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Here we are; after having left the long, hot summer days behind us, and now the Holidays, we’re embarking on a new year. I last left you- my readers- having visited some tourist destinations in my beloved Piedmont, a land that continues to give me enormous satisfaction. I’m ready to take on new projects whose implementation is scheduled for 2024; don’t worry, you will be among the first to know and who knows, there might even be an opportunity for us to meet in person.
…a passion that continues to give me a rush of adrenaline…
In the meantime, I am continuing with my urban exploration, a passion that continues to give me a rush of adrenaline. So much so that sometimes I feel like I’m a teenager again with reckless resourcefulness. The important thing is knowing how to set limits. Allow me once again to tell you not to improvise when attempting urban exploration and never go at it alone. We urbexers often find ourselves in dangerous situations going into abandoned places where there are no guided tour routes. We shouldn’t be there in these often dilapidated and unsafe buildings. Whether they are villas, castles, churches, or nightclubs, these buildings share the characteristics of abandonment and silence. This is precisely why, in their state of weakness, they are attacked by vandals who feel entitled to pilfer and destroy, and who inflict further humiliation.
An Eclectic Residence: Paciu Maison
Today I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity that Dooid Magazine gives me, to talk to you about a place located in my home region of Emilia Romagna. It’s not an urbex location, but instead, can only be entered by purchasing a ticket.
In an old country farmhouse on the outskirts of Bologna, an eclectic residence known as Paciu Maison has been created. This habitable work of art is open on weekends to everyone, accompanied by the very young owner Harry Baldiserra, who moved here in 2016.
This artistic residence, where art and culture intertwine to nourish the mind, satisfies our every whim, precisely because each room, while maintaining its functionality, has a different style. The rooms do not need wall decor because everything becomes a gigantic, frameless painting, in which the guest is transported to a parallel dimension. A unique journey in which we can return to our childhood and rediscover our inner world.
The name Paciu Maison derives from the word paciugo, a concoction of liquid substances sprinkled on the ground. The Paciu Maison project was born four years ago and created in approximately nine months during the COVID lockdown. Harry managed to recoup the old farmhouse immersing himself in a multifaceted journey of self-expression through the many rooms.
Each Room, Its Own Artistic Story
Today 15 rooms can be visited, but I will only mention a few, so as not to ruin the surprise for any of you who might be planning to visit. I’ll start from the Genesis Room, the beginning of the artistic dream; then, the Cartography Room, which recalls the yin and the yang, with its floor divided in half in black and white and its walls with frames around them containing salt, to purify the mind. In that same room, there is also a strong reference to Escher and the relationship between art and mathematics. The Mausoleum Room contains casts of the founder’s clothes, from childhood to the present day, hanging from the ceiling. In The Tea Room, we’re catapulted into the fairy tale of Alice in Wonderland. The Hall of Hecate, goddess of magic and spells, with the multitude of keys hanging from the ceiling symbolizes the possibility of accessing other worlds or opportunities that life reserves for us every day. In the Van Gogh Room, built in just two days, one of the Dutch artist’s most important works has been replicated: The Starry Night.
…this cocktail of styles and colors is not just a 360° work of art, it’s like being catapulted between a dream and reality…
photo copyrights: Pamela Nanetti
I’ll stop here because Paciu Maison is truly worth visiting. I recommend booking in advance, especially for those coming from outside Bologna. You can visit the official website here: Paciu Maison.
Personally, I found this cocktail of styles and colors truly brilliant. It isn’t just a 360° work of art, it is like being catapulted between a dream and reality. Paciu Maison is an emotional journey that is also a space for events, exhibitions, workshops, and photo shoots.
I admire Harry Baldisserra, not only for the artistic work he managed to create but, above all, for having given a second life to this abandoned farmhouse.
About the Author
Pamela Nanetti was born and lives in Bologna, and has long been linked to the Biella area through friendships and personal ties. A mother, and back office employee, she started writing by chance, as a way to get to know herself. Courageously starting a journey without being certain of its ending, in which one finds his true personality, and where the heart does not allow for calculations but survives on instinct. From this, her first book, Viaggio nel cuore di un urbexer (Journey Into the Heart of an Urbexer), was born.
For about a year or so, she has been discovering the world of Urban Exploration, Urbex, wandering amongst abandoned, unsafe, and dilapidated places that are full of history and unique architectural value and beauty. In this journey through time, she is transported to another parallel dimension. Taking advantage of her passion for photography and curiosity of the unknown, with the recklessness of a child, she enters historic homes, castles, and old decaying ruins that have been taken back by nature. Their existences forgotten, invisible, hidden in the shadows, and crystallized in time.
Intrigued by this unusual hobby, even the newspaper La Stampa, decided to dedicate space within its pages to her and now, thanks to a recent collaboration with the Eco di Biella newspaper, she has the opportunity to share these personal experiences with a wider audience.
Photographing these locations returns them to their original splendor and is an intimate way to express emotions and sensations, like a love letter to the one you just can’t seem to forget. A collection of photographs and experiences that I document piece by piece.
..."I was picking through the smashed houses in my heart, and rebuilding on the ruin." (D. Roberts - Shantaram)
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