Welcome to our ATRIUM PLUS third and last e-newsletter, a half-yearly update about what’s going on at ATRIUM PLUS and its upcoming events and activities. 

One year and a half after the launch of project activities, ATRIUM PLUS is reaching its conclusion, however, our commitment will not end. 

As Project Partners and Members of ATRIUM ROUTE, we will continue offering European citizens and young generations with new perspectives in exploring the twentieth-century history and looking at those traumatic events through the prism of urban landscapes in our European cities. 

Thanks to ATRIUM PLUS project, our commitment in communicating our common European "dissonant" and "uncomfortable” urban and architectural heritage through ethical and responsible approaches has been enriched by a new tourist product specifically designed for students and young generations: 

ATRIUM GO! SCHOOL TOUR OF ARCHITECTURE AND POWER IN THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY 

In this regard, we would like to thank all schools and students that have accepted to work to code a new communication approach towards dissonant heritage and that have guided us, with their enthusiasm, in the definition of this product specifically designed by them and for them. 

We would like to thank all administrations and associations, as well as professionals and citizens that have provided their support and assistance in the dissemination of ATRIUM Route values. 

As ATRIUM PLUS project is coming to the end, we kindly invite you to participate in our Final Conference “ATRIUM GO! School Tours of Architecture and Power in the Twentieth-Century” to share with you our achievements and to work together for its future developments. 

The Final event will take place on 18th June 2019 in Forlì, at Palazzo Romagnoli (Via Cesare Albicini 12) and at Municipality of Forlì -European Project and International Relation Office (Via Giorgina Saffi 18) 

The programme of the conference is downloadable by clicking here: 

Participants are kindly requested to register in advance by completing and submitting the following Registration Form.

BRAND ATRIUM GO!

What is ATRIUM GO!? 

Well, ATRIUM GO is … the brand of educational school tours for high-school students, designed by the ATRIUM PLUS project for increase the tourist offer of the ATRIUM ROUTE. 

Convinced that, now more than ever, young generations must be aware of our recent past and of those tragedies that marked the period, ATRIUM Plus contributes to turn students into responsible citizens making cautious choices daily. 

In this framework, ATRIUM GO brand promotes 5 ATRIUM Plus Itineraries. These display twentieth-century European non-democratic regimes’ architectures in their original political context, extending the analysis to their significance in the present time. It is exactly through this process that dissonance emerges as a fracture between their original meaning and the current democratic values. 

In order to avoid misunderstandings about its purposes, since the very beginning, ATRIUM GO! has been developed in collaboration with researchers, students and teachers, with a participatory approach. The tours intend to offer a newly elaborated approach in shed light on the events “narrated” by those buildings and on the dramatic pervasiveness of the ideologies that brought to their construction. ATRIUM GO! intends to transform the dissonance of totalitarian regimes’ architecture and the weight of history into an opportunity to raise students’ awareness, providing to these future citizens new keys to understand twentieth-century history. 

From a promotional point of view, a mini website of ATRIUM GO! is available on the website of Atrium Route with all information on the characteristics of the itineraries with all contacts. A slipcase with five leaflets describing each itinerary as well as five itinerary cards have been printed out so to promote ATRIUM GO! within schools and tour operators. 

We look forward to seeing you all at our final event on the 18th June in Forlì. Please, remember to fill in the Registration Form  for the smooth running of the event. As promised, our commitment will not stop with ATRIUM PLUS formal conclusion and we will make sure to send you timely update about our future activities. 

STUDY VISIT OF THE ITINERARY “BARI, EASTERN SEAFRONT” 

The presentation of Bari itinerary took place on 6th March 2019 on Bari eastern seafront (fig 1). The event involved the students of Class 4F of Liceo Scientifico “Gaetano Salvemini”, who, with the help of the Municipality of Bari -Department of Culture, Religion, Equal Opportunities, Communication, Territorial Marketing and Sport, of the teachers and the Head Teacher, deepened historical, architectural and urban topics with the aim to take a first step towards the concrete realisation of a final itinerary. 

fig. 1

The visit from Liceo “Giovan Battista Morgagni” of Forlì, protagonist of the same initiative in its own municipality, provided an opportunity to present the work carried out by Bari students and to officially test the concreteness and validity of the valorisation proposal. 

The visit, during the entire morning, started from the Palace of the Department of Agriculture of Puglia Region, where all participants gathered for a greeting and a brief introduction of the itinerary. The first stop was the “C. Bergia” Barrack (fig 2), headquarters of Provincial Command of Carabinieri that, with kindness and helpfulness, welcomed the group in the large entrance hall and in the parade ground, describing the building and the functions performed since the building realisation until today. 

fig. 2

Following the seafront, the group stopped at the Palace of the Province (now headquarters of the Metropolitan City of Bari) to visit the beautiful rooms characterising the interior (fig 3-4), finding in the Sala consigliare (Council Chamber) the ideal place for a stop. Here the students of class 4F had the opportunity to present adequately and thoroughly the whole itinerary, continuing its initial description and anticipating topics and locations that the visitors would confront over the course of the morning. 

                          fig. 3                                                              fig. 4

The following stop allowed the group to observe the external and visit the elegant interior of Grande Albergo delle Nazioni: with great kindness, the Director showed the halls and the presidential suite to the visitors, who took this occasion to enjoy the city skyline from an unusual perspective (fig 5). 

fig. 5

Continuing towards the city centre, the itinerary reached one of the most interesting points: the Palace of the Apulian Aqueduct, architectural jewel that still conserves both external beauty and interior treasure, work of the master Duilio Cambellotti. Here too, the visitors, after a warm welcome and an introduction by the Italian students, had the opportunity to visit the interior with the precious help of a guide and the President of the body, who made a brief but hearty speech together with the Culture and Tourism Assessor Silvio Maselli, who brought the greetings of Bari Mayor and expressed his gratitude for the importance of the initiative (fig 6-7). 

                          fig. 6                                                              fig. 7

After the Aqueduct, participants reached the pier of San Nicola where, nearby Circolo Canottieri Barion, continued the visit enjoying the sunny day, the view of the seafront palaces and a break where “focaccia barese” became undisputed star (fig. 8). 

fig. 8

Walking over the city centre, last stop of the itinerary, the group together with Atrium delegations were welcomed within Petruzzelli Theatre that, despite formally not included in the valorisation program, represents a special and beloved place for Bari people, which the hosting delegation desired to show to participants. 

Last stop of the itinerary was the Church of San Ferdinando. Here, in the churchyard, the morning devoted to the itinerary presentation came to an end: a clear and fresh-air day helped organisers and participants to share a work carried out in synergy that made the students from the two schools the protagonists of a path aimed at critical deepening and sharing. 

TRANSNATIONAL SEMINAR
“The dissonance in the urban architectures of the 20th century –Reflections for the promotion of cultural and touristic itineraries” 

On 7th March, the Seminar “The dissonance in the urban architectures of the 20th century –Reflections for the promotion of cultural and touristic itineraries” took place at the “Auditorium delle Culture” of Liceo “G. Salvemini”, following the itinerary tested the day before by the two classes of students from Bari and Forlì and by ATRIUM staff. 

The event was open to all citizens and particularly to the tour guides, tour operators and all those who work in the sector of territory’s promotion. The works, which began at 9.30 am and lasted about three hours, were an important occasion to reflect on the project Atrium Plus and on the method used by the staff of Bari and by the class of Liceo Salvemini to realize the new itinerary and to understand what is still to be done regarding the elaboration of the concept of dissonance applied to the inherited heritage. 

After the institutional greetings of Marisa Lupelli, director of the Culture Department of Bari, and Tina Gesmundo, head teacher of “Liceo Salvemini”, the discussion began with the first intervention of Elisa Giovannetti, Assessor for Culture of Forlì, who introduced the theme of the cultural Atrium routes in Europe and their progress. Thereafter, Cristina Vallicelli, Project Manager of the Municipality of Forlì (project leader partner) illustrated the project Atrium Plus, its objectives, transnational partnerships and results obtained. To follow, the speeches of the municipalities involved in the project such as Ferrara, Forlì, Labin and University of Zara, that shared their own itineraries already developed and the experiences gained over the years (fig.9). 

fig. 9

The second and the third part of the seminar were dedicated to the city of Bari, particularly the results obtained with the project activities were exposed. Lisa Pietropaolo opened the discussion analyzing precisely the urban development of the city up to the first decades of the twentieth century, when the birth of new neighborhoods and new buildings has clearly expressed the intentions of the fascist regime. Then, there was the intervention of Paola Di Marzo and David Hawk, as technical assistance of the Municipality of Bari, who presented the teaching experience in Liceo “G. Salvemini”, particularly with students of the 4F for the realization of participate itineraries. For the first time, the city of Bari questioned on the heritage inherited by two decades of fascist period and, for the first time, has introduced the concept of dissonance: these are the starting points for the realization of Atrium itinerary. 

The third phase of the seminar opened with the vision of small projections that showed the city of Bari during the Second World War, such as the clip of the movie "Polvere di stelle", preparatory to introduce the two new speeches held by Vito Antonio Leuzzi and Annabella De Robertis, who collaborate with Atrium project as historical experts of contemporary history. They told the history of Bari and the most important events that the city was forced to live, through a difficult and often controversial analysis since Bari was, at the same time, a fascist city but also a city of resistance. 

The seminar ended with a slideshow of some photos taken during the Atrium itineraries in Bari on 7th March, which was organized to show to the students themselves the important moment of knowledge and confrontation happened between the two cities. 

STUDY VISITS 

Wondering what have been the last steps of our roadmap? In the last months, participant students have engaged in study visits so to test out those brand-new ATRIUM PLUS itineraries created with the assistance of their peers. Each partner city hosted a school from another partner city, involving a total of 5 schools and 116 students. 

Curious about ATRIUM PLUS itineraries? 

• In March, students from Bari have guided their peers from Forlì through their city, inaugurating the first pilot visit to the itinerary named Expansionism and the fascist Propaganda concerning Mare Nostrum. 
• Later in March, in Ferrara students from Zadar have been exploring the dissonance of those buildings erected in the fascist era within the very same kilometre. The itinerary has been renamed From the Middle-Ages to the Rationalism, the Twentieth-Century in 1 Km and 4 Years. 
•  In turn, students from Ferrara have visited back their peers in Zadar in April, learning about both the overlapping fascist and the communist regimes which governed by the city; 
•  In April, students from Labin explored the Avenue of Consensus in Forlì. This route is evidence of how the regime’s propaganda, in order to build consensus among youngsters and citizens, rested also upon buildings and urban planning (fig.10). 
• In the second week of April, students from Bari visited the Municipality of Labin and attended selected workshops. These have included: Walt Disney’s cartoons as ground to reflect upon propaganda strategies within fascist and national-socialist regimes; Miners’ menus so to learn about miners’ food habits; “Local ATRIUM Route Seen Form a Bird’s Eye Perspective” combining drones with art skills (fig.11). 

Feedbacks form all students were analysed by partners and by CAST to finalise the structure of the itineraries and the concept to be used for the ATRIUM PLUS Brand. 

fig. 10

fig.11