Present and future connected by passion

PRESENT AND FUTURE CONNECTED BY PASSION

A new exhibition space embracing the Baglietto yard’s inimitable history and heritage is due to open in 2023. The result of an international competition for young architects, the winning design much more than just an ordinary museum

by Désirée Sormani

These images, the winning design for the new Baglietto micro museum in La Spezia. The work of Boris Hilderal, it met all of the yard’s main criteria. Aside from being feasible to build, it had to tell the story of Baglietto’s past and present as well as looking to the future using multimedia and modern technologies. It even lights up completely at night!

Almost 170 years of history constitutes a very serious heritage indeed.The kind that deserves to be lovingly nurtured and protected. All the more so given that it involves photographers, designers, patents and models of all shapes and sizes. World-renowned for the stunning design and innovation of both its military and luxury leisure craft, the Baglietto yard will soon see its heritage celebrated in an original museum. “Lately we began putting all of our documents in order, digitalising as much as possible, and gradually our whole heritage emerged,” explains director of marketing and communications Raffaella Daino. “So we just spontaneously decided to create a museum”.

But this could be no ordinary museum. It had to be usable, technologically advanced and based on a sustainable concept: very

much like Baglietto’s own vision. “That’s why we had a competition and involved the most brilliant international architects: we wanted to create a micro museum that would represent the story of one of the great Italian icons on the international nautical scene. We wanted to start with reusing materials and so we thought that turning containers into exhibition spaces would reflect our beliefs. That also worked with the need for the space to be moveable and easy to assemble and take apart again. The CEO loved the basic idea and so we started from there”. The competition was run by Young Architects Competitions in collaboration with the University of Genoa. The long list of designs that poured in was scrutinised by a very reputable international jury (among which Lars Almgren (Dorte Mandrup), Melodie Leung (Zaha Hadid Architects), James Whitaker (Whitaker studio), Ryohei Koike (BIG),

These images, Boris Hilderal’s design featuring four 12-metre long containers which mean it is a moveable museum that can be transported around the world even though it will be installed in La Spezia. Opposite, Raffaella Daino, Head of Communication Baglietto, and the French architect. The project will target young people in particular

Francesco Paszkowski (Francesco Paszkowski Design. Young architects from all over the world took part and there were three winners, two gold mentions and 10 mentions. “It was an instant success with 100 projects submitted, so making a selection was tough,” says Daino. However, the design submitted by Boris Hilderal, founder and creative driving force of the French Zecler studio, stood out because it most closely mirrored the yard’s selection criteria. “Aside from being feasible to build, the project had to describe the past, present and also the future. It had to be multimedia and involving, use modern technologies with interactive and youth-oriented entertainment”. And the Hilderal design does all of that and more: it is visually striking, experimental and immersive, drawing in all the senses. “Beyond the technical process, the project was driven by naval architecture,” commented Hilderal. “Emotion and curiosity,

consciousness and understanding are at the heart of our approach”. The whole initiative held enormous cultural and social value for the yard, of course. “We are very proud of it,” underscores CEO Diego Michele Deprati. “Our yard’s hundred-year-plus history is not just our heritage but also belongs to the entire country. So we wanted to draw in more than the people that already know us and are interested in us. Even more importantly, we wanted to connect with the young people to whom we dedicated the competition. In an ideal world, past, present and future go hand in hand and are connected by the same spirit of passion, innovation and looking to the future”. Work has already begun with the aim of being completed for 2023. “We are collecting the material we need. The project has to be engineered. But we already have the containers: so the first brick has been laid!”