In this paper we want to present the teaching experience carried out during the eight editions of the Workshop COrtonaOPend of the Scuola di Architettura, Urbanistica, Ingegneria delle Costruzioni of the Polytechnic of Milan, the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera (Milan) and other collaborating entities in the historical city of Cortona (Arezzo, Italy). In it, two strong teaching ideas are put in the field: the teaching of opensource Blender 3D software as a project design instrument, which is learned at the same time as the cognitive process of developing ideas and the importance of projecting within the same context where the project is carried out , that is, to design "touching" the place. Thus, all the "disadvantages and discomforts" that a priori could consider that involves moving a large group of students to a historic location to learn a computer design program become a key point and a learning strategie.
We will present a series of projects developed from the zero-level of knowledge of Blender identifying some common characteristics among the different groups of students and reflecting on the possibilities that the software offers for the development of design projects in historical contexts.