Giugnoli
Fruits (and events) that ripen in June
People, projects and studies that we had the opportunity to “taste” and that we hope will give our future a new flavour.
Castelfranco Veneto, Turin, Barcelona, Brussels
21st of June 2022
reading time: 5’ 20’’
Why a stamp with a fruit crate? Because that’s how these first two weeks of June felt like: full of events, meetings and handshakes. A journey in stages, online and offline, which brought us to Castelfranco Veneto (Italy), Brussels, Turin and Barcelona. Today’s postcard is a collage of pictures, words and contemporary visions.
First stop: Brussels
NEB - New European Bauhaus - FAIR
We wrote about it last year, when the movement “New European Bauhaus: beautiful, sustainable, together” was only at the beginning, and we described it as something really promising, as an opportunity to re-think the city of the future starting from below and from the individual, and as a collective awakening experience of consciousness and knowledge. Now, we’re sending you this postcard from the first NEB FESTIVAL, the international event that took place from the 9th to the 12th of June in 3 ways: FAIR in Bruxelles in a set and itinerant way, SITE SPECIFIC for events held simultaneously in the main european cities and FORUM (offline and online) with a programme of events and debates with incredible guests, such as Carlos Moreno, Rem Koolhas, Francis Kéré, Shigeru Ban, who brought ideas for a better, more sustainable and inclusive built environment.
This fair was a concentration of projects, experimental materials, contamination of knowledge, unusual points of view: this was a confirmation of the fact that redefining the way and spaces in which we live can no longer be a personal matter, but rather a collective urgent need, and that as such must be the result of a coherent political vision. In other words, flowers, bikes and paper lunchboxes are not enough. It is necessary to make concrete, collective and mandatory choices. An example? We loved Brussels, its being cosmopolitan and vibrant, as if it were a table of continuous planning and designing, a space for debate, discussion and experimentation, but all this is worthless if then at night it turns into an energetic monster, illuminating the neighborhoods of Europe Bubble to show off power and wealth.
As Carlos Moreno explained during his talk, we no longer have time to hope that things will change, we must demand it. We therefore call for the NEB, which this year has been a nice and kind dialogue between experts, to become a megaphone to demand change, to inspire politics and to give voice to ALL voices.
For further information about the projects at the fair and to listen to the forum's interventions: NEB platform
Second stop: Turin / Barcelona
Conversation with FRANCESCO COCCO
Last Tuesday we hosted the architect and researcher Francesco Cocco, author of the book Social Housing Barcelona, in a simultaneous event at the co-showroom Keigio Design and Viasolferino Home in Barcelona connected live with the Bardotto Library in Turin. The starting point of our dialogue was Francesco's research on the model of viviendas dotacionales, a proposal of integrated residential and public housing unique in the international scene that offers over-65 people the possibility to preserve their autonomy, living in a safe and sociable context, based on the concept of proximity and mutual help. The lack of a political vision that facilitates the house-city relationship emerged from the debate with the public, composed mostly of a fierce informal group of ladies from Turin who are planning a senior cohousing.
We left this meeting feeling enriched and eager to imagine and build a city ready for longevity and for the overturning of the pyramid, that is capable of creatively and collaboratively meeting the needs of people with functional limitations, physical, economic or social. Again, we hope that the time for slogans has ended, giving way to a concrete project, to a renewed and solid public/private alliance, because the conscience and sensitivity of the individual are not enough, we need a common, decisive and coherent action.
For those who could not attend, you can watch the meeting here.
To learn more:
Abitare sociale - Invecchiamento attivo e Solidarietà Intergenerazionale
Social Housing Barcelona - Go to the catalogue
Third stop: Castelfranco Veneto (TV, Italy)
SOTTOSOPRA
Sometimes, to understand, animate, give new value to the space around us, it is necessary to turn it upside down.
This happened on June 4th in Castelfranco Veneto, a town in the province of Treviso, where after two years of forced break Sottosopra (“upside down”) was held, an event now at its fourth edition, with the aim of giving new life to the public space. This year the keyword chosen by the local youth association was "regeneration", investigated in its different nuances: urban, environmental, social, human. For this reason, the event took place in the southwest area of the Walls Gardens, the only one that was closed to the public, which was revived and made accessible for the occasion.
When culture and commitment meet wine and music, it’s always a party. The works of the exhibition "Secondo Natura" by the artist and photographer Fontanesi, installation curated by OMNE for Sottosopra and TEDxCastelfrancoVeneto on display until September 18th, were a perfect background for "Naturalmente Sottosopra", a small festival of natural wines. Other precious opportunities were the talks on environmentalism and ecology by Giorgia Pagliuca, activist in the field of sustainability, and Giovanni Mori, spokesperson of Fridays for Future Italy, the reading of Nicolas Ballario accompanied by guitarist Adriano Viterbini, the musical performances of Go Dugong and Bruno Belissimo and finally Massimo Santi’s DJ set.
More than ten thousand people attended the event, fact that shows the urgency and desire to revive the territory, to acquire knowledge and to protect the space of our cities.
For this reason, on 17th and 18th September Castelfranco Veneto will be turned upside down again, this time in collaboration with TEDxCastelfrancoVeneto.
If you’ve read this far… THANK YOU!
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See you for the next Postcard!