This project is a study into the integration of migrants and refugees in Palermo, Italy. At its core, it looks to understand the role of architecture and design in addressing issues of foreign integration.

The project proposes a tertiary school that aims to educate both foreign and local inhabitants of Palermo about the city’s cultural diversity. The goal is to integrate students at an early age through reciprocal process of learning about farming, trades and services. The project is situated in the disused Church of Carmine Maggiore in historic centre of Palermo, lying adjacent to the ancient Ballaro Market that forms a spine through the city. The school will attempt to reinvent the religious practice of teaching, where rising numbers of non-Catholic migrant arrivals are seeing Palermo’s churches being abandoned. As churches are historically one of the most dynamic architectures to exist in the city, the project deals with issues of heritage, the design looking to open the building up to its urban context and altering its function to serve a new purpose. This project poses the question: what is the next iteration of the church that will best serve the needs of its community?