Maria Alessandra Segantini on 30 Years of C+S Architects and Urban Regeneration

In an interview with Artribune, Maria Alessandra Segantini discusses the 30-year trajectory of C+S Architects, the firm she co-founded with Carlo Cappai in Venice in 1994, with subsequent offices in Treviso and London. The practice has focused on urban regeneration from its inception, working on brownfield sites such as the Torre Massimiliana on Sant'Erasmo Island, the former tobacco factory in Piazzale Roma, and the ex-Fabbrica Conterie on Murano. Segantini emphasizes a 'planetary ethic' that prioritizes biodiversity, landscape, and community over new land consumption. Key ongoing projects include the retrofit of the 1960s elliptical sports hall into the GAMeC museum in Bergamo, which aims to create a new public square and fuse the museum with the city. In Belgium, the firm is regenerating the former Royal Stables in Tervuren, adding a fifth lake for rainwater collection and pedestrian squares. C+S Architects has also developed innovative school designs, including 'circular schools' in Veneto, Piedmont, and Friuli that are demountable and feature 'walls without walls' (opaque up to 110 cm, transparent above). The firm's recent work includes a technical institute in Cervignano with a covered piazza and labs for local business ties. Segantini cites the Sant'Erasmo water treatment plant and the Venice Palace of Justice as key built works, and the unfinished Church for All Nations in Nigeria as a notable unrealized project.