Archipelago is an outdoor placemaking project at NOI Techpark, developed by the Design Friction Lab and the Faculty of Design and Art at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano. A series of mobile aluminium objects moves across the Piazza, constantly reshaping how the space can be used. Some offer shade or seating; others create moments for play or rest. A handful even harness solar and wind energy – to charge phones or e-bikes, for instance.

Aluminium is more than a material choice here. It connects the project to the site’s past: where our innovation district continues to grow today, Italy’s largest aluminium factory once stood. Archipelago translates that industrial history into a contemporary public space – not as a static monument but as a movable structure for everyday use. Piece by piece, the elements form an archipelago that changes with the campus, its weather, its seasons and – most importantly – the people who use it.