Tra memoria e oblio: il paradosso del caso ex-Ellesse di perugia

The former Ellesse factory in Perugia, designed between 1966 and 1984 by Bruno Signorini with the contribution of Pietro Porcinai for the gardens and rooftop, stands as a pioneering case of bio-architecture: an early technological model of passive climate control, integrated with the compositional criteria of landscape design. Conceived as a territorial landmark, the complex sought to merge innovation, aesthetics, and corporate identity, fostering a virtuous dialogue between architecture and nature. However, the abandonment of the site and the construction of a supermarket resulted in the removal of Porcinai’s garden and the negation of the spatial balance between solids and voids envisioned by Signorini and the renowned landscape architect. Today, only the office tower remains, urging a deeper reflection on the safeguarding of industrial heritage. This case reveals the limits of conservation strategies focused on single artifacts, stressing the need to regard landscape as integral to preservation and regeneration. In this sense, requalifying production sites requires recognizing the identity and memory embedded in the relations between architecture, urban fabric, and landscape, and demands design strategies able to reinterpret these places as active devices of a collective memory to be preserved.