Since the very first day after the closure of the Vaccari factory , we have chosen not to let it fade into obscurity as it happens too often in Italy to disused industrial plants.
We decided to keep the factory in the spotlight through several initiatives, in spite of the frustration felt by our community after the closure of the plant. Today, driven by the same courage, despite the difficult economic and historical scenario, we want to follow the same path of many international experiences who managed to revitalize and renew similar facilities thanks to culture.
Beyond all criticism, we believe that investing in culture means investing in our land’s future, even more so in a place that is so dear to locals.
None believes that the Vaccari factory can become anything but a cultural centre, however we do believe that since a new urban plan and new investment-attracting strategies are needed, drawing the attention to the former industrial plant is an innovative way to protect and endorse such an important resource.
It is with this frame of mind that we founded NOVA, Nuovo Opificio Vaccari per le Arti, a project aiming not only to the fulfilment of the cultural economy pole , one of the few sectors in growth according to the last ISTAT (National Institute of statistics) report, but also to the urban reorganisation of the whole area.
Several thousands of square metres, currently on a free bailment to the Municipality, will be allocated through a call for proposals to those who will present their projects and that will commit themselves to realise them here, paving the way for a new kind of culture making.
Moreover, in the above mentioned spaces and in the entrance building of the former industrial plant, new public facilities such as library, urban centre, meeting room, guestrooms and a “creative residence” (a fundamental back-up for all the activities taking place in the area) will be created.
The Vaccari Archive project is embedded in this scheme.
The commitment shown to this project in the last years, together with 500,000 Euros in funding coming from the Region Liguria will allow us to re-instate the building that once hosted the operations for calibration we purchased from the Municipality.
Keeping alive the historical memory of a place that represents a piece of history of work in this region becomes even more significant in the light of the overall project we are envisaging for the area.
Workers, materials, and products will resume a leading role in telling the over a hundred years old story of a manufacture that was an example of Italian excellence in the world for several decades. It was so important that it has changed the facet of a part of our Municipality which is still called “Ceramica” (“Pottery”) nowadays.
The past will not be erased, on the contrary it will live again in the same area which will become home of limitless creativity and, we hope, place of work for several people.
Yet, speaking about Nova does not mean being stuck in the present or in the past.
Nova represents the will for the future to reorganize a 180.000 square metres area: a real out-and-out city hidden in the existing urban fabric.
We have already described the urban centre as a meeting point for the community but ,of course, a physical place cannot respond by itself to the planning needs represented by such a big challenge.
Therefore we are developing a competition for the drafting of a master plan for this extraordinary place with the aim to spoilt the best energies available and to open a debate on the future of the factory.
Nova crosses new boundaries.
A new kind of culture making, a new synergy between public authority, associations and citizens, a new path to shape together the future of Vaccari.