Tshutshu lives in an apartment in Balerna where he always cooks for his friends. He wanted to represent a big dining room, where he could eat with his friends what he cooked in his kitchen. It was important for him that there was food on the table and plates and glasses for everyone. On the four corners, he wanted four big flowers to decorate the room and a big door to enter the room.

Nesteho arrived in Switzerland a few weeks ago. She feels good everywhere in Chiasso, sitting and playing under big trees.

Mary lives in Mendrisio and comes to Chiasso often. Her vision was on the outskirts of Chiasso, including a lot of nature and green areas. A cycling path goes through the green area passing through a university campus and a commercial center. The commercial center incorporates activities for all kinds of public.

Paolo moved to Chiasso from Italy two months ago. He lives with an autistic child and would like a secluded home in the city, close to the „Scuola Media “and to all the places he feels most comfortable, like the „Pub Murray field“ and the „Café Al Moka“.

Ömer and Ünsal are from Turkey and currently reside in an asylum center in Chiasso. They imagined a playground and a multifunctional room for the children who are living there, ideally with a garden around it. This space would provide a holistic environment for the children to play, learn, and enjoy nature without feeling under surveillance. They specifically insisted on having a colorful room adorned with decorations throughout.

Gianfranco is a priest in Chiasso, he took the meeting as the main theme of the model, characterized by the presence of water to quench one‘s thirst, shade to rest and the open-air cinema to gather together without distinction of faith or ethnicity. A place for everyone, especially young people with their families.

Given a lack of cultural dialogue the local community generates a so-called „mental hatred“ according to Rachid, and a strong absence of social activities or events that promote a better use of current public spaces.

Alla is from Ukraine and arrived in Switzerland 8 months ago. Her favorite place is the Cancello sul lago di Lugano, she dreams of having the same beautiful entrance where she lives. She imagined that the house on the plot was abandoned and that neighbors had renovated it. The design is not important, what matters is the territory: everything that is needed for the rehabilitation after a post-traumatic disorder is gathered (water, horses, trees, flowering bushes, a large walking area, and a fountain, near which one can sit for hours).

The old town of Mendrisio is cut in half by a road. Here, under the steps leading to the church is a square. It used to be a place for social encounters, then an asphalted intersection, and almost became the foundation for an office tower competing with the bell tower. Paola and Brunella are sisters who grew up and live in Mendrisio. They remember how the town used to be and believe the people show more hospitality than the public spaces.

“Yenge na Chiasso“means “Joy in Chiasso“. The straight railway of the station becomes a smooth path where inhabitants can freely interact. While this public path crosses the city, the mountains and the church embrace it, creating a more connected territory.

Two realities of Axel’s life: the mountains, representing metaphorically the satisfaction of succeeding to the top as a big effort, are also a place where he likes to spend a moment of reflection. He wanted to represent someone from the top of the mountains looking at his realities and decided to divide them into two distinguished spaces with a red line, one very open, lively, and safe place, and the other very compressed, closed, and dark place.

Piazza Indipendenza is located in the heart of Chiasso, close to the border. Franck is originally from Congo. For him, this square is an ideal place for walks and meetings. It has been transformed into a park with the addition of parasols to shelter from the summer heat.

Diana opens her house to Ukrainian refugees. She lives near Park Vira near Lugano, where the ex-masseria San Maurizio is located. She dreams that the unused ruin is converted into a community; while for the surroundings she envisions a communal orto, vineyards, and wildlife. To convey the idea of welcoming, she thought of a stone path, a threshold, and leaving the keys hung near the main entrance.

This is Omran‘s dream room. As he explained to us „{...} if it was the end of the world, my room would be a place where I could take refuge and not need anything{...} “.

During our conversation, Omran imagined his ideal place of hospitality, where he could invite all his family and friends. We decided to represent the heart of this project: his bedroom. It’s an integral part of a large villa with a patio in an imaginary residence. A peaceful space, with forests, rivers... but no mountains because the horizon must be clear.

“Chiasso is missing activities, I feel so bored here.” Marwa is a 19 years old girl, super calm, and she felt the need to have a space where she could express her feelings through art or just relax on a couch reading a book next to the window. The pergola was a very important element to her because it is connected to her culture of damascene houses with a patio and many plants and trees.

The model represents a gas station with all the different facilities. „Here we need a nice area to eat, with flowers and trees: because if someone has made a long journey, he/she will need a place to rest.“

The model represents Chiasso from the eyes of a 13 years old girl: a beautiful landscape under a blue sky. When we asked her ‘‘what do you think if I say Chiasso?’’ She replied ‘‘flowers and trees’’. Then she made this model.

Jean-Luc lives currently in the asylum center in Chiasso where he shares a room with around 25 other men. For the model, he chose the park „Parco Viale Stoppa” where he likes to spend time during the day. In general, he tries to spend as much time as possible outside and he just returns to the asylum center to eat and sleep.

The model represents the Bellinzona second middle school. Esma is originally from Iran and decided to reproduce her son‘s school. Compared to the original project, she modified the main façade by adding windows and an access door. She also added a different type of flooring to better separate the areas and new parasols, with different colors and shapes, to shelter from the summer heat and to improve the comfort of the students.

Naomi imagined an ideal city with specific spaces and places. In relation to Locarno, she thought about a big beach along the lake and her private house with her own swimming pool. The city should have a hospital, a common school (elementary and middle school) with a gym, and a „Migrolino“. Finally, the perfect city should contain a Europapark, with all its attractions. Even though the city is imaginary, it’s called Santo Domingo in relation to the capital of her motherland Dominican Republic.

Samuel is 13 years old. He came to Ticino 2 weeks ago. He modeled a nature park in Bulgaria. It is the last home and familiar place he visited with his family before immigrating to Switzerland.

Athena was first inspired by winter. Using her favorite season as a starting point, she wanted to create a space where she could enjoy snow and winter landscapes by making a large garden with a small forest and lots of activities for everyone to enjoy. She also wanted to add her future home, where she would live alone, but always surrounded by people who would come to visit her. She insisted that the gate would remain open for everyone.

Ashley is from Santo Domingo and she is 14 years old. She decided to represent an imaginary place: the mountains, where she feels safe and serene. Her dream is to go hiking and camping in the mountains together with her family. Nature is very important to her: the river, trees, flowers, and wild animals.

This is the building where Boris has lived since he arrived. It‘s the place where he feels welcomed and secure. His house is what „hospitality“ means to him. During the construction of the model, Boris was very careful with every detail, often using mathematical reasoning to be as precise as possible. He didn‘t want to add new things to improve the space or everything that he liked. He just wanted to show his place in the most precise way.

Giovanni is a theater pedagogue, actor, and musician. For him “Teatro Poeira“ represents a theater community in a small, hidden square. It can be anywhere, in a Brazilian metropolis or a Swiss village. Inside you can join different spaces all interconnected and breathe in a familiar atmosphere.

Alina wanted to represent the Lido di Tenero, near Locarno. In this place she can find peace and comfort, her children can play volleyball, football, or ping pong while in the background the water is immense and a nice landscape.

Dima arrived one year ago from Ukraine. He likes going to football fields and watching his two sons enjoy football.

Muhammad is a professional theater actor who has performed many works previously. "When I think of the concept of hospitality, cultural events come to my mind". He explains his vision of the concept of hospitality through theatre, which he considers as his home and the place where he can host people to share his feelings with them.

Aida is a 7 years old Iranian girl. She wanted a mansion where her mother could work and a garden where she could swim and play with her friends. People would enter through the gate and stroll through the garden. The snow in Alda's model was inspired by the snow in her sister's model (see "Casa fior di Latte") and the couch in her mother's model (see "Gnognoos").

Hossnieh is Iranian and has lived in Tessin for ten years. She lives with her two daughters and son in a small flat on the third floor of a building in Giubiasco. Through the model, Hossnieh imagined her ideal home choosing carefully the colors. Ghnoghnoos, the title she gave to the model, means phoenix in Iranian Persian.

Dorian is from Iran. After asking him to consider a place that made him feel good and welcomed, he mentioned the LAC Museum in Lugano. He specifically pointed out the entrance hall with its high ceiling and a large window that seamlessly connects the outside with the inside. During the model-making process, he chose to depict the LAC Museum in an apocalyptic setting, where humans no longer exist, and the color palette is reduced to shades of grey, white, and brown.

Mohamed decided to represent the way from the center where he is now living to the football pitch where he loves to spend his free time. Next to the field, there‘s a house that he decided to represent empty. That‘s because as he said „[...] without my mom my home feels empty to me“.

Muhammad, 13 years old, is a kid full of energy and vitality and super proud of his country‘s national football team. “I don‘t have friends, I just want to play football even with strangers“. He doesn‘t like to share his feelings with others, so he chose the football field to express his concept of hospitality, where he can have a great time and express himself without words.

Ali is a Turkish boy who was mesmerized by technology and big cities, such as Basel and Tokyo, that he knows thanks to pictures. He designed items to place in his dream room, where he feels the most comfortable. This room is on the first floor, where he can enjoy the view, through two large windows.

Danila arrived from Belarus just a few weeks ago, with his sister and his father. He decided to build the first home he arrived at in Switzerland, a friend‘s one. What he liked most about the place were the mountains all around.

Sasha is 13 years old and from Belarus. She has been staying in Switzerland with her brother and parents at the Asilium Center in Chiasso for two weeks. In Sasha’s opinion, hospitality is when kind people invite you to their home and are happy to see you. The last time Sasha felt hospitality was when they stayed overnight with family friends somewhere near Zurich. It was the first night they arrived in Switzerland. Sasha particularly liked the house, and it was the one she was modeling.

Mustafa, from Afghanistan, has been living away from his homeland for three years. He was recently relocated to Switzerland. When we asked him about a place that brings him comfort and happiness, he mentioned his family home in Afghanistan, expressing a deep longing for it, so he decided to recreate it in the model. The spaces are interconnected by a courtyard and a small garden featuring a white berry tree.

The Centro del Verde‘s garden is turned into a football pitch, where the two teams of Barcelona and Paris Saint Germain are playing. Mohamed Raiss, who joined Barcelona, desired to surround the game area with huge flowers, plants, and chairs.

Youssouf is from Ivory Coast and currently resides in the federal asylum center in Balerna. Using the model, he imagined his private garden where he could invite his friends. He planned different areas (car park, „dining room“, „and sports room“) around a green center (trees, swimming pool, swings, benches, tennis table).

Marc Jordan is from Cameroun. He decided to represent an ideal city, using Chiasso and Balerna as a reference. The Statue of Liberty, the symbol of the United States, was the starting point of the model-making process, which also represents his dream country to live in. Later on, he decided to add the sea, with fish and boats. In the corner area of the town, there is a forest with colorful trees. He added his house, which is the most massive object, and the two apartment buildings of Balerna in the central part of the model.

Sekou came alone to Switzerland a month ago. He remembers vividly the first field trip they did with his class last week. They went to the natural history museum of Lugano. He was curious about the animals and was especially fascinated by the interactive globe. It showed the world‘s history from when it was a single continent and how they drifted apart.