"Libera Masseria": from an asset confiscated from organized crime to a sustainable, welcoming and inclusive space thanks to the project by Stefano Boeri Interiors
The facility will house a new space dedicated to food, rooms designated for hospitality and training on mafia and social antimafia, outdoor recreational areas, an urban garden and a green square.
It will be a place at the disposal of the citizenry, a model of social justice and good civil coexistence.
The Municipal Administration of Cisliano (Milano), together with the Association Una Casa Anche Per Te Onlus (U.c.a.p.te) and Caritas Ambrosiana, present the project for the redevelopment of the "Libera Masseria" - a real estate complex confiscated on Nov. 13, 2014, from the Valle - Lampada family belonging to the 'ndrangheta and assigned to the Municipality of Cisliano in 2021, to be then given in management with a free concession contract to the Association Una Casa Per Te Onlus on Jan. 13, 2023.
The renovation works - undertaken thanks to the fundamental support of the Lombardy Region - were entrusted to the Stefano Boeri Interiors studio, called to take on an important design challenge such as the intervention on a confiscated property, which does not only imply a spatial transformation, but takes on a high symbolic value. The goal is to enhance and elevate the evolution that the property has undergone in its seven years of temporary assignment to an asset-presidium of social justice and active citizenship, making it a true model for the renewal of "critical" contexts and places.
"Even for the architectural project of the Libera Masseria we made a quality choice: we had to be consistent with our goals, first and foremost to make this asset a positive symbol, an example for the transformation of similar structures" says Luca Durè, Mayor of Cisliano.
The history of the “Libera Masseria", from 2010 to the present day
The "Libera Masseria," located in Cisliano (Milan), is a complex of about 10,000 square meters seized from the 'ndrangheta Valle clan in 2010 during Operation "Crimine Infinito," led by Dr. Ilda Bocassin. During the years that the property has been under the ownership of organized crime, it has undergone significant illegal expansions.
Since June 2015, the entire structure has been provisionally handed over to the Municipality of Cisliano, which together with the Association "Una Casa Anche Per Te Onlus (U.c.a.p.te)," Caritas Ambrosiana and a wide network of associations in the area, have turned this space - including a restaurant, a pizzeria, an outdoor hall, a large garden with a swimming pool, a parking lot and four apartments - into a common good, a presidium of social justice, a place of welcome and sharing, intended for social activities and initiatives in favor of the most weak and needy.
"Over these 7 years, 13,000 young people have trained and worked in this place, to project us into the future. A future of light, of beauty that will bring even more young people and adults here to drink the water and the beauty of legality and social justice" says Don Massimo Mapelli, president of the Una Casa Anche Per Te Onlus Association.
"Transforming a closed place of crime and cruelty into an open, green space shared by young people as a venue for training, work and recreation is both a beautiful and powerful project. I thank Don Massimo Mapelli and the Mayor of Cisliano for giving us the opportunity to help the Libera Masseria become a model for the conversion of property confiscated from the mafia into common and public goods." comments Stefano Boeri, Founder of Stefano Boeri Interiors.
The new redevelopment project of the “Libera Masseria”
The intervention will involve a hybrid action: the main buildings will undergo renovation and energy efficiency, while those built later (illegally) will be demolished and replaced by new flexible and sustainable buildings with variable geometries, thus suitable for hosting the activities that will be carried out within the “Libera Masseria”.
"This project confirms our open and multidisciplinary approach on different scales and scopes, maintaining our focus on an increasingly integral vision, creating multifunctional and flexible spaces that can respond, again, to the multiple needs of an entire community" says Giorgio Donà, Founding Partner and Director of Stefano Boeri Interiors.
The two buildings under renovation will be dedicated to food, common spaces and partly converted into training rooms inherent to hospitality and social anti-mafia issues for groups and schools of all levels, as well as for hosting residential and volunteer training camps.
For the new buildings, on the other hand, a more radical intervention aimed at respecting the historic and traditional nature of the ‘masseria’ (a typical italian fortified farmhouse) is planned: the new structures, in fact, will be built around a large common open space, which will be used for collective outdoor activities.
Open and green spaces will intermingle with the building suggesting and facilitating various situations of social interaction. In fact, the large central square is suitable for hosting events and parties, where the arcade and spaces between buildings also provide shelter from sun and rain.
The swimming pool area will be maintained as such encouraging the gathering of the local community and youth during the summer residential camp, while the old parking lot will be turned into an urban vegetable garden, useful for catering training activities.
The entire facility is designed to support citizens' education through knowledge and training paths for youth and adults, the catering enhances the link with local agricultural production, and the hospitality allows for families in temporary need to be accommodated and offered paths to reintegrate into society.
The Libera Masseria project represents a strong message in favor of social justice and good civil coexistence, a manifestation to all citizens of how it is possible to transform a place of criminality and suffering into an environment of hope and social inclusion.
