VIA - Vivere Insieme l'Accoglienza

Duration: from 09/2020 to 03/2024

Scientific Coordinator: Cristian Campagnaro

Project Type: Consultancy

PoliTO Role: Technical-scientific consultant and project coordinator

V.I.A. project, Vivere Insieme l'Accoglienza, is the result of the synergic collaboration born in 2020 between the research group Social Design Lab of the Politecnico di Torino, Department of Architecture and Design, and the Cooperativa Sociale P.G. Frassati S.C.S Onlus of Turin and aims to improve the living conditions in the first reception homes for homeless people in Turin. 

The project initiative intercepts funding made available by the City of Turin as part of the city's Social Inclusion Plan and focuses on co-design actions and participatory self-construction, with the aim of improving the habitability of shared spaces in terms of functionalisation, hospitality, and service enhancement. This project represents an opportunity to reflect on the replicability of the method used by the research group in contexts of serious social marginality for people in a condition of homelessness and the fight against extreme food poverty, and on the generativity of collaborative work. 

The construction of the co-design process saw first of all the joint presentation of a project on the themes of resemantisation and functionalisation of the CPAs in via Reiss Romoli and via delle Ghiacciaie in Turin. The research group's reflection began with an initial meeting with the Cooperative, in order to structure common objectives, together with a series of on-site visits to the structures and the conduction of semi-structured interviews addressed to the actors and actresses who live these spaces on a daily basis and to those who would have contributed to the realisation of the projects, with a view to reasoning and systematising a complex demand framework to support the design. 

From the examined analysis, the project reasoning saw the definition of objectives: 

 1. construction of a visual identity, through wallpainting and co-crafting interventions; 

 2. re-designing of the facilities' common areas, with the aim of restoring welcome and functionality. 

The participatory problem framework saw the mutual exchange with the actors and actresses on the project proposals. The results of the design process saw their realisation within the socialising traineeships already in place, through participatory self-construction initiatives, conducted by the Politecnico and Cooperativa Frassati and saw the total involvement of designers, educators, adults in fragile conditions and students of the design course.

Involved Structure

• DAD, Department of Architecture and Design

Partner

• Cooperativa Sociale P.G. Frassati S.C.S. Onlus

Location

• First Reception Centres in Strada delle Ghiacciaie and Via Reiss Romoli, Turin (TO)

Project Team

• Cristian Campagnaro (DAD), full professor and project scientific advisor
• Bruna Piccolo (DAD), full professor and project scientific advisor 
• Nicolò Di Prima (DAD), full professor and project scientific advisor
• Lorenzo Finotto (DAD), junior designer
• Pamela Cherchi (Cooperativa P.G. Frassati Onlus), project coordinator
• Lucrezia Bonanno (Cooperativa P.G. Frassati Onlus), project coordinator
• Nadia Cavanna (Cooperativa P.G. Frassati Onlus), social educator and coordination of socialisation internships
• 12 trainees from the service for adults in difficulty, City of Turin
• 7 students on work placements from Bachelor's degree course in Design and Visual Communication at the Polytechnic University of Turin

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

10. Reduced inequalities