THE VISION

“I experienced war as a child in Lebanon. Today, I have encountered it again while working on the reconstruction of schools in Ukraine. MATER was born out of this experience: out of the realization that even what has been destroyed can once again become a foundation.”

(Alessandro Scandurra)

MATER arises from what remains.

The name evokes the Latin word *mater*: mother, origin, foundation. Not merely matter as a physical element, but a generative principle—that which sustains and protects. After the explosion, after the collapse, after the silence, what remains is wounded matter that carries within it its infinite layers of the past. 

The project takes shape from the direct experience gained by winning an international competition for the reconstruction of schools in Ukraine, where the material scarred by war is not merely ruin: it is testimony. It is a trace of what has been and, at the same time, a possibility of what can be again. That experience posed a radical question: what does it mean to build after destruction? What does it mean to design when the material is still laden with trauma?

THE INSTALLATION

In MATER, rubble is gathered and reassembled into a ring—a form that is both archaic and civilized—defining a place of protection, a threshold to be crossed and inhabited. MATER highlights reconstruction as the creation of possible alternatives where meaning has been severed. To traverse the broken material and transform what appears to be waste into a space for connection.

An accumulation of rubble from manufacturing waste is arranged to form a ring 16 meters in diameter, defining a central space of about 7 meters. On the inner side, a structure made of standard-sized modular tubes is organized in a radial pattern, generating a system of uprights and crossbeams that supports and connects the elements of the installation. Approximately 300 pieces of debris are layered over the 25 spans that make up the structure, anchored to an electro-welded mesh behind them using dowels, wire, and metal straps.

The installation is accessible via a linear walkway leading to a central platform, situated at the heart of the composition and designed as a point of passage and observation. A continuous concrete seat runs along the inner circumference, defining the boundary of the central space and inviting visitors to pause and linger. 

The overall height of the installation is designed to preserve visual continuity between the interior and exterior of the cloister, while offering the perception of a cozy, protected space within which it becomes possible to rebuild connections and relationships.

CIRCULARITY

The circularity highlighted by MATER permeates every phase of the work: it exists even before its creation and continues even after its dismantling. The installation, in fact, is created using recycled materials that were already in use prior to its installation; once their original function is complete, these materials are reintroduced into new production processes or reused for other purposes. 

MATER asserts itself as a generative principle: not only the origin of spatial configurations, but a mechanism that fosters relationships and continuity. The material from which it is composed is never definitive; it passes through various states, is destroyed and regenerated, and builds connections between past and present, between use and reuse.

The installation aims not only to produce new forms but also to transform destruction into reconstruction, creating an architecture as a place where materials, as well as relationships, move in a circular manner, continuously generating new possibilities for encounter and meaning.