The Borsoni Theatre wins at the 2026 IN/ARCHITETTURA Lombardy Awards
The Borsoni Theatre in Brescia wins the Special Federbeton Award at the 2026 IN/ARCHITETTURA Lombardy Awards. A recognition that reveals how a material can become architectural language and a catalyst for urban transformation.
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We tend to measure a theatre by the number of seats it holds, the spaces it contains, the performances it stages. Less often do we consider the space it gives back to the city.
At the Borsoni Theatre, everything begins precisely there: outside.
The Special Federbeton Award, presented as part of the 2026 IN/ARCHITETTURA Lombardy Awards, celebrates the use of concrete in architecture. But the significance of this project goes beyond the choice of material. It lies in its ability to transform concrete into architectural identity, structural expression and civic presence.
In the Via Milano district, shaped by a long industrial history, the new theatre does more than occupy a site. It steps back from the street, makes room for a public square and establishes a new relationship with the surrounding urban fabric. Its first architectural gesture, even before its façade, is to make space for the city.
And yet, its exterior seems to suggest the opposite.
A compact, almost impenetrable volume, clad in monumental precast concrete rustication. A sequence of diamond-shaped geometries that recalls the tradition of Renaissance civic architecture, reinterpreted through contemporary industrial production processes.
The façade emerges from the encounter between architectural design and construction experimentation. Through a system of three-dimensional moulds developed with Camuna Prefabbricati, concrete moves beyond the idea of a uniform surface to become geometry, depth and shadow.
Industry does not simplify architecture. It allows it to become more ambitious.
The repetition of a single module does not produce anonymity, but identity. The material is not a cladding applied to an already conceived building. It actively shapes its form and meaning.
Then, suddenly, the wall opens up.
A large aluminium loggia cuts into the volume, inviting people inside. The foyer establishes a visual dialogue with the square, the café extends the building’s use beyond performance hours, and the two auditoriums welcome different audiences and generations.
It is in this tension between mass and openness, between monumentality and everyday life, that the Borsoni finds its distinctive character.
The IN/ARCHITETTURA Award is also an opportunity to acknowledge that the quality of a public building emerges from a collective process. Designed by Botticini+Facchinelli ARW in collaboration with Brescia Infrastrutture for the Municipality of Brescia, the Borsoni Theatre is the result of an ongoing dialogue between architecture, engineering, public commissioning and manufacturing expertise.
For ARW, this recognition reinforces a clear conviction: research into materials and construction techniques becomes truly meaningful when it contributes to a broader vision of the city.
Because a theatre does not necessarily begin when the curtain rises.
Sometimes, it begins much earlier.
And its first audience is the public square.
