During the autumn 2023, we visited a series of buildings in Chiasso, Balerna, Bellinzona and Lugano. For months and sometimes for years, hundreds of families, teenagers and children live in these federal and cantonal centres. They are supposed to be residential buildings. An analysis of their location in the city and of the architectural devices demonstrates that they are nothing more than official camps.
The “Centro Polivalente“ of Camorino was built in the 1960s as a Special Sanitary Facility, right next to the regional police center.
During the peak of asylum seekers in 2015 it was used to accommodate people that received a negative asylum request: the asylum seekers who could not be sent back to their home due to diplomatic issues between Switzerland and their countries. Despite the Geneva Convention, some migrants lived for 6 years underground. On the 14th of April 2022 the bunker was closed and the inhabitants were relocated to the “Hotel Colorado“ of Bodio, reopened as an asylum center. The bunker is now under transformation. The project is to build new additional spaces above ground to host people with temporary permits.
Location: 46°09‘56, 4“8°59‘27.3“
Previous use: special sanitary facility (1960-2015)
New use: Provisional Center (2015-2019)
Capacity: 128 beds, 1134 m2
Permanence time: 140 days - 6 years
The “Centro Federale Pasture“ is located in the industrial zone of Balerna, next to commercial train lines.
Originally constructed as a CFF cargo office building, it was converted to a federal centre. Asylum seekers are housed there while waiting for an answer to their request. Following a change in the migration law in 2019, it has been decided to build a new centre with a larger capacity in front of the actual one. The old centre will therefore once again be used as offices for the SEM (State Secretariat for Migration), but discussions are still underway to perhaps leave it as a residential asylum building. The temporary structures added to the administrative building, as well as signs of life, show off the actual use of the former offices. The building is also now surrounded by fences and continuously monitored by security.
Location: Via Giuseppe Motta 1, Balerna-Novazzano
Previous use: SBB CFF FFS cargo building
New use: Federal asylum center since 2017
Capacity: 220 beds ~ 2100 m2
Permanence time: max. 140 days
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The new federal centre, currently under construction in front of the existing one, is located in the industrial area of Balerna - Novazzano, between the goods train tracks and a main road. The architecture office «Lopes Brenna» won a public competition in 2018 to design the building. It’ll accommodate around 300 people in three different areas, designed to host men, women, and families separately in rooms for 6-8 people. The outside area, facing the old Centre, will become a public area, while at the back of the building, facing the tracks, an outside space, fenced all around will be created exclusively for the centre‘s residents. Special attention will be given to surveillance, with the construction of guard posts, gates, video cameras, and fences. According to security standards, all windows in the building will only open partially (the minimum necessary for air circulation).
Location: Via Giuseppe Motta 4B, Balerna-Novazzano
Previous use: -
New use: Federal asylum center since 2024,
Capacity: 350 beds, 5400 m2
Permanence time: max. 140 days
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The “Centro Collettivo Ulivo“ is located in the heart of the industrial area of Canobbio, a suburb of Lugano. The building is managed by the Red Cross and was designed by the architect Sergio Calori who won the competition in 2016. The Centre can accommodate 180 people who usually stay in the center for 6 to 9 months depending on their situation. The residents are asylum-seeker refugees, adults, and families who have received a residence permit and have been assigned to a Swiss canton. Once they leave the center, helped by the Red Cross, they should be able to find a home and a job. The facility is in good condition with an outdoor green space. A panoptic security tower is placed in the centre of the housing unit and the site is surrounded by fences. Entrances and exits are constantly monitored and access to the area is only allowed by minibus or public buses (which run only twice a day on weekdays).
Location: Via alla Stampa 11B, Cadro
Previous use: -
New use: Asylum centre since 2016
Capacity: 180 people, 2190 m2
Permanence time: 6 months - 9 months
The Hotel Vezia is located in Vezia, a municipality close to Lugano. It was designed in 1956 by the architect Orfeo Amadò and is inspired by the American motels. The collaboration between the owners and the Red Cross started 2023 in order to host asylum seeker, refugees, adults and families who have received a residence permit and have been assigned to a Canton.The facility is in good condition, has common areas such as a veranda, a swimming pool and a small garden and can accommodate up to 120 people. There are no particular architectural barriers.
Location: Via S. Gottardo 32, Vezia
Previous use: Motel since 1956
New use: Temporary asylum center since 2023
Capacity: 120 people, 1900 m2
Permanence time: 3 months - 9 months
The Hotel Colorado is located in a region called Leventina, at the far end of the small village of Bodio, where the valley is very narrow and the sun is almost absent. It used to be a guesthouse and a nightclub. During the Covid crisis, it was closed and converted to accommodate people awaiting repatriation due to a negative response to their asylum applications. It can accommodate a maximum of 30 people. The building is squeezed between the mountain and the railway, right next to a graphite factory, which is considered a trouble spot for the surrounding inhabitants because of the bad air pollution it causes.
Location: Via Sassi Grossi 7, Bodio
Previous use: Guesthouse and night club 1960
New use: Temporary asylum center since 2020
Capacity: 30 people, 800 m2
Permanence time: 3 months - 9 months
This building was formerly used as a border medical and was converted in 2019 into an asylum center. It's located in Chiasso, right next to the customs office. It can host up to 300 people, mostly families and adult refugees waiting for an answer to their asylum request. The area is heavily controlled with several fences, numerous cameras, and guards at the entrance gates.
Location: Via G. Motta 1b, Chiasso
Previous use: Medical center
New use: Federal asylum center since 2019
Capacity: 300 people, 650 m2
Permanence time: max. 140 days
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This asylum federal center is located in the Via G. Motta 7, inside the former warehouse of Chiasso’s railway station. In 2016 the building of the 50s was converted into a temporary asylum centre in case of a lack of space in the other centre. In 2022, the building was used to host Ukrainian refugees, accommodating up to 300 people. Currently, alongside Ukrainian families, the building houses refugees, mostly single adults and some families going through the first phase of the asylum procedure. At the moment, some parts appear to be inhabited, while others look abandoned. The building is in poor condition and there is no outdoor space. It is not fenced off, but there are barred windows, guarded entrances and a continuous presence of security.
Location: Via G. Motta 7, Chiasso
Previous use: Warehouse 1950
New use: Asylum Center since 2016
Capacity: 300 beds, 1120 m2
Permanence time: max. 6 months
The “Centro Collettivo Croce Rossa“ is located on the urban outskirts of Lugano, on the edge of the “Paradiso“ train stop. In the 1970s it housed sex workers. In 2017, the building was supposed to be demolished. They added tree trunks on the façade to adapt it to the law. It is managed by the Red Cross and it is now a shelter for about 130-140 people.
The inhabitants are unaccompanied minors seeking asylum who received a positive response and were assigned to a canton. Each minor is accompanied by a mentor for support. Until the age of 20, they will be taken care of by the Red Cross and attend school or an apprenticeship. The building is not fenced with barriers, but entrances and exits are constantly monitored.
Location: Via Antonio Barzaghi 9, Paradiso
Previous use: in 1970 was a house for sex workers
New use: Centre for unaccompanied migrant minors since 2017
Capacity: 130-140 people, 2200 m2
Permanence time: until 20 years old
The “Foyer Croce Rossa“ is located in Castione, right at the bottom of the mountain, in between an industrial and a residential area. The structure hosts minors without parents. For each of them, a mentor for support is appointed to accompany him/her throughout the asylum procedure.
In terms of rooms, there are two different categories of accommodation: on the upper floors, the facility hosts minors, offering single and double rooms with shared kitchens and bathrooms on the first floor; on the second level, private one-bedroom flats can be found.
Location: Via delle Cave 20, il Municipio di Arbedo-Castione
Previous use: -
New use: Centre for unaccompanied migrant minors
Capacity: 1800 m2
Permanence time: until 20 y.o.
In November 2023, we organized a study trip to Lampedusa. Most of the people we worked with in Ticino, at the border between Italy and Switzerland, had passed by this island. It was obvious for us that we had to go there to understand. At this border of Europe, the territorial and architectorial devices designed and financed by some Europeans governments isolate and alienate. Often, these devices kill people.
