San Ferdinando, a small town in South Italy with a little over four thousand inhabitants, is the site where Architensions, together with MAIO Architects, MOS Architects, Accademia delle Belle Arti di Reggio Calabria, and Ochoa Urban Collective, engages in an act of fair play, by involving the population in the regeneration project of their own urban space. The proposal is based on the enhancement of "commons," meaning the four fundamental rights of housing, job, education, and self-care, through a participatory process made of workshops with the San Ferdinando’s citizens. The engagement of the local population aims to strengthen local identity and existing social cohesion, as well as to build a space they feel to be their own.
This essay is part of Issue #2 “Fair Play”, a series curated by KoozArch.
The Vision Plan for San Ferdinando is a project centred on a holistic strategy that aims towards the development of common values — the “commons” — as a tool for the promotion of equality among the people of San Ferdinando. The Vision Plan becomes a guideline through which the needs of the residents can be analysed and isolated, to offer new opportunities to those who want to participate in the life of this small town. The resources at the centre of the “commons” can be traced back precisely to four fundamental values: the right to housing, to a fairly remunerated job, to education and self-care; these are drawn upon to devise an architectural vision that revolves around the sharing of resources and spaces as a common good within the vernacular urban form of San Ferdinando. We intend to devise an architecture capable of meeting the needs of these different resources, beyond the framework of production and consumption shared physically, and above all economically and culturally accessible to all.
"We intend to devise an architecture capable of meeting the needs of these different resources, beyond the framework of production and consumption shared physically, and above all economically and culturally accessible to all."
The resources of San Ferdinando will be reconnected to the territory and its conformation:
Public spaces and Water: San Ferdinando overlooks the waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea and is also surrounded to the north by the river Mesima. Water is an important resource through which social relations can be established, nurturing economic dynamics that may activate the creation of the commons.
The Countryside: The cultivation of the land of San Ferdinando is historically at the centre of development and economic sustenance of the urban centre. Today it is a central element in the creation of a circular economy that directly supports the citizens and workforce of San Ferdinando.
Urban Voids and Disused Buildings: Urban voids are understood not as a negative element of the urban fabric, but as an element of strength for the development of San Ferdinando. They are politically activated spaces, places for the re-appropriation of one’s rights and identity necessary for the social cohesion that San Ferdinando needs.
The Institutions: The project involves the creation of a multicultural nucleus that can support local culture by merging with the cultures of immigrant populations, and create opportunities for intercultural aggregation.
"The workshops aim to advance a project of forging cultural, urban, and social values for the village of San Ferdinando, by encouraging the participation of the local community to focus on a vision that promotes the “commons”, centering equality, accessibility to resources, and alternative forms of mutual help."
The First Phase: Community Workshops
The workshops were part of a larger event, namely the Collective Vision Festival, which took place in the summer of 2023. The workshops took their form from the collaboration between the nonprofit organisation Disìo and architecture and research agency Architensions, led by Alessandro Orsini and Nick Roseboro — who are also responsible for the design of the new urban vision. The workshops aim to advance a project of forging cultural, urban, and social values for the village of San Ferdinando, by encouraging the participation of the local community to focus on a vision that promotes the “commons”, centering equality, accessibility to resources, and alternative forms of mutual help.
During the workshops, volunteers helped to build spatial toolkits such as canopies, furniture, tables, and seating deployed in designated public spaces where the workshops will occur. In the last two days of the festival, internationally renowned architects and experts shared their experiences working with the collective, facilitating conversations to help the community envision the future of San Ferdinando. Across four main workshops, Architensions focused on sessions like “Urban Room”, working with the community to create a public/private space and “Mapping the Commons” working with the local youth in collaboration with Accademia delle Belle Arti di Reggio Calabria and Ochoa Urban Collaborative. MAIO Architects presented “Cooking with San Ferdinando” centring their session on the collective aspect of cooking as a political act, while MOS Architects with “Drawing Community Gardens”, invited the community to draw and make cut outs of potted plants reflecting on the collective identity of different plants in community gardens, herbal and kitchen gardens.
"The promotion of common values acts as a glue between past, present, and future, together with the persuasive notion that if there is an idea conceived and shared within the community, the latter becomes its guardian and promoter."
The new urban vision proposes exemplary and repeatable strategies suitable for spatial integration of the collective to effectively improve their quality of life. The promotion of common values acts as a glue between past, present, and future, together with the persuasive notion that if there is an idea conceived and shared within the community, the latter becomes its guardian and promoter. Central to the vision is the promotion of a sense of belonging and the development of human and social capital through the enhancement of civic heritage, urban qualities, and the rebuilding of community relationships.
Bio
Disìo is an Italian non-profit organisation promoting culture as a tool for building community growth and inclusion through several means, including artistic residencies, workshops, and public events. Disìo’s projects include the participatory urban regeneration workshop Visioni Collettive Festival - Magnifica San Ferdinando, winner of the Creative Living Lab grant from the Italian Ministry of Culture, and the tree planting urban project Mettiamo radici 1 albero x San Ferdinando.
Video Caption / Credits
Architecture as Commoning Practice
Vision-plan & Pavilions: Architensions
Curatorial: Alessandro Orsini and Nick Roseboro with Rosamaria Loiacono of Disìo
