---
title: "Rebuilding the Edge"
type: challenge
locale: en
url: https://liminalfutures.com/challenges/rebuilding-the-edge
date: "2022-06-24"
summary: "Rebuilding the Edge was the first Liminal Lab: for three weeks in June 2022, 18 MIT students and members of Liminal studied the towns along the Ferrovia dei Parchi, the Sulmona–Carpinone railway between Abruzzo and Molise."
---

# Rebuilding the Edge

Type: challenge
Status: complete
Dates: 2022-06-09 – 2022-06-24
People: Ginevra D’Agostino; Nicolás Delgado Alcega; Carmelo Ignaccolo; Gabriele Pizzi; Chiara Romano Bosch; Elena Militello; Adriana Giorgis; Sarah Lohmar; Angela Loescher-Montal; Ava LaRocca; Sacha Moreau; Alexis Spinetta; Ipshita Karmakar; So Jung Lee; Tristan Searight; Natasha Stamler; John Devine; TJ Bayowa; Lauren Gideonse; Sarah Ladhani; Alex Steelman; Amanda Ugorji; Kerri Lu; Naksha Roy; Miho Mazereeuw; Caitlin Mueller
Organizations: Fondazione FS Italiane; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; MIT Club of Italy; Cooperativa Valleluna; Albergo Stella; Comune di Sulmona; Comune di Pettorano sul Gizio; Comune di Castel di Sangro; Club Alpino Italiano (CAI) Sezione di Sulmona; Comune di Castel del Giudice; MAXXI L’Aquila; Regione Abruzzo; Consorzio Aglio Rosso; GAL Abruzzo Italico Alto Sangro; Parco Nazionale della Maiella; South Working – Lavorare dal Sud; Praesidium; Agri Bio Peppone; Il Torchio; European Network for Rural Development (ENRD); Comune di Fontecchio; Liminal
Places: Pettorano sul Gizio; Sulmona; Cansano; Campo di Giove; Rivisondoli; Pescocostanzo; Roccaraso; Alfedena; Castel di Sangro; Palena; San Pietro Avellana; Vastogirardi; Roccasicura; Pescolanciano; Sessano del Molise; Carpinone; Carovilli; Bugnara; Introdacqua; Castel del Giudice
Commentaries: Rebuilding the Edge: The Ferrovia dei Parchi; Rebuilding the Edge: Exhibition at MIT Architecture; Rebuilding the Edge; How MIT students are helping revitalize a tiny Italian village; Dal MIT di Boston a Pettorano sul Gizio, studenti americani al lavoro per rivoluzionare i piccoli Comuni; Rebuilding the Edge; Exhibit: Rebuilding the Edge; From Thesis to Practice; Il progetto di MIT, Liminal e Fondazione Ferrovie dello Stato per ripensare i villaggi italiani

## Summary

Rebuilding the Edge was the first Liminal Lab: for three weeks in June 2022, 18 MIT students and members of Liminal studied the towns along the Ferrovia dei Parchi, the Sulmona–Carpinone railway between Abruzzo and Molise.

## Work

Rebuilding the Edge was the first iteration of Liminal Lab, the result of a collaboration between Liminal, Fondazione FS Italiane, MIT-Italy, the MIT Urban Risk Lab and the MIT Digital Structures Research Group. From 9 to 24 June 2022, 18 MIT students joined members of Liminal on the ground to develop strategic visions for the territories along the Ferrovia dei Parchi: the Sulmona–Carpinone railway between Abruzzo and Molise, rehabilitated by Fondazione FS in the last decade for historic tourist trains. The group lived in Pettorano sul Gizio and worked from the station at Roccaraso, which Fondazione FS renovated for the workshop and Liminal turned into a pop-up co-working space.

Before the workshop, stations and key buildings along the line were documented with GIS mapping and photogrammetry. On site, the work ran over three weeks. In the first, the group visited the Fondazione FS archive in Rome, rode the historic train from Sulmona to Carovilli, toured MAXXI L’Aquila and met the mayor of Pettorano sul Gizio. In the second, it met councillors and mayors of Sulmona and Castel di Sangro, the Consorzio Aglio Rosso, CAI, the local GAL, the Majella National Park and the SAI migrant-reception programme, and split into six teams by theme, site and scale. In the third, the teams developed their proposals through studio reviews with the MIT faculty and presented them at Roccaraso station on 24 June to a jury of professionals and local stakeholders.

Each team documented, analysed and proposed, and left a booklet:

1. Trails as a Generative System — Bugnara, Introdacqua, Sulmona, Pettorano sul Gizio and Cansano.
2. Resilience for Small-Scale Farming — the Conca di Sulmona, in the Valle Peligna.
3. The Last Mile: From Station to Town — nine stations of the line, and Cansano.
4. Occupancy & Maintenance Survey — Pettorano sul Gizio.
5. Reconfiguring a Regional Portal — Castel di Sangro.
6. A Space for Migrants in Towns — the SAI programme in Castel del Giudice.

The work was gathered in a pilot report with the six booklets, in English and Italian, and shown in an exhibition at the MIT Department of Architecture. Booklets 01 and 02 yielded the Sentiero Juan Carrito, a loop of about 50 km linking Sulmona with Bugnara, Introdacqua, Pettorano sul Gizio and Cansano, whose implementation the report describes as being structured with the Municipality of Sulmona. The occupancy survey of Pettorano sul Gizio, which recorded the visible signs of occupation and abandonment of every building with a phone-based form, began the building mapping method that Liminal later refined in Monti Prenestini and applied in Encouraging Reuse.

## Sources

- legacy-site: [/challenges-eng](/challenges-eng)

## Outputs

- Produced Rebuilding the Edge: The Ferrovia dei Parchi
- Produced Rebuilding the Edge: Exhibition at MIT Architecture
- Discussed in Rebuilding the Edge
- Discussed in How MIT students are helping revitalize a tiny Italian village
- Discussed in Dal MIT di Boston a Pettorano sul Gizio, studenti americani al lavoro per rivoluzionare i piccoli Comuni
- Discussed in Rebuilding the Edge
- Discussed in Exhibit: Rebuilding the Edge
- Produced From Thesis to Practice
- Discussed in Il progetto di MIT, Liminal e Fondazione Ferrovie dello Stato per ripensare i villaggi italiani

## Related

- Led by [Ginevra D’Agostino](/people/ginevra-dagostino)
- Led by [Nicolás Delgado Alcega](/people/nicolas-delgado-alcega)
- Participant [Carmelo Ignaccolo](/people/carmelo-ignaccolo)
- Participant [Gabriele Pizzi](/people/gabriele-pizzi)
- Participant [Chiara Romano Bosch](/people/chiara-romano-bosch)
- Participant [Elena Militello](/people/elena-militello)
- Participant [Adriana Giorgis](/people/adriana-giorgis)
- Participant [Sarah Lohmar](/people/sarah-lohmar)
- Participant [Angela Loescher-Montal](/people/angela-loescher-montal)
- Participant [Ava LaRocca](/people/ava-larocca)
- Participant [Sacha Moreau](/people/sacha-moreau)
- Participant [Alexis Spinetta](/people/alexis-spinetta)
- Participant [Ipshita Karmakar](/people/ipshita-karmakar)
- Participant [So Jung Lee](/people/so-jung-lee)
- Participant [Tristan Searight](/people/tristan-searight)
- Participant [Natasha Stamler](/people/natasha-stamler)
- Participant [John Devine](/people/john-devine)
- Participant [TJ Bayowa](/people/tj-bayowa)
- Participant [Lauren Gideonse](/people/lauren-gideonse)
- Participant [Sarah Ladhani](/people/sarah-ladhani)
- Participant [Alex Steelman](/people/alex-steelman)
- Participant [Amanda Ugorji](/people/amanda-ugorji)
- Participant [Kerri Lu](/people/kerri-lu)
- Participant [Naksha Roy](/people/naksha-roy)
- Teaching [Miho Mazereeuw](/people/miho-mazereeuw)
- Teaching [Caitlin Mueller](/people/caitlin-mueller)
- Authored by [Adriana Giorgis](/people/adriana-giorgis)
- Authored by [Angela Loescher-Montal](/people/angela-loescher-montal)
- Authored by [Sarah Lohmar](/people/sarah-lohmar)
- Financing partner [Fondazione FS Italiane](/organizations/fondazione-fs-italiane)
- Financing partner [Massachusetts Institute of Technology](/organizations/massachusetts-institute-of-technology)
- Operative partner [Massachusetts Institute of Technology](/organizations/massachusetts-institute-of-technology)
- Engaged actor [MIT Club of Italy](/organizations/mit-club-of-italy)
- Engaged actor [Cooperativa Valleluna](/organizations/cooperativa-valleluna)
- Engaged actor [Albergo Stella](/organizations/albergo-stella)
- Engaged actor [Comune di Sulmona](/organizations/comune-di-sulmona)
- Engaged actor [Comune di Pettorano sul Gizio](/organizations/comune-di-pettorano-sul-gizio)
- Engaged actor [Comune di Castel di Sangro](/organizations/comune-di-castel-di-sangro)
- Engaged actor [Club Alpino Italiano (CAI) Sezione di Sulmona](/organizations/cai-sulmona)
- Engaged actor [Comune di Castel del Giudice](/organizations/comune-di-castel-del-giudice)
- Engaged actor [MAXXI L’Aquila](/organizations/maxxi-laquila)
- Engaged actor [Regione Abruzzo](/organizations/regione-abruzzo)
- Engaged actor [Consorzio Aglio Rosso](/organizations/consorzio-aglio-rosso)
- Engaged actor [GAL Abruzzo Italico Alto Sangro](/organizations/gal-abruzzo-italico-alto-sangro)
- Engaged actor [Parco Nazionale della Maiella](/organizations/parco-nazionale-della-maiella)
- Engaged actor [South Working – Lavorare dal Sud](/organizations/south-working)
- Engaged actor [Praesidium](/organizations/praesidium)
- Engaged actor [Agri Bio Peppone](/organizations/agri-bio-peppone)
- Engaged actor [Il Torchio](/organizations/il-torchio)
- Engaged actor [European Network for Rural Development (ENRD)](/organizations/european-network-for-rural-development)
- Engaged actor [Comune di Fontecchio](/organizations/comune-di-fontecchio)
- Authored by [Liminal](/organizations/liminal)
- Located in [Pettorano sul Gizio](/places/pettorano-sul-gizio)
- Located in [Sulmona](/places/sulmona)
- Located in [Cansano](/places/cansano)
- Located in [Campo di Giove](/places/campo-di-giove)
- Located in [Rivisondoli](/places/rivisondoli)
- Located in [Pescocostanzo](/places/pescocostanzo)
- Located in [Roccaraso](/places/roccaraso)
- Located in [Alfedena](/places/alfedena)
- Located in [Castel di Sangro](/places/castel-di-sangro)
- Located in [Palena](/places/palena)
- Located in [San Pietro Avellana](/places/san-pietro-avellana)
- Located in [Vastogirardi](/places/vastogirardi)
- Located in [Roccasicura](/places/roccasicura)
- Located in [Pescolanciano](/places/pescolanciano)
- Located in [Sessano del Molise](/places/sessano-del-molise)
- Located in [Carpinone](/places/carpinone)
- Located in [Carovilli](/places/carovilli)
- Located in [Bugnara](/places/bugnara)
- Located in [Introdacqua](/places/introdacqua)
- Located in [Castel del Giudice](/places/castel-del-giudice)