Philosophy

Below you will find a brief presentation of the philosophy of Area 302, its aims, and the historical circumstances that led to its creation and to the choice of its name.

Purpose

As resolved at the Extraordinary General Assembly of March 12, 2018, the purpose of Area 302 is to promote and organize courses, seminars, lectures, conferences, and other activities of scientific, educational, cultural, artistic, and social value, fostering the dissemination of culture and knowledge. Its objectives also include the management of the property it owns and participation in initiatives and organizations with related or synergistic aims. These activities are pursued responsibly, in accordance with principles of sustainable development, intellectual honesty, and moral integrity.

In this spirit, and as part of its commitment to social responsibility, Area 302 welcomes and supports within its spaces Social Business Earth (SBE), a leading Swiss organization dedicated to facilitating the creation of social businesses and sustainable business models that improve lives and protect the planet. In particular, it supports the Social Business Innovation Lab (SBI-LAB), a program designed for highly innovative and promising social startups, as well as the related Social Business Conference (SBC), a key annual event in Ticino that strengthens the social startup ecosystem and fosters connections between social entrepreneurs and impact investors.

History

Area 302 SA was founded back in 1966. At that time, it was called Rosso Antico SA and its main purpose was the manufacture and sale of the famous Prince of Aperitifs, an icon of the ‘70s. In 1977, it changed its name to Immobiliare Barti SA, as well as its purpose, which became primarily the management of its property, an industrial building built in the early seventies, located on the parcel number 302 of the municipality of Barbengo, now a district of Lugano.

However, Immobiliare Barti SA remained in close contact with the world of alcoholic beverages, since the property was rented to the producer of the famous Brazilian liqueur Mangaroca Batida de Côco, so that over time it became known as the Mangaroca building. In the early nineties, there was an important restructuring, with the creation of an entire office floor, this to meet the needs of the tenant who was expanding its business.

A quarter of a century later, in the course of 2017, the aforementioned Brazilian liqueur was purchased by a well-known German company, with the consequence that Immobiliare Barti SA lost its historical and sole tenant. For a while the shareholders sought a buyer for the parcel and its industrial construction, coming into contact with various interested people. There were various handshakes, agreements, meetings with notaries: each time the sale seemed concluded, but then, inevitably, an unexpected event took over that canceled the entire operation, as if to mean that the designated end of the place was to be another. So it was that one of the shareholders, caught by the intuition of being able to give the company, and his property, new life and a new mission, offered to take over the entire shareholding.

On March 12, 2018, the company took on a new name, becoming the current Area 302 SA, also acquiring a new statute, which includes in its scope the dissemination of culture and knowledge. Between 2019 and 2021, significant renovation works were carried out on the entire building, both in the interior spaces and in the external structures. In 2025, a photovoltaic system was also installed on the roof, completing the modernization process of the facility.

Name

The name Area 302 indicates a concrete aspect, that of the area of the cadastral parcel number 302: the land in Barbengo where the building owned by the company is located. The company therefore presents itself as an entity in contact with the reality of its territory. At the same time, its perspective is international, as is the Latin term “area,” which is written as such in numerous languages, including Italian. The first three letters of the name, “are,” mean “being” declined in the plural, suggesting the importance of moving together and at the same time with full independence and individual autonomy. This movement takes place in the only place where it is possible to move, reality, as suggested by the last three letters of the name: “rea.”