New Life for the New Thule

The New Thule comes back to life: originally created as a travelling installation between Mendrisio and Lugano, it is reborn in Parco Ciani as a symbol of encounter and community.
The project took shape thanks to funding granted by the Student Corporation to the student association riOSA, a chapter of the Organization of Students of the Academy of Architecture. It was between the Mendrisio Campus and Lugano East Campus that, in 2022, the installation began its journey: a path designed to explore new approaches to the responsible use of resources and to experiment with the value of re-use as a concrete, everyday practice. Today, the New Thule finds new life in Parco Ciani, within the setting of the “Ice Village”. Reassembled and reinterpreted, the installation continues to engage openly with both the academic community and the city. Its presence also conveys a message: to highlight the importance of re-use and the possibility of giving lasting life to what already exists through new meanings and new functions.

Why talk about re-use?
Because re-use is an act of responsibility and creativity. Giving new form to an existing object means reducing waste, preserving resources, acknowledging the value of the work that produced that object, and at the same time imagining a different future for it.
It is precisely in this spirit that the New Thule is being reintroduced in one of Lugano’s most iconic public spaces. Not just an architectural piece, but an invitation to the city: to care for what we have, make it last, and give it new life.