Castel Grande, between Travis Scott and contemporary architecture

In 2026, Castel Grande in Bellinzona became the setting for the music video for "When I'm Home," a song by Travis Scott, James Blake, and Ludwig Göransson, which is linked to Christopher Nolan's film The Odyssey. The music video, directed by Travis Scott himself, brings one of Bellinzona's iconic landmarks into the visual universe created around the highly anticipated film.

The choice of Castel Grande is no coincidence. As explained by a member of the Cactus Jack team, one of the sources of inspiration was the Fortress's renovation by Ticino architect Aurelio Galfetti and the unique dialogue his project creates between contemporary architecture and medieval structure, between concrete, stone, and rock.

One of the most fascinating elements of Galfetti's project is the access to Castel Grande from Piazza del Sole. The path leads visitors inside the hill, through the rock, to the elevator that allows access to the Fortress. More than a simple vertical connection, the elevator becomes part of an architectural experience in which the new interacts with the material and history of the site.

It is precisely this fusion of ancient and contemporary that makes Castel Grande so special: a fortress with a centuries-old history capable of speaking a surprisingly modern language. A character that, centuries after the castle's construction and decades after Galfetti's intervention, has also won over Travis Scott and his team.

A new chapter for a thousand-year-old place, now also a protagonist on the international music and film scene.

Watch the video on YouTube!