Squatting as a reaction to the political and economical forces is a movement that entered the Italian scenario in the early ‘70, when the economy moved from industrial to a services driven model. By the end of the decade occupations started to show traces of the characteristics that identify them today as anarchical and counter-culture temples. Over the years the subject has been studied and re-visited from perspectives such as sociology, economics and politics being few works analysing its spread and patterns of occupation over the city. Although squatting seems to be a statement against political figures and a struggling for better housing conditions, I believe behind stands a variable related with the distribution of vacant buildings throughout the city, leftover spaces and derelict structures plus a lack of social spaces makes for the perfect formula for squatting to arise. After a quick review on the history and characteristics of social squatting in Italy I started an ethnographic research by visiting some of the most representative Social Centres in the city and studying where they stand regarding the use and management of public space. Through extensive mapping I analysed the evolution and displacement of occupations in Milan and contrasted it with demographics and land use variables to find patterns explaining the reasons behind the locations to occupy. Upon analysis and classification of the results, an area over the western edge of the city was chosen to develop a more in-deep study on the associations and networking created between Social Centres and their links with the community. This chapter was conducted through frequent visits, interviews and participant observation. Findings would demonstrate that different from the traditional position adopted by Social Centres, in San Siro, the collaboration between Spazio Micene, Centro Sociale Cantiere and Spazio Mutuo Soccorso is aiming to gradually re-generate the urban fabric and re-appropriate the urban spaces through informal, bottom-up urban planning. In what I have decided to call guerrilla urban planning, they ventured into an ambitious project of recovering from abandonment Piazza Stuparich, a former park torn down in favour of a city-scale project on public transportation. Under the name Riqualifichiamo Piazza Stuparich, a collective of activists, residents, volunteers and general public is working together on the planning and implementation of strategies to bring the park back to life. The last part of my work takes on their initiative and refines it to propose a new methodology on design of urban spaces. A process for the development of a collaborative, open-source project, where the role of the architect or planner is secondary and the collective becomes the protagonist. Rather than proposing a design, I aim to set the guidelines and strategies, a framework of implementation tools, design phases and assessment of the results where the outcomes are never fixed and come in a full range of scenarios. At the very end of this paper, you will find my conclusions and what I have learned from over six very didactic months full of experiences. Why did I choose to develop this hybrid between theory and research rather than a project that would have exploited my creativity? Because I believe my ability as an architect lies beyond my skills to produce a structure worth of an international competition, but to test how design can be the channel to reinvigorate social structures and foster interactions. I, as an idealist, still believe my architecture one day will make the life of others more enjoyable. Thank you for getting your hands on this thesis and I hope you find this effort insightful and entertaining.
L’occupazzione abusiva come reazione alle forze politiche ed economiche é un movimento che é entrato nel panorama Italiano agli inizi degli anni ‘70, quando l’economia si trasferí dalla industria a un modello di servizi. Entro la fine del decennio, le occupazioni iniziarono a mostrare tracce delle caratteristiche che li identificano oggi come templi dei movimenti anarchici e de contro-cultura Nel corso degli anni l’argommento é stato studiato e rivisitato da prospettive diverse, come la sociologia, economia e politica, essendo pochi i lavori che analizzano lo squatting nella sua diffusione e spostamenti sul territorio urbano. Sebbene le occupazioni sono una reazione contro figure politiche e lotta per migliorare le condizioni abitative, credo che dietro ci sia una fattore legato con la distribuzione delle strutture vuote in cittá. Gli spazi abandonati piú una mancanza di spazi sociali rappresenta la formula perfetta per le occupazioni a nascere. Dopo una rapida revisione sulla storia e le characteristiche di la lotta sociale in Italia ho iniziatio una ricerca etnografica, visitando alcuni dei Centri Sociali piú noti della cittá ed a studiare i loro pensieri riguardanti l’uso e la gestione dello spazio pubblico. Atraverso una vasta mappatura ho analizzato l’evoluzione e lo spostamento delle occupazioni a Milano e l’ho confrontato con dati demografici e le variabili di uso del suolo, allo scopo di trovare un modelo che spiegasse le motivazioni dietro i luoghi scelti. Dopo l’analisi e classificazione dei risultati, é stata scelta una zona sul bordo occidentale della cittá per sviluppare uno studio piú profondo sulle associazioni tra Centri Sociali e dei loro legami con la comunitá. Tale fase della ricerca é stata condotta attraverso frequenti visite, interviste e osservazione partecipata. I risultati dimostrerebbero che diverso dalla metodologia tradizionale adottata da centri sociali, a San Siro, la collaborazione tra Spazio Micene, Centro Sociale Cantiere e Spazio Mutuo Soccorso cerca di rigenerare gradualmente il tessuto urbano e riappropriarsi degli spazi urbani attraverso una informale urbanistica pensata dal basso. In quello che ho deciso di chiamare guerrilla urban planning, si avventurarono in un ambizioso progetto di recupero dal abbandono di Piazza Stuparich, un ex parco abbattuto a favore di un progetto di miglioramento del percorso delle linee novanta e novantuno dei mezzi pubblici. Sotto il nome Riqualificazione Piazza Stuparich, un collettivo di attivisti, abitanti di quartiere e volontari sta lavorando insieme alla pianificazione e attuazione delle loro strategie per riportare il parco in vita. L’ultima parte di questo lavoro prende la loro iniziativa e proporre una nuova metodologia sulla progettazione degli spazi urbani. Un progetto collaborativo ed open-source, in cui il ruolo del architetto o pianificatore é secondario dove il collettivo diventa protagonista. Piuttosto che proporre un progetto, mi propongo di impostare le linee guida e le strategie, strumenti di attuazione e valutazione dei risultati in cui gli esiti non sono mai determinati e ci sono disponibili tanti scenari possibili. Alla fine di questo articolo, troverete le mie conclusioni e quello che ho imparato da oltre sei mesi molto didattici ed arricchente. Ma, perché ho scelto di sviluppare questo ibrido tra la teoria e la ricerca, piuttosto che un progetto che avrebbe sfruttato la mia creatività? Perché credo che la mia capacità come architetto sta oltre le mie abilitá per produrre una struttura propria di un concorso internazionale, ma per testare come il design può essere il canale di rilanciare le strutture sociali e le interazioni tra la gente. Io, ancora un idealista, credo la mia architettura un giorno renderá la vita degli altri piú piacevole. Grazie per arrivare fino a questo punto e mi spero che troviate questo sforzo interessante e divertente
Squatting and its role in public space. Re-qualification of Piazza Stuparich
GALVAN HERRERA, JAIR DE JESUS
2013/2014
Abstract
Squatting as a reaction to the political and economical forces is a movement that entered the Italian scenario in the early ‘70, when the economy moved from industrial to a services driven model. By the end of the decade occupations started to show traces of the characteristics that identify them today as anarchical and counter-culture temples. Over the years the subject has been studied and re-visited from perspectives such as sociology, economics and politics being few works analysing its spread and patterns of occupation over the city. Although squatting seems to be a statement against political figures and a struggling for better housing conditions, I believe behind stands a variable related with the distribution of vacant buildings throughout the city, leftover spaces and derelict structures plus a lack of social spaces makes for the perfect formula for squatting to arise. After a quick review on the history and characteristics of social squatting in Italy I started an ethnographic research by visiting some of the most representative Social Centres in the city and studying where they stand regarding the use and management of public space. Through extensive mapping I analysed the evolution and displacement of occupations in Milan and contrasted it with demographics and land use variables to find patterns explaining the reasons behind the locations to occupy. Upon analysis and classification of the results, an area over the western edge of the city was chosen to develop a more in-deep study on the associations and networking created between Social Centres and their links with the community. This chapter was conducted through frequent visits, interviews and participant observation. Findings would demonstrate that different from the traditional position adopted by Social Centres, in San Siro, the collaboration between Spazio Micene, Centro Sociale Cantiere and Spazio Mutuo Soccorso is aiming to gradually re-generate the urban fabric and re-appropriate the urban spaces through informal, bottom-up urban planning. In what I have decided to call guerrilla urban planning, they ventured into an ambitious project of recovering from abandonment Piazza Stuparich, a former park torn down in favour of a city-scale project on public transportation. Under the name Riqualifichiamo Piazza Stuparich, a collective of activists, residents, volunteers and general public is working together on the planning and implementation of strategies to bring the park back to life. The last part of my work takes on their initiative and refines it to propose a new methodology on design of urban spaces. A process for the development of a collaborative, open-source project, where the role of the architect or planner is secondary and the collective becomes the protagonist. Rather than proposing a design, I aim to set the guidelines and strategies, a framework of implementation tools, design phases and assessment of the results where the outcomes are never fixed and come in a full range of scenarios. At the very end of this paper, you will find my conclusions and what I have learned from over six very didactic months full of experiences. Why did I choose to develop this hybrid between theory and research rather than a project that would have exploited my creativity? Because I believe my ability as an architect lies beyond my skills to produce a structure worth of an international competition, but to test how design can be the channel to reinvigorate social structures and foster interactions. I, as an idealist, still believe my architecture one day will make the life of others more enjoyable. Thank you for getting your hands on this thesis and I hope you find this effort insightful and entertaining.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2015_04_Galvan_Jair.pdf
accessibile in internet per tutti
Descrizione: Thesis project
Dimensione
9.2 MB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
9.2 MB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri |
I documenti in POLITesi sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
https://hdl.handle.net/10589/104184