La strategia del malinteso

This essay analyzes the pedagogical and design outcomes of the UniTS laboratory during the 2024-2025 inter-university cycle. The research focuses on the Transalpina railway yard, a strategic urban threshold located between the historic city of Gorizia and the modern city of Nova Gorica. Through a multidisciplinary approach, the laboratory integrates composition, theory, and representation, using a set of conceptual heuristics to guide the design process. A central feature is the "strategy of location," which treats the placement of architectural fragments as a foundational act to establish new urban relationships. The methodology experiments with the synthesis of analog and digital tools, employing physical models as "material diaries" and photogrammetry for digital evolution. The essay introduces the "misunderstanding" (malinteso) as a primary principle of spatial invention, fostering architectural biodiversity within the border zone. Projects are interpreted not as isolated specimens but as elements of an organic ecosystem that accommodates contradictions and alternative typologies. The resulting design "bestiary" is categorized into three families: typological hybridization, morphological forcing, and projects based on compositional principles. Ultimately, the essay promotes architectural design as a cognitive and critical tool capable of investigating the complex geopolitical margins of the "mobile border".