University, the new Lumsa campus in Palermo

A new cultural center in the center of Palermo with a library of over 300 square meters, an auditorium, classrooms, a cafeteria and the green refurbishment of a long-abandoned area that will be capable of redeveloping an entire neighborhood. This is a summary of the Lumsa University project drawn up by the Opificio Progetti Architettura team (group leader Prof. Sergio Catalano) which envisages the restoration of a large part of the area of ​​the former Lolli Station and its conversion into a real infrastructure. cultural, a sequence of open and green spaces of about 7,000 square meters – including a ‘square covered’ by an ancient iron and cast iron roof – which is configured as a real park, reconnecting via Dante, where the system of former railway pavilions, with via Parlatore where, since 1999, the historic seat of the LUMSA University has been located in the nineteenth-century former Monastery of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, later Collegio Casa Bianca. «A cultural operation of great depth – according to prof. Giampaolo Frezza, pro-rector for teaching and the right to study at the LUMSA University – in a university city like Palermo that is not only geographically open to the Mediterranean ». The Aula Magna, 475 square meters in size (obtained from the former turning room), will be created by introducing a stepped stalls with a steel structure and covered in wood inside the pavilion. The audience will be able to accommodate 250 people. The library (in the former locomotive repair room), measuring 368 square meters and which will house 20,000 volumes, is also organized around a new “architectural object” located in the center of the internal space of the pavilion: it is a stairway to steel structure and covered in wood that can be used as an informal reading space or as an audience to host the public at events such as book presentations, seminars. An access to the Campus park from Via Dante is also planned. All the interventions will be carried out with own funds and do not involve the building of the Lolli Station facing the square, which is owned by another company. will lead to the expansion of the Campus – says the director of the Law Department of the Palermo office, prof. Gabriele Carapezza Figlia – some authorizations are still missing which will be acquired within the year. In 2023 the calls for tenders will start for the implementation of the recovery interventions envisaged by the project ». The educational offer of the Palermo branch of the Lumsa University includes, in the Department of Law, degree courses in Law, Economics and Commerce, Social Service and Non-Profit Sciences, Economics and Management, Planning and Management of Policies and Services Social Sciences, Educational Sciences, Primary Education Sciences and the Graduate School for the Legal Professions. The offer of Palermo, then, can also boast 12 masters. The Doctorate in Mediterranean Studies is active. History Law & Economics, an interdepartmental and interdisciplinary project, which is proposed as a place of research, with a historical and institutional approach to facts and knowledge. The Palermo branch of the LUMSA University, like that of Rome, is an accredited test center for the issue of international certifications in the economic, IT, linguistic and professions areas. In addition, a new degree course in Communication Sciences (L-20) which will train business communicators is on the way. «We focus a lot on the development of the Palermo pole – explains prof. Giampaolo Frezza – and it is from this point of view that the institution of a new course in communication focused on the needs of companies and with an international scope is configured ». The current headquarters in via Parlatore was once (late 19th century) the monastery of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of the Discalced Carmelites and once entrusted by Cardinal Lavitrano to the Missionaries of the School, it became a real center for the promotion of culture and spirituality. Christian. With the outbreak of World War II, the cultural activities held in the former monastery cease and the building is closed. In 1944 the building was reopened as a college for university students under the name of “White House”. Since then, the building, always under the guidance of the Missionaries of the School, has been used as a center for spiritual retreats and as a venue for professional refresher or specialization courses. In 1999 it finally became a branch of the Free University Maria Ss. Assunta in Rome, as it is today. Subjected to a complete restoration – in full respect of its typological, morphological and structural characteristics – it has taken on a multifunctional connotation that has allowed it to be the container for all the activities carried out within the University until today.