Post-Cologne: at the FIAT Tower in Marina di Massa, a festival on architectures in transformation

A journey between past and future, between social utopias and new ecological imaginaries, between memory and the possibility of regeneration. From April 6 to 13, the Post-Cologne Festival transforms the former marine colonies of Marina di Massa into a cultural laboratory, a crossroads of reflection and experimentation.

Through a transdisciplinary program of performances, installations, encounters and projections, the festival, curated by Martina Angelotti and Emanuele Guidi, questions the contradictions of our time starting from a symbolic architecture: the FIAT Tower in Marina di Massa. Built in 1933 by engineer Vittorio Bonadè Bottino on the initiative of Senator Agnelli, the tower was once part of a system of colonies that welcomed the children of the working class for an educational and therapeutic vacation. Today, in a radically changed context, this space is transformed for a week into an observatory and amplifier of history and social transformations.

The only colony still in operation, the Marina di Massa Tower will be the festival’s main venue, overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea on one side and the Apuan Alps on the other. An emblematic place, which tells as much about the dream of a popular tourism as its decline, between abandoned buildings and new forms of spontaneous reuse.

A festival between art, memory and transformation

Post-Cologne is not intended to be just a cultural event, but a platform for research and imagination. At the center of the festival, former marine colonies are rethought as alternative cohabitation spaces, far from a productivist and consumerist model, with new perspectives on inclusion and sustainability.

Along the tower ramp, a video exhibition traces fragments of history, questioning official narratives and opening up questions about the future. The tower’s spaces become habitable and interactive environments, open to citizenship and forays by artists, historians, sociologists, urban planners and activists.

A rich program of events will enliven the week: thematic meetings on urban regeneration, guided tours among the former colonies and the surrounding landscape, sound experiences and artistic performances. Topics include the relationship between ecology and urbanism, the meaning of vacation in contemporary society, and the comparison of productive and leisure time.

From social utopia to the present: the fate of former colonies

The former marine colonies on the Apuan coast, which came into being between the early twentieth century and the Fascist two decades, were conceived as collective training spaces where young people were supposed to prepare for a future in the factory or the army. Places of care and discipline, but also of hope and promises of social equity, they embodied the idea of a popular tourism accessible to all.

As happened on the Riviera Romagnola, the Pisan and Ostiense coasts, these architectures marked the landscape for decades. But since the 1980s, as their use declined, many colonies have been abandoned, leaving behind dilapidated structures, empty and unfinished spaces. Witnesses of a bygone era, but also territories of possibilities and new appropriations, licit and otherwise.

Today, as the climate crisis transforms the coastal landscape and threatens the very existence of these architectures, the festival aims to reignite the debate on how to restore meaning and function to these places.

A week of events to rediscover a forgotten heritage

The festival kicks off on Sunday, April 6, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Torre Marina. On the following days, the program will offer an immersive experience of performances, meetings and workshops.

People will be able to explore the former colonies with guided tours, participate in art installations that reinterpret the concept of emptiness and reuse, and listen to stories from former workers who once animated these spaces. There will be no shortage of moments dedicated to younger people, with creative workshops for children and open visits to high schools.

Another central element will be the relationship with the landscape: the beaches and surroundings of the Tower will become settings for artistic and sound interventions, with music at sunset and forays into the territory.

Post-Cologne Festival invites the public not only to observe, but to experience the place in an active and participatory way. The possibility of staying on the coast, in a “Post-Cologne,” will make the experience even more immersive, allowing you to get in touch with the atmosphere and memories of the area. All events will be free by reservation, with the full program soon available online at post-colony.it.

Post-Cologne: at the FIAT Tower in Marina di Massa, a festival on architectures in transformation

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