House of Poetry: Dino Campana’s House in Marradi

Young Architects Competitions (YAC) and the Municipality of Marradi have launched House of Poetry, a competition to give new life to the house of Dino Campana, one of the most visionary Italian poets of the twentieth century, in the Tuscan-Romagnol Apennines. Late registration closes on 13 December 2026 and projects are due on 16 December 2026.

The house stands in the historic centre of Marradi, at Via Pescetti 1, between the busy road that links Florence and Faenza and the river. Recorded in cadastral maps as early as 1822, it is a terraced building with load-bearing masonry walls on five levels, including a semi-basement and an attic, and two gardens on different levels that can only be reached through the ground floor. Campana’s heirs have not lived there for over 30 years.

The brief asks for a home museum rather than a static memorial. Inside, the masonry shell must be kept, while partitions and new openings are allowed: the ground floor takes two exhibition rooms, the Artists for Campana collection and a workshop or archive; the first floor houses the Centro Studi Campaniani and the Marradi Cultura foundation; the second floor and attic tell the story of the poet’s life. Outside, entrants design the gardens, a lightweight 16 square metre pavilion for tickets, books and small events, and a raised link from the upper garden to a new street access. Emotional, reversible museography is the guiding idea.

Prizes total EUR 15,000: EUR 8,000 for first place, EUR 4,000 for second and EUR 2,000 for third, plus two Gold Mentions of EUR 500, ten honourable mentions and 30 finalists. The jury includes Massimiliano Fuksas, Valerie Mulvin of McCullough Mulvin, Vincenzo Latina, Paolo Zermani and Lapo Naldoni of Mario Cucinella Architects, alongside representatives of Marradi, Faenza and Campana institutions.

The competition is open to students, graduates and practitioners, individually or in teams of any size, as long as each team includes at least one member aged 18 to 35. Registration per team is EUR 65 until 18 October, EUR 85 until 15 November and EUR 115 until 13 December, plus 22% VAT. Entries consist of one A1 board, an A3 booklet of up to seven pages and a cover image, with texts in English. Results are due on 25 January 2027.