Agrilabor

Thesis project by Sofia Mariano and Alessia Piscitello

Academic year

2024-2025

A space where care for the territory becomes a form of hospitality and sharing

Created to enhance the landscape through collective action, “Agrilabor” brings together individuals who maintain vegetable gardens, forests, and trails across the valley. These activities take place on land provided by local municipalities and unoccupied homes. 

Each role fits into a shared system: a caretaker oversees the Laborers—volunteers who live on-site and help manage daily operations. The experience is hands-on, community-driven, and rooted in a balance between work, nature, and shared living. 

Agrilabor is more than a project—it’s a model, a new way of living and caring, where land becomes a shared resource and time spent together creates lasting value. 

 

With climate change redefining the way we experience the mountains, the course in Interior Design invites students to imagine new sustainable living scenarios. The project was born in collaboration with the Municipality of Pontechianale, the Mountain Museum and high-altitude professionals. The students worked on the Carlo Emanuele III Shelter, a place surrounded by nature, with the aim of transforming it into a contemporary home. An opportunity to overcome the city-mountain dichotomy and propose new models of living at high altitude. 
Relatore: Christian Villa  Correlatore: Francesco Allasina