Camposaz Workshop Season 2026
Competition Brief
Camposaz Workshop Season 2026 is the annual open call for residential architecture and construction workshops organised by Camposaz ass. cult., a non-profit Italian cultural association founded in 2013 and formally established in 2016. The workshops invite young architects, designers, and woodworkers from any country to participate in 1:1 scale wood construction in northern Italy. The 2026 season runs from May to late 2026 across multiple sites including Vicenza, Tonezza del Cimone, Rovereto, Lavarone, Pavia, Venice, and Turin. Workshop 54:54 Progetto Manifattura in Rovereto is currently open for applications.
Intent
Each Camposaz workshop places 10 to 12 participants in a tented camp on a real site for 9 to 10 days to design and build a site-specific wooden installation from start to finish. Design and construction proceed in parallel with no separation between thinking and making. The human body and manual work are the primary measuring and expressive tools. The 1:1 scale is not an outcome but a method: every structural and material decision must be resolved at the actual scale of the built object, without the mediation of reduced-scale drawings or digital models. Local carpenters assist the construction process, providing craft knowledge unavailable through conventional architectural education.
Purpose
Each installation is site-specific and developed in close relationship with the local community. The built result changes with every edition according to the site, the participants, and the available materials. Camposaz operates as an open-source collective with no fixed hierarchies: all participants contribute on equal terms to both design and construction. The association publishes full financial transparency data on its website. Built projects enhance specific landscape and community contexts across northern Italy. Application forms for each workshop open approximately 6 weeks before the starting date and are announced at camposaz.com and @camposaz_ws on Instagram.
Requirements
Open to young architects, designers, and woodworkers of any nationality. No formal qualifications are stated beyond interest in participatory, craft-based architectural practice. Participants must be available to live on-site in a tented camp for the full workshop duration of approximately 9 to 10 days. Teams are assembled by Camposaz per workshop. Individual applications are submitted via Google Forms linked on the competition website. The currently open application for Workshop 54:54 Progetto Manifattura in Rovereto (3-12 July 2026) is at forms.gle/AW7V7cMLNmoSz3fo8.
Jury
There is no jury. Camposaz workshops are not competitions. Participants are selected by the Camposaz board and tutors based on applications. The board includes Alessandro Betta, Massimiliano Piffer, Valentina Comuzzi, Sara Belleri, Oliver Savorani, Irene Terenzi, Tatiana Levitskaya, Tommaso Benassi, and Cezar Cernea. Master carpenters Claudio Moz and Gabriel Lenghel lead the technical construction guidance.
Registration Fees
| Entry Type | Fee |
|---|---|
| All participants | Free |
Camposaz workshops are free to attend. Participants cover their own travel costs. On-site accommodation in tented camps is part of the workshop format and is included.
Prizes and Rewards
| Award | Prize |
|---|---|
| All participants | Participation in a full 1:1 built wooden installation + 9-10 days of hands-on construction and design experience + documentation of built work published on Camposaz website and portfolio |
There are no cash prizes. The primary benefit is the direct construction experience, the built outcome, and documentation within Camposaz’s publicly accessible archive of past editions.
Key Dates
| Workshop | Location | Dates | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 51:51 — Costruire Centrale | Vicenza, Italy | 22-31 May 2026 | Closed |
| 52:52 — alimentAZIONI | Tonezza del Cimone (VI), Italy | 12-21 June 2026 | Closed |
| 54:54 — Progetto Manifattura | Rovereto (TN), Italy | 3-12 July 2026 | Open now |
| Further workshops TBC | Lavarone, Pavia, ABA Venezia, Torino | Later 2026 | Announced soon |
✦ ArchUp Competition Review
Camposaz is one of the most honest and practically rigorous hands-on construction programmes running in Italy. The 1:1 scale method removes all abstraction: every decision must confront physical reality immediately. The non-hierarchical open-source structure is genuinely applied rather than rhetorically claimed, with full financial transparency published on the website. The free entry and residential format make it accessible to any committed practitioner or student regardless of institutional affiliation. For young architects seeking embodied construction knowledge unavailable through studio education, this is a rare and substantive opportunity. The primary limitation is the short application windows and limited places per edition.
Final Thoughts
Camposaz Workshop Season 2026 offers free residential 1:1 wood construction workshops across northern Italy. Workshop 54:54 Progetto Manifattura in Rovereto (3-12 July 2026) is currently open. Apply at forms.gle/AW7V7cMLNmoSz3fo8. Follow @camposaz_ws on Instagram for upcoming edition announcements. Full information at camposaz.com.
Registration Deadline
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