Interfaces in Valle Bormida vol.1 is the final exhibition of the design studio Architecture, Society and Territory at Politecnico di Torino. The work investigated the territory of the Bormida Valley by taking the river as a key design lens: from an element historically perceived as risk and margin to a possible ecological, social and territorial resource for the valley’s small towns, particularly the municipalities of Bergolo, Camerana, Cortemilia, Gorzegno, Monesiglio and Saliceto, understood as part of a broader system shaped by the river and its transformations.
Developed between September 2025 and February 2026 by more than 50 international students of the Master of Science in Architecture for Sustainability (MASt), the design studio approached the Bormida as an environmental and social infrastructure capable of connecting landscapes, communities and productive practices. The river was observed not only in its physical and biological dimensions, but also as an archive of memories and as a possible structural framework for new forms of inhabiting, production and (not only human) use of the territory.
Through maps, drawings, models and installations, the exhibition presents the outcomes of research and design proposals that explore the relationships between water and communities, landscape and territorial infrastructures, highlighting often latent potentials and offering a reading of the river as a shared space of design.
The inaugural event will be held on Saturday, 21 February 2026, at 11:00 a.m. at the Silk Museum of the former Monesiglio Spinning Mill and represents the final stage of a research and project that lasted almost five months, involving over 50 students from 21 countries.
