Breaking New Ground / I Nuovi Orizzonti di Chiesi Gardens

What should be done with an industrial site once its original purpose has come to an end? How can it be transformed into a hybrid place where business activities coexist with those of the wider community? What form should spaces take in order to stimulate innovation, enhance attractiveness and encourage the involvement of external expertise? And how can the relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces be enhanced to promote a better quality of life and stronger relationships?
These are just some of the questions at the heart of the urban regeneration project of the historic Chiesi industrial site on Via Palermo in Parma, but they are also the themes around which the event Breaking New Ground / New Horizons took shape.

Structured around two round tables focusing respectively on “A Culture of Innovation” and “Urban Regeneration and Social Impact”, the event was opened by Maria Paola Chiesi, Chair of the Chiesi Group, followed by the presentation of Michele Nebuloni, Head of Chiesi Gardens.

Bringing together voices from across Chiesi and professionals from across the sector, Breaking New Ground / New Horizons provided an opportunity to explore issues currently at the centre of international debate: from reflections on the Italian and European innovation ecosystem and the role of leadership in encouraging the adoption of Open Innovation programmes, to the design of spaces that foster relationships and the exchange of knowledge, and how to bring to life environments conceived to evolve over time.

Specifically, the panel dedicated to “A Culture of Innovation” featured Andrea Chiesi, Head of Special Projects at the Chiesi Group; Carlo Bagnoli, Professor of Strategic Innovation at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and Founder and Scientific Director of VeniSIA; Francesca Bria, President of ART-ER and Board Member of the European Innovation Council; and Massimiano Bucchi, Professor of Science and Technology in Society at the University of Trento.
Moderated by Eleonora Chioda, curator of MeravigliosaMente for Corriere della Sera, the round table offered a tangible example of open innovation: a space that brings different disciplines and communities together, creating the conditions for ideas, talent and collaborations to generate new solutions for health, sustainability and the local area.

Moderated by urban transformation expert Paolo Bovio, Editorial News Lead at Chora & Will and Editorial Director of Future4Cities, the second panel — dedicated to “Urban Regeneration and Social Impact” — featured contributions from Cecilia Plicco, Senior Director, Shared Value and Sustainability at the Chiesi Group; Nina Bassoli, architecture curator; and Roberto Zancan, Professor of History and Theory of Architecture at HEAD–Genève (HES-SO).

The cultural journey through innovation, urban regeneration and social impact ultimately led to architecture, with contributions from the architects behind Chiesi Gardens — Harold Vermeiren, partner at 51N4E, Brussels, and Nemanja Zimonjić, director at TEN, Zurich/Belgrade.

“The urban regeneration of the Via Palermo site goes beyond a simple building intervention; rather, it is a process of social weaving that involves people, the community of the San Leonardo neighbourhood that has welcomed us for more than seventy years, and the scientific, professional and creative communities that we hope to welcome in the future. With Chiesi Gardens, we want to create not simply a new workplace, but an open ecosystem where new ideas, relationships and forms of innovation can emerge. Because innovation is not a project. It is a daily cultural choice through which we prepare ourselves to look toward new horizons.”
— Andrea Chiesi, Head of Special Projects del Gruppo Chiesi