MAR
© Andrea Maspero
LandWorks Plus (LW+) is a participatory project aims to protect, enhance and revitalize the ancient mining complex of Argentiera (Sassari), one of the major examples of mining archaeology in Sardinia, largely abandoned and in disuse.
LW+ main challenge is to regenerate the former mining village through the realization of projects and initiatives "bottom up", becoming a virtuous and sustainable model, exportable and scalable in other realities, putting local communities at the center and involves them in self-organization projects, making the village a center of experimentation and multidisciplinary artistic production of international excellence: the abandonment meets the culture becoming an opportunity for growth and development, redefining the relationships between man, art, architecture and landscape.
LW+ aims to create a positive impact for society and generate a sustainable social value, building an open and inclusive space, a place for the dissemination of knowledge in close connection with the community heritage. Through its actions safeguarding the vocation, identity and memory of the mining site as a place of work, innovation and production.
„
“
...from mineral production
to cultural and creative production:
Right here, where people used to struggle in the mine,
today culture is created and produced!
LW+ reconverts the site production, with an integrated approach, culture, creativity and art as drivers for the development and rebirth of the mine.
Training, open-air and mine museum, studies and research, artistic and scientific residencies, cultural and recreational events and experiences: these are the 5 themes of the extended offer system, addressed not only to local, but also to an international and multidisciplinary audience, favouring the inclusion in particular of young people, students and the elderly of the territory in a climate of cultural and social integration
One of the suggestive bays in Sardinia for the variety of its landscapes, characterized by hills and silvery shale; an authentic place, land of miners and shepherds for generations, included in the Historical and Environmental Geomineral Park of Sardinia: Argentiera continues to be a terminal, not random choice.
Borned as a village of miners, takes name from the material extracted from the deposits of lead and silvery zinc. The mine, used in Roman and medieval times, resumed its mining activity in 1867, remaining in operation until 1963.
After the closure, remained in a state of suspension for years, strongly proved by depopulation (today it has 70 inhabitants) and the economic crisis.
Recently it has seen new and favorable prerequisites for urban, environmental and social redevelopment: the town of Sassari has restructured the main industrial buildings, transforming them with the support of LandWorks into a cultural center with adjoining museum, laboratories, conference rooms and guest rooms.
LW+ chooses Argentiera as a field of experimentation, for its particular historical-environmental value and tourist-productive vocation; to share spaces, projects and experiences.
