Una bonifica, una strada e alcuni ragionevoli dubbi

The complex territorial operation, carried out by the Zegna family from the 1930s onwards, emerges as one of the most significant infrastructural projects of the Biellese Prealps, linking the fate of this region to the Trivero wool company. The construction of the Panoramica Zegna, along with the insurgence of new facilities and territorial equipments was part of a broader process of programmatic modification of the Alpine territory and its imagery directed at modernising - and exploiting - the large variety of available mountain resources, from water to land and landscape amenities. Despite the significance of the implemented territorial initiatives and the extent of their effects, the overall event itself is still poorly investigated. Most of the narratives and research focus on the touristic scope of the infrastructural development of the mountain region, leaving in the background other trajectories that - although they have never led to tangible results comparable to the former - have left an indelible mark on the territory both in terms of juridical practices and local development projects. While still in its embryonic stage, this work attempts to systematise some of the procedural circumstances as well as the spatial and territorial effects that this extended history has produced.