The Cineca Campus

Shaping a campus where technology, people and environment evolve as one system.
The Campus Cineca is conceived as a physical expression of technological innovation, inspired by the principles of supercomputing, connectivity, and data flow. The project interprets the campus as an integrated system, similar to a computer, in which buildings, open spaces, pathways, and people function as interconnected components. Value arises not from individual elements, but from the relationships between them.

The motherboard metaphor guides the design: laboratories, offices, and services are linked by fluid circulation routes, digital infrastructure, and interaction spaces, creating an efficient and collaborative environment. Paths, green areas, and infrastructure become “electrical lines” that support the movement of people and ideas, reducing distances and encouraging spontaneous encounters.

Architecture thus takes on the character of a dynamic and adaptive organism. The campus identity merges technology and human experience, interpreting supercomputing as a force capable of connecting people, nature, and the urban environment.

The project is developed through parametric architecture: algorithms and environmental data (sun, wind, pedestrian flows) inform design choices, optimizing comfort, energy efficiency, and long-term adaptability. Open spaces play a central role: greenery becomes a setting for social interaction, well-being, and creativity. The new service building organizes internal courtyards, terraces, and outdoor areas that extend working spaces. Vegetation improves microclimate, water management, and psychological comfort.

A symbolic element is the suspended garden, linking the existing headquarters to the new building and representing continuity between past and future. The four-level structure acts as the “microchip” of the system, a central hub of activities and knowledge, connected through bridges and enclosed pathways.

The technological façade, inspired by circuits, regulates light and heat, enhancing energy performance while defining a strong and coherent identity. Campus Cineca emerges as an innovative, sustainable, and human-centered ecosystem, capable of evolving and supporting future research challenges.