NUOVO CENTRO STUDI CYNAR

‘An agrictectural dichotomy, to boost Puglia’s renaissance’. The Nuovo Centro Studi Cynar is found on the site of the former Centro Studi Cynar, established in 1974 by the Italian company producing the celebrated Cynar aperitif liqueur. Run in synergy with the nearby University of Bari, its operations ceased in 1990. The project proposes a new use for the site, by reinstating its identity as a hub for agricultural studies for the benefit of the wider Apulian rural community. This time, the centre focuses its activities on the lab-based pre-multiplication of resistant olive trees, in the aftermath of the deadly Xylella epidemic. The new proposal is articulated as a partly sunken rammed earth and Corten cluster that defines new laboratory spaces and flank the large public highway running across the site. Rammed earth structures on either side of the SS16 highway are connected by a bridge-type rest stop. The bridge is conceived as a contemporary revival of Angelo Bianchetti’s 1960s bridge autogrills, symbol of Italy’s post-war economic boom: it boasts a Corten exo-structure that supports modular units within its volume. Below it, large rammed earth walls are punctured by monolithic volumes, where the research labs are found.