What is Europe…?

The article contains the report and the drawings of the project for the International ideas competition “The Europe's Become”. The European history, since the ancient roman’s time, shows us how the birth of any kind of “identity” is strictly related to the diffusion of the common culture. Many National identities are born and grown from a strong solid “shared culture”. According to that, the ideas of the design proposal is to give shape to a place that can be simultaneously “attractor and diffuser” of this cultural identity and to promote the European integration process. The concept becomes a material object trough the architecture’s instruments and it is transformed in a small temporary architecture: a new kind of mobile-library, half way between a “library-bus” and an info point, that contains an “abstract of European culture”. Here the diversity that characterizes each country of the European Union can become a starting point for the development of a common culture. A casket that contains a small piece of European culture: a Eurothéke (from Greek théke, casket). The project, deliberately atopic, is designed to be placed in the squares of the most important European cities. According the competition brief, we decided to show an example of the project in cities like Paris, Palermo, Berlin, Madrid, Rome, etc.. Its iconic character aims to become the symbol of a new place where, in a shared, multi-ethnical and multi-discipline way, the European values can be developed. On its inside visitors can simply borrow a document, in paper or multimedia, or have it and consult it on the place. In varietate concordia, this is the motto of European Union: “United in diversity”. And it is this diversity that generates the strength of this place as the cultural diversity can and must generate the strength of the European identity.