La casa per i matti e la casa per lo psichiatra che li ha liberati. La collaborazione di Nani Valle e Giorgio Bellavitis con Franco Basaglia e Franca Ongaro

The text examines two unconventional housing projects by architects Nani Valle and Giorgio Bellavitis: the project for the houses for ‘guests’—no longer patients— of the renovated spaces of the Trieste Psychiatric Hospital, and another for a holiday home for psychiatrist Franco Basaglia. At the core of both projects lies the intellectual and interdisciplinary dialogue between the architect couple Nani Valle and Giorgio Bellavitis and the duo of Franco Basaglia and his wife, Franca Ongaro. These projects reveal the architects’ theoretical contribution—until now largely overlooked—to the process that led to the closure of the psychiatric hospital and, more broadly, to a paradigm shift in mental health care. The projects clearly reflect the central role of Nani Valle, who developed both a design and research expertise on care facilities. Above all, the projects stand out for their striking contemporary relevance, as they seem to respond to the tensions of the context in which they were conceived as well as to those of the present.