The brief

Naturns’ Burggraeflerplatz was renewed in 2005, changing completely its architecture and erasing the former local identity. Since then, a diverse group of citizens actively engaged to denounce the negative impact this process had on the community. Our collaboration started with a specific task: the redesign of the square through a participatory process, involving local communities of interests in order to define and test a new vision.

Co-visioning

The research led the students and the partners to map all the possible stakeholders that could possibly be involved in the project. Through a moderated workshop, the group was able to define the main requirements of the new vision, already suggesting possible and preferable uses.

In a second moment, those necessities were declined in four different actions. The purpose was to strategically tackle the square’s invisibility through different point of actions. Therefore, the local population was informed by a newspaper article and a public installation. The latter is composed by an expandable modular furniture and a graphical visualization, and it is located in the square. While this action should trigger an initial reactivation of the public space, the plan is to further involve the citizens in a series of pop-up events, based on different formats. Here, the aim is to create a new space for discussion and co-existence. The results of the whole process are then collected in a booklet.   

Pages from the final booklet

Students:
Andrea Gaidano, Caterina Laruccia, Matija Grgic

Teaching Team:
Corinna Sy  (Object–Spaces–Services)
Kris Krois (Communication–Interaction–Services)
Jennifer Schubert (Social Interaction Design)
Secil Ugur Yavuz  (Design & Production)
Alastair Fuad-Luke (Design Research)

Partner:
Initiativgruppe Naturns: Peter Erlacher, Hartmann Raffeiner.

Supporters & Stakeholders :
Comune di Naturno
Walli Alber
Jugendzentrum Naturns
Musikkappelle Naturns
Bauermarkt Naturns