ARCHITECTURE OF PUBLIC SPACES

The course aims to deepen and analyze the themes of the architecture of public spaces, with particular attention to open spaces and places, interconnections, disconnections, urban voids of centers and suburbs. The course aims to discuss both the evolution of the concept of creative city and its application in terms of urban strategies in order to improve local development. We will also discuss the theme of "Creative City", a term used for the first time at the end of the 1980s by the urban planner Charles Landry to describe an approach to the construction and governance of the city based on the logic of creativity, focused on the promotion of culture and "creative industries". The course will examine the theory and practice of the creative city, finally evaluating the design and impact of cultural policies and urban interventions aimed at improving city environments.

On completion of this course, the student will:

• Investigate how urban interconnection spaces represent an important programming point for planning and interventions to improve people's lives in the centers and suburbs. The basic methods for field observations of social behaviors in public spaces will be addressed, both for improving interventions and for checking the results achieved;
• Acquire a thorough understanding of the theory and practice of the creative city, as well as related topics such as creative industries, regeneration and gentrification;
• Understand how to design a sustainable cultural development strategy, including measuring the impact on territorial and ecosystem governance;
• Develop his/her research capacity by structuring and presenting his/her arguments and methodological positions independently and as part of a working group.

None in particular to highlight.

The course will deepen which are the interventions and policies in the area where culture and creativity play a key role in improving territorial development. The use of urban regeneration will be examined with particular attention to the effects (positive and negative) on the local context. The role of peak interventions in medium-sized European and non-European cities will be considered as an example of urban regeneration and city branding projects, as well as the comparison between top-down and bottom-up strategies in city regeneration. The case studies will be used to translate some of the developed theories into practice. Furthermore, the creative sectors and their particularities will be explored by approaching new collaborative models developed between these sectors and the city. From networks to governance issues, the course will also focus on identifying innovative institutional practices for managing the public goods.

Definitions of public and private space. Brief historical evolution of these concepts. Complementarity between public and built open space. Revolutions in big cities: public and private mobility. The consequences of the technological evolution of transport and communications. Urban furniture and reuse of abandoned space. Buildings with public functions. Buildings of culture, sports, and social buildings from a regenerative perspective. Aggregating places and their spatial requirements, of practicability, of flexibility. Third places and other analytical contributions by sociology. Analysis of some achievements and specific projects, with attention to quality and innovation. Notes on urban planning and participatory planning.

Meetings will be provided in hybrid mode or in presence with European participatory planning experts also in collaboration with Urbact, a European program co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and by the Member States, created with the aim of promoting a sustainable urban development through the exchange of experiences and the dissemination of knowledge between European cities.

Lessons will involve students with classroom activities to practice the concepts developed by the teacher.

Study materials will be made available in digital form at the beginning and during the course, including powerpoint presentations.

Materials useful for a broader understanding of issues related to the city and urban regeneration can also be explored in the following texts:

BROKKEN J., L’anima della città, Iperborea, 2021
CARTA M., Città aumentate, dieci gesti barriera per il futuro, Il Margine, 2021
D’ANTONIO S., TESTA P., Le città sono la soluzione, Donzelli editore, 2021
ERBANI F., Dove ricomincia la città, l’Italia delle periferie, Manni, 2021
GLAESER E., Survival of the city, living and thriving in an age of isolation, Penguin, 2021
GRANATA E., BiodiverCity, Slow food editore, 2021
HICKEL J., The divide, Penguin, 2017
LA CECLA F., Mente locale, per un’antropologia dell’abitare, Eleuthera, 2011
MARTINOTTI G., Sei lezioni sulla città, Feltrinelli, 2020
SACCHI L., Il futuro della città, La nave di Teseo, 2022
SENNET R., Costruire e abitare, etica per la città, Feltrinelli, 2019
SENNET R., Together: the rituals, pleasures, and politics of cooperation, Yale University Press, 2012
SUNSTEIN C., Come avviene il cambiamento, Feltrinelli, 2020
TALEB N., Antifragile, prosperare nel disordine, Il Saggiatore, 2021

Attending students

Group presentation: students will work in groups to develop a light urban regeneration intervention project. The group will present its work to the teacher and the class during the last lessons of the course. The formative feedback will be provided immediately and the presentation of the group work will be worth 40% of the final grade of this course.

Individual work: students will prepare an individual report (1,500 words +/- 10%) on a pre-identified topic with the teacher. The assessment of the individual report will weigh 60% on the final grade of this course.
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Non-attending students

The exam will be a written test lasting a maximum of 1.5 hours.

The materials to be studied are:

1. SENNETT R., Building and dwelling: ethics for the city (whole book);
2. SENDRA P., SENNETT R., Designing disorder: experiments and disruptions in the city (only part I and II). The book is available on our moodle page.
3. TWO ARTICLES (available on moodle)

Lectures with slides presentations. Field visits and exercises (workshops).

English

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Cities, infrastructure and social capital" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development