Don Bosco Festival

Reviving Piazza Don Bosco, Bolzano, Italy

Using the walls as a vertical common

Together with Rendy Anoh

The Don Bosco Festival - ReViVe

Moving from social distancing to social unity in physical distance.

Who
We are Rendy and Shiri masters students of eco-social design in Unibz, offering this project as part of our design research in collaboration with Youth Magazine an information and in-depth portal that tells Bolzano through a young and unedited gaze, as part of Botteghe di Cultura a cultural project association in the heart of Don Bosco district.

What
Four days summer screening event on the walls of Piazza Don Bosco, projecting local community-based content. This is a local event, meant for the city of Bolzano, and particularly the community of the Don Bosco area. By using the wall to screen the content we give new life to the abandoned piazza, and invite the neighbors to take an active part in the local community. In the days when culture and art seem to exist only in virtual spaces, and the return of a routine of activity is not yet on the horizon, we offer the projection as a safe way to celebrate culture together and unite the community.

Itenirrey:
Day 1 -

21:00 - 21:05 Bolzanism + Analogica old films of the neighborhood
21:15 - 22:30 Short Films from Bolzano 48 Hours Movie Project
Day 2 -

21:00 - 21:05 Bolzanism + Analogica old films tour of the neighborhood
21:15 - 22:00 Concert - ArtWebSound a local music festival
Day 3 -

21:00 - 21:05 Bolzanism + Analogica old films tour of the neighborhood
21:10 - 22:30 5 Short documentary films from the Zelig Documentary School of Bolzano:

AI CONFINI DELL'IMPERO / Pierluca Ditano (30 min|)
ZIG E ZAG / Nina e Nicole (4:30 min)
FREMMEN - STORIE DALL'ALTO ADIGE / Martin Fliri (22 min)
I SIGNORI DEL TEMPO / Benoit Felici (8:31 min)
SULLE TRACCE DEL MIO PAESE / collective (14 min)

Day 4 -

20:00 - 21:00 Tanz Bolzano open dance/yoga class
21:00 - 22:30 Open cinema collaboration with the Circoscrizione Don Bosco

When
28-31 of July 2020, End of July celebration, every evening from 21:00-22:30

Why
We chose to use the abandoned Piazza Don Bosco. This minimal intervention holds the possibility to change the perception of the un-used space by the community and it’s usability and can trigger spontaneous interaction while still keeping the safe distance.
Using culture, art, and creation as a strong communicative base we want to reunite the people of Don Bosco and create a strong sense of community and local pride. Using the screening we send the message that people don’t have to be cooped up behind digital screens, they can open their windows and watch something together with their neighborhood
If there is one thing we learned from the corona crisis is the importance of the connections to the local community. We want to harness the most used form of communication - “screen communication” to activate the local community, catalyze safe spontaneous cultural meetings, and invite those who are not connected online to take part in the action.

How
The event is specially designed to agree with the regulation of all stages of the current health situation.
The projection will be a local event on the walls of the piazza and also streamed online for those who can not view them for their windows.
The sound will echo only through the streaming for everyone both living in the piazza and far, so it will not disturb those who are living near it. In addition, we want to stream the audio on local radio to allow the elderly people around the piazza to listen to the videos without going online.
In case it will be allowed to gather on the days of the festival, we will spread “where to stand” stickers that will advise people how to keep the appropriate distance.

Where
Piazza Don Bosco - the projection will be done through a projector from the roof of the IPES building in coordination with them and will screen on the white wall of Santa Maria church (in coordination with the church).

Background

Abstract

This concept offers to mimic the prevailing online-digital communication in the public space. By projecting local content and open events on the walls, we want to trigger spontaneous interaction and invites these who are not connected online to take part in the action, while still keeping the safe distance.

Research
This project a result of design research in Piazza Don Bosco. We launched this research as part of a collaboration with Botteghe di Cultura, a social association working in Don Bosco, Bolzano. Together we went on to re-think the piazza, claiming to revive it in a way that will connect the community.
From our initial research, we realized the piazza is suffering from 3 levels of separation. At the architectural level, years of rebuilding in the area have divided the piazza into small little squares, with a main road crossing in the middle, and many buildings mazing the pedestrian stroll.
At the usability level, the little squares had different owners, with various resources to invest in shades and sitting arrangements, leaving the largest of the squares naked.
The third is at the social level. With two aspects, historically, this place is a source of social conflict, which resulted in a divided community in ages, languages, customs, and nationality. Second, a trend rising in contemporary lifestyle, the abandonment of public places, as part of a fast-paced lifestyle and the move towards online communities.
An integral part of our research was the effects of the Covid-19, that were highly impactful when working on a community-related project.
We had two main observations that followed us in our research. That Covid-19 has magnified the already existing trend mentioned - the abandonment of public-space and the move towards online communities. Second, Covid-19 has shortened our physical range and so made us more dependent on the near environment and community.

Development
We aspired to examine the role of the public space under the new circumstances, to think if the Covid-19 creates new mechanisms that break the dichotomy between public and private.
We found two solid examples, the signs people posted on their private balconies, sending a message to the public that everything is going to be all right. And the use of public spaces to grow communal grading in this time of scarcity.
We wanted to use our piazza in a way that breaks this dichotomy and creates a gradient of the private and public.

Concept
Don Bosco Festival - 4 days of projecting local content and meetings on the city’s walls. In the days when culture and art seem to exist only in virtual spaces, and the return of a routine of activity is not yet on the horizon, we offer the projection as a safe way to celebrate culture together and unite the community.
Our proposition harnesses digital communication to send the message that people don’t have to coop up behind digital screens, they can open their windows and be together.
This minimal intervention holds the possibility to change the perception of the un-used space by the community. By using the wall as a vertical-common we give new life to the abandoned piazza, and invite the neighbors to take an active part in the local community.