FABBRICA RESIDUA

The thesis originates from a personal observation: in Italy there are 125 abandoned sugar factories—what remains of them, and what can we do with this heritage? After an analysis of the phenomenon and of the political and economic management of these assets, the research focuses on a concrete proposal for the sugar factory in Foligno (Perugia). The project proposes the regeneration of the site as a device connecting the disused industrial system, the consolidated urban fabric, and the dynamic river landscape. The intervention seeks an adaptive balance between architecture and nature, overcoming rigid models of industrial conversion that are now incompatible with changing environmental, social, and economic conditions. The reuse strategy includes the insertion of a branch campus of the University of Perugia, responding to the growing demand for educational spaces and public facilities, restoring access to an area that has been closed to the public for over 40 years. The project takes on an experimental value, opening a broader reflection on the strategic redevelopment of abandoned sugar complexes as urban and landscape infrastructures.