The WELCOME CASINO studio explored the adaptive reuse of the former Casino Campione d’Italia, designed by Mario Botta, and its transformation into a refugee social integration centre. Once the economic engine of the enclave town of Campione d’Italia, the monumental structure became, after its first bankruptcy, a symbol of mono-economic dependency and geopolitical exceptionality. The studio proposed its conversion into a refugee integration centre and asylum, generating a strong civic programme for the town. It examined how a building originally conceived for gambling and economic extraction could be transformed into an architecture of care, hospitality, and shared civic life, informed by the principles and critical questions of humanitarian design.

Students were challenged to design a transformation that avoided the creation of a hermetic asylum object and instead proposed a porous civic infrastructure. The projects aimed to enable interaction between refugees and local inhabitants, transforming an introverted monument into an accessible and inclusive environment. Interventions were developed according to a principle of maximum impact with minimum means, privileging selective removal, on-site material reuse, temporary and adaptable systems, and creative reinterpretation rather than nostalgic imitation or complete replacement.

The studio critically examined how a structure defined by mono-functionality could be reimagined as a plural public programme serving both newcomers and residents. Through precise strategies of reuse, it investigated whether adaptive transformation, grounded in humanitarian design, could produce dignified, specific, and socially engaged spaces capable of continuous evolution.

Students: Zizi Adamia, Annie Bornet, Jana Bou Chaaya, Lisa Divorne, Diana Escalante, Stephanie Hemidi, Axelle Joyau, Tina Mirbaba, Naoki Mizukami, Jeremy Troilo, Andra Maria Urzica, Matilde Arletti, Emilie Liechti