A Laboratory of Minorities - The territory of Ticino represents a form of cultural and linguistic minority within the Swiss Confederation: as the only officially monolingual Italian-speaking canton, it embodies a condition of being at the margins of the centre, where the dominant culture is often constructed through dialogue—or tension—with the German- and French-speaking regions.

Who among us has never gazed at a map with a dreamy look? In my case, this bond with spaces transposed onto paper blossomed early and was strengthened by the great atlases published in the 1980s. An attraction that shaped my academic career, steering me towards the discipline that, more than any other, has a visceral connection not only with maps but also with what they represent, simplify, and idealize.