Pocket Campus Bernini in Turin, designed for Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo and their instrumental bodies, ingeniously transforms an underutilised courtyard creating a high-quality, protected space; a long, green haven that stretches by a rediscovered stone square in open dialogue with historic Palazzo Bernini; a smart, eclectic space, set apart by a peculiar wooden divider, that offers a variety of opportunities for employees and guests to live, work, and play in the open air.
The project turns a former gravel car park into a vibrant and multifunctional oasis sheltered by the surrounding buildings. Its name is inspired by two types of open spaces: the pocket park – a small urban garden that creates intimate green corners, and campuses in universities and modern, cutting-edge workplaces.
In AG&P greenscape’s vision, from the winning bid proposal, the Pocket Campus starts from the new entrance to the building, where a large infinity fountain with the Fondazione logo engraved evokes the design of the palace. Being levelled with the ground, the water feature can be interrupted as needed to clear the area for meetings and events.
Having left the service functions to the two sides, the Pocket Campus develops from the square. Here it begins to draw a new border enclosed by a wooden fence which, following a winding outline, transforms along the perimeter to create spaces with specific functions: from relaxing stepping seats, table football, pétanque and table tennis, to wider indentations which become open-air meeting rooms offering privacy under the thick foliage or a large pergola.
The richness of functions is facilitated by the choice of flexible and modular external furniture, which can easily adapt to lunches with colleagues, big meetings and a variety of collective events. The colour yellow was selected for the custom furniture, consisting of movable stools and elements that make up other portable and fixed equipment. This choice brings joy and surprise, whilst ensuring the user’s gaze focuses on the garden and area of intervention in the lower section of the site.
Natural materials such as wood, gravel and stone were selected, with a particular focus on durability and maintainability.
32 new trees of various sizes were added to the existing plants, creating shaded areas – necessary for the warmer months, while giving protection and intimacy from the surrounding buildings. The new greenery introduced under the foliage includes a mixed hedge, various hydrangeas and viburnums. Vertical grasses play with the elements of the fence, while the colour of the furniture is evoked from seasonal blossoming (Narcissus, Achillea f.; Rudbeckia).
At night, lights frame the setting of the new park. Spectacular lighting is reserved to major and strategic areas, while functional lights are used for rest and work spaces and evening events.
A student competition led to the selection of a climate change–inspired sculpture displayed on the square’s edge, with a new artwork to be chosen biennially as part of ongoing community engagement.
The project prioritises the use of NBS and active solutions to fight climate change. These include a draining concrete floor with high absorbent capacity, which prevents network overload by following the natural groundwater flow, hanging, vertical and shaded green systems and the new trees planted, as well as a number of waste sorting solutions across the site.
The fountain was designed to recirculate water and turn off in the evening; the lighting complies with pollution regulations and is programmed in sectors with astronomical clocks for energy saving.
The car parking slots at the edges of the intervention are equipped with columns for electric charging of cars and motorcycles and racks for parking both traditional and electric bikes, while a station for ordinary bicycle maintenance was introduced as part of an effort to encourage sustainable mobility.
The built project fully corresponds to the initial concept through a meticulous study of each detail, many of which are bespoke and created following various mock-ups – including all parts of the wooden fence, its bolts, the hidden and curved gates and a camouflaged crash bar. The infinity stone fountain’s ashlars are made with numerical control, while the curved bench is composed of slats with hidden screws.
Pocket Campus Bernini ingeniously revitalises a forgotten courtyard into a vibrant, flexible green hub that blends nature, design innovation, and social life. Through careful detailing and sustainable strategies, it creates a living, adaptable, and resilient environment designed for today’s urban challenges and tomorrow’s needs. The focus on each detail frames the broader vision sought from the beginning of the project; a functional and strongly defined garden-campus, based on the model and standards of European Landscape Architecture and a true model of Green welfare in action, which guides AG&P greenscape in all their projects.
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AG&P greenscape landscape team: Emanuele Bortolotti, Paolo Palmulli, Pierpaolo Tagliola, Massimo Brignoli, Lucia Nadalin, Georgia Karsioti, Barbara Mariani, Mariagiusi Troisi, Marco Nelli, Vincenzo Gaglio
Project team: GAe Engineering srl
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