The Exhibit Around APS association has launched a new photographic project called “Objective Company Town: Panzano and Torviscosa from the Twentieth Century to today“ with the aim to document and celebrate the historical events, social and cultural transformations that have shaped the company towns of Panzano and Torviscosa.

These two communities are considered innovative examples of cities that were designed to cater to the needs of the industrial workers and provide them with opportunities for leisure and well-being through independent social structures. The project will explore the elements of extraordinary modernity that emerged from these towns, including work culture, corporate welfare, immigration, cultural diversity, collective memory, cultural identity, social changes, and economic challenges.

Torviscosa was built in 1937 in the reclamation areas to welcome the new settlers who moved there. It was not only built for agricultural purposes but also for the industrial needs of processing materials. Similarly, the workers’ village of Panzano (Monfalcone) was built in 1908 on the initiative of the Cosulich brothers, founders of the Trieste Naval Shipyard. It was designed to be a self-sufficient urban agglomeration, functional to the industrial plants widespread in Italy since the beginning of the twentieth century.

The “Objective Company Town: Panzano and Torviscosa from the Twentieth Century to today” project aims to enhance the territory of Friuli Venezia Giulia and the sites linked to the history of the twentieth century. The stories of Panzano and Torviscosa become authentic testimonies of social changes, the industrial history of the region, and its architectural heritage, recognizing its importance at a national level. The project will spread a narrative that strengthens the sense of belonging and stimulates explorations of equally important realities.

Thanks to important partnerships, the project is structured into three main parts: an international free open call, inviting photographers to send images on the topic of transformation of the territory and the historical traces of the two conflicts or social changes that have occurred in these two “new cities”; two photographic walks in Torviscosa (23^th March) and in Panzano ( 20^th April) with Professional photographer Andrea Rossato and architect Lucia Krasovec-Lucas, an expert in twentieth-century architecture, will act as mentors.

The activities carried out will give life to a multimedia document to transmit the twentieth-century history of these cities on multiple levels, made up of archive and current photographs, filmed (also with drone), enriched by interviews with partners and consultants; photo exhibitions and presentation events, along with a photo book featuring texts by consultants and partners, and current, archive, and drone images.

The “Objective Company Town: Panzano and Torviscosa from the Twentieth Century to today” project is part of the activities of PixAround FVG, which this year is dedicated to GO! 2025 – Nova Gorica-Gorizia. European Capital of Culture 2025.

The project will also be presented at the 11^th edition of the Trieste Photo Days – International Photography Festival at the end of October 2024.

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Objective Company Town: Panzano and Torviscosa from the Twentieth Century to today is created with the support of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region – Io Sono Friuli Venezia Giulia and the partnerships with the Municipality of Torviscosa, the Monfalconese Cultural Consortium/Ecomuseum Territories, the Circolo Fotografico Friulano APS, AIDIA Trieste – Italian Association of Women Architects and Engineers.

The project also makes use of the consultancy of the architect Lucia Krasovec-Lucas, President of INARCH – National Institute of Architecture Triveneto Section and Founder of AIDIA – Italian Association of Women Architects and Engineers – Trieste Section; Andrea Rossato, professional photographer, the only Italian to be confirmed in three consecutive editions of the Sony World Photography Awards during which the World Photography Organisation awarded him the “National – Italy Award” in 2015 and the third place prize in the Professional – Art category – Candid in 2016, and named him among the best six photographers in the world in the Professional-Sport category in 2016, becoming the only Italian to manage to confirm himself in three consecutive editions but also in different categories.