The construction of a small chapel arises from the desire to provide a new recognizable landmark within the mountain village of Farnocchia, a small centre surrounded by the Apuan Alps, with narrow streets and houses made of stone. The installation is one of the key stops of the event “Melodie e Sentieri”, a musical trek that connects the villages of Farnocchia and Sant’Anna di Stazzema. Both villages undergone a tragic event during the World War II. The centre of Farnocchia was set on fire by the Nazi in the course of an operation against the Italian resistance. This dreadful moment culminated in the neighbour village of Sant’Anna di Stazzema, where many people had taken refuge, where the Waffen-SS murdered about 560 people and burned their bodies. 

The modern trek is on one side a memory of this event but as well a moment of joy and a way to bring back people to these villages, sparsely inhabited during the year. The installation aims to establish a dialogue with the surrounding landscape and bring to light the latent traits of the area. For this reason, the intervention recalls the traditional typology of the “marginette” (small buildings scattered along mountain paths conceived as refuges and devotional chapels) and offers itself as a new space for meeting and meditation. 

From the outside, the archetypal pyramid-shaped form reinterprets the traditional elements of the area, in particular the old triangular wooden huts that once characterized the region. The en­trance, emphasized by a narrow passage, is filtered by a stone block carved as a staircase, which aspires to recall a contained monumentality and harmoniously coexists with the intimacy of the space. 

Inside, the dimly lit envi­ronment is enlivened by a candle and a skylight, through which light, rain, and wind can enter. The structure is completely made up of a wooden framework cladded with raw wooden planks, a natural material wildly available in the area. The construction is the result of a participatory building process conceived for the community of Farnocchia.

Architecture: Grazzini Tonazzini + Giorgia Colombo Architetto
Structures: Grazzini Tonazzini + Giorgia Colombo Architetto
Client: Nuova Associazione Filarmonica Santa Cecilia
Wood works: Angeli Legnami Srl
Art works: Lorenzo Bottari
Credits and Photos: Grazzini Tonazzini + Giorgia Colombo Architetto