Edoardo Gellner's Villaggio ENI is the reason to come to Borca. Built between 1954 and 1963 on a steep wooded slope west of the village, it was conceived as a complete holiday city: 240 bungalows, two hotels, a children's colony, a campground, a church, sports facilities, and infrastructure to support 5,000 ENI employees and their families at a time. The scale is hard to grasp until you walk through it.
Gellner planned the village around the existing trees rather than clearing them, scattering low-pitched timber-and-stone bungalows along the contours so that each one disappears into the forest. The hotels are larger but follow the same logic. The colonia for children — a long curved building of glass and concrete on the upper slopes — is the most visually striking, half-modernist hospital and half-grand hotel.
After ENI withdrew in the 1980s the buildings emptied out and many were vandalised or swallowed by undergrowth. The Dolomiti Contemporanee foundation began restoration work in 2014, running guided visits, exhibitions, and artist residencies. Tours run from June to September; book ahead through their website. Even the unrestored buildings, glimpsed through the trees, are worth the walk.