘Lou Pourtoun’ was carried out by local enterprises, coordinated by the Politecnico of Turin which drafted the architectural project, revising the principles of traditional architecture into an innovative design idea. The authors of the project were Massimo Crotti, Antonio De Rossi & Marie-Pierre Forsans.
- One of the first activities carried out at Lou Pourtoun was the creation of ALPSTREAM, a Research Centre for studying Alpine rivers, managed by Turin University, Politecnico and University of Piemonte Orientale, funded by Interreg ALCOTRA 2014-2020 and created by the Parco del Monviso. Lou Pourtoun hosts the activities of the research centre, which is a reference point for scholars and experts from all over Europe.
- The municipality also fostered the creation of a Community Cooperative, which was called Viso A Viso and officially registered in May 2020. The Community Cooperative has the main objective of the management of the cultural centre and the overall creation of a positive impact on the local community. After the completion of the structure, in the first period the Cultural Centre was managed by a local Cultural Association called Bouligar, which organised events. Viso A Viso took the long-term responsibility of managing the structure and making its management sustainable at economic level.
- From 2020 on, a series of activities and projects were activated to open Lou Pourtoun to the local community and to an international audience: among these, the creation a public library for kids, adults and researchers on alpine subjects, the Human library of the Alps (https://www.bibliotecaviventedellealpi.it/), the organisation of Contemporary Art exhibitions and music performances, the opening of a local craftsmanship showroom.
What have been the main outputs & results?
- The Centre is open all year and it offers cultural services to the local community, acting as a community centre but also as a crucial point for attracting local quality producers and experiences. These can be boosted and presented to a wider audience (residents of the valley, families, tourists, etc.) for shared growing and improvement.
- Lou Pourtoun has attracted a heterogeneous community of researchers, scholars and experts from all over Europe, being a reference point for different types of visitors and short-term residents
- Lou Pourtoun has become a space of contemporary cultural production, fostering creatives and artists at national and European level: as one distinctive example, the famous rock band Marlene Kuntz, recorded their last album in this place and this action was widely communicated at the regional and national level, promoting the multifaceted dimension of this cultural space.
- Lou Pourtoun and Ostana now host every year the Rural Mobility Programme by UNITA http://www.univ-unita.eu, a network of European universities, a pilot programme for the future European University.
- The activation of new services created 7 new jobs in Ostana, directly and indirectly, fostering the presence of new workforce at local level and posing the basis for the creation of new services and jobs related to the activities which can be hosted by Lou Pourtoun.
- Lou Portoun has fostered a stronger visibility of Ostana as living laboratory for the creation of new enterprises and services, but also as a place to experiment bold architectural solutions. These were presented also at the occasion of international events such as the Architecture Biennale of Venice or national and international media such as Domus, Corriere della Sera, TFI, etc.
What does it bring the village/community?
- Lou Portoun can contribute to attracting new residents, which is one of the main priorities of Ostana, being the physical space where new services for families and youth can be implemented. At the same time, it gives visibility at national and international level to the village hosting research and cultural production activities, and being a space where the community can meet talents from all over Europe every day of the year.
What’s needed
Financial resources
Main types of cost:
Ongoing costs: EUR 95 229, including:
• Food cost (cafeteria) EUR 33 474
• Services for production EUR 12 454
• Electricity EUR 2 500
• Gas EUR 415
• Collaboration with external experts EUR 3 510
• Rent costs EUR 3 197
• Staff costs EUR 39 679
Financial needs:
Set up / Investment costs: EUR 1 010 000, including:
• Physical infrastructure and project design: EUR 950 000
• Furniture: EUR 30 000
• Administrative start-up cost and registration of the Community Cooperative: EUR 30 000
Funding received:
| Source | Amount | Funded |
|---|---|---|
| Public funding: Regione Piemonte, PSR 2007-13 Misura 3.2.2. | 950,000 € | Construction of the building |
| Space. Compagnia di San Paolo | 15,000 € | Cultural activities and participation processes |
| Unioncamere Piemonte | 20,000 € | Ostana Res. Ostana Residency Programme. Marlene Kuntz, Karma Clima project |
Human resources
• Architectural project team
• A multi-functional team composed by experts of community engagement, communication, EU and national funding, cultural and artistic organisers to keep the space alive
• A team managing the logistic aspects of the centre and the cafeteria
Physical resources
● A public structure to be used as a cultural centre
● Furniture for different activities and services, designed by local designers
What to do…
- Listen to real needs but also be visionary (future needs)
- Involve the local community and a wider one
- Have a medium and long term strategy
and not to do
- Don’t build only physical structures, without planning also the cultural contents
- Don’t forget to take into account the specificities of the local area in planning the design of the building and the cultural activities.
- Don’t develop monofunctional kinds of spaces
