Francesco Pedrini’s (Bergamo, 1973) project for the community of Roncobello involves the construction of a new observation point of the heavenly vault at the Vendulo Pass.
The choice of the site was determined by a combination of historical and fortuitous elements: the Upper Brembana Valley is a site of great archeo-astronomical interest, and the Vendulo Pass is a crossroads of paths, including the one leading to the Porta delle Cornacchie. Here, in an area where spruce trees afflicted by the bark beetle—an insect that attacks this type of plant in particular, feeding on the inner part of the trunk—had to be removed, a congenial space was created to host a new “poetic observatory of the sky,” as the artist calls it.
Pedrini’s work stems precisely from a reflection on the transformation of the forest ecosystem due to climate change and the spread of spruce tree monocultures that have encouraged the proliferation of the bark beetle, which is destroying large swathes of forest.
Inspired by Jaipur’s Jantar Mantar, a famous Indian astronomical site, Magnitudo will have simple but evocative functions, and will consist of three installations that are not only aesthetically valuable, yet which are genuine observation tools: Posa is a flat area, leveled with planks of wood, which functions as a horizontal sundial and will come to life over the next year thanks to community participation: until May 7, 2026, every month, various people will be invited to bring a small stone to be set in the spot marked by the sundial’s shadow. A simple yet meaningful gesture that will be repeated until the twelve stones trace a solar analemma: a geometric figure reminiscent of the infinity symbol. A tangible sign of belonging, memory, and sharing; a living work, generated by the community and returned to it as a permanent symbol of a time experienced together.
The other two works are made of larch wood, typical of the area and resistant to the weather: Polaris is a log inclined at about 42 degrees—like the latitude at the Vendulo Pass—that guides the observer toward the North Star, which has always been a reference point for explorers and scientists. A work that symbolizes stability and guidance, and invites reflection on our origin and infinity.
In Aerofono, the tree is transformed into a hollow structure that collects the sounds of the sky, offering an immersive listening experience. The surface of the trunk is furrowed with lines that, while recalling the marks left by the bark beetle, actually draw inspiration from the winding path of the Valsecca River in the valley, from the Baite di Mezzeno to Bordogna.
