Reggio Emilia's Rigenera Festival Aims for Sustainable Urban Future

The first edition of the Rigenera festival in Reggio Emilia, Italy, runs until October 30, 2020, with a hybrid in-person and digital program. Organized by the Ordine degli Architetti PPC di Reggio Emilia, the festival focuses on urban regeneration to address sustainability challenges, including reducing land consumption, renewing built environments, and rediscovering forgotten spaces. President Andrea Rinaldi emphasizes the need for radical change in city-building, citing a UN prediction that two-thirds of the world population will live in cities by 2050. The festival features events in areas like the Santa Croce district and Area Reggiana, an industrial archaeology zone, where a slow process of building an innovation park is underway. A new award, the "Premio Rigenera," excludes restoration and renovation, instead rewarding innovative methods and processes that prioritize sociality and sustainability. Finalists include projects transforming degraded spaces, redeveloping industrial areas, and integrating clean energy with landscape. Rinaldi stresses that architects must reconnect with society to avoid obsolescence, and the festival integrates food, music, and art alongside architecture to engage the community.