Networked Urbanism

design thinking initiatives for a better urban life

Design critics: Belinda Tato and Jose Luis Vallejo, principals of Ecosistema Urbano

Focusing on the relationships between people in a given context. Our role as designers being to connect our design and strategies with people’s needs and initiatives, to assist the creation of communities and to enable systems and spaces for interaction, social creativity, and the emergence of behaviors.

After our work resume, here’s our video for VUOTIdiSardegna, the Social Database for abandoned places in Sardinia.


VUOTIdiSardegna is a social database born to map the Voids present in the Nurra territory and in the rest of Sardinia, and to attract attention on them giving proposals about their possible future.

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The project begins from the topic of the Void and its possible interpretations. After analyzing the Void concept in culture, art and architecture, we developed a personal vision of the Void culminated in the “City of Voids”, an ideal city where every cluster corresponds to a different Void declination; in general, the Void is conceived as dynamic and moving. The advancement consists in the Void research in the Nurra region; we investigated the Nurra history and we went to the different hamlets to meet people, in order to understand how they feel the Void in their own territory: the result is the presence of the Memory Void in a context of Social Void. This outcome brought us to categorize these Voids as Potential Voids.

After the previous result and a deep research about the importance of building regeneration , we began the Void mapping, that led to VUOTIdiSardegna. The website is a platform that connects the different mapping voids realities already existing, and operating in the territory; the aim is to create the most complete database about abandoned places in Sardinia, thanks to the work of organizations like SardegnaAbbandonata and of every person and association, public and private, interested in contribute to the project. In fact, it’s a totally open website and this allows everyone to participate to the mapping process and the database construction, a social database because every attendee becomes a user linked with the voids and the other users.

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VUOTIdiSardegna is set up as a tool thanks to which it’s possible to obtain different information layers about the Voids and make overlaps with them. In this way, the website facilitates the Voids use, in facts it connects empty space availability with any people need compatible with them. VUOTIdiSardegna is configured as a triple network: the Voids network, the Users networ and the Ideas network; they’re interconnected each other.

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For every Void, it’s possible to see who are the users connected with it; for every user, it’s possible to see what proposal he made for that Void and for the others, and so on, in order to have connections and links between people, the Voids they mapped and the ideas they have for those Voids. In particular, every Void has its own page, where everyone – after the registration to the website and becoming a user – can make 5 simple actions:

  1. Add infos about the Void, contributing with images, videos and general informations
  2. See proposals made by other users for that Void
  3. Add proposals saying what the user wants for that place
  4. See what’s around, a list of similar examples
  5. See the action that was made for that void

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Focusing on the action, it’s a kind of intervention on the building, in order to show a possible new life for it. In particular, our action shot for the Consorzio Agrario building in Pozzo San Nicola, a village depending on the Stintino Municipality. Since it was impossible to refresh the whole building with no resources, we provided to reactivate just a strip of it with different operations along: wall whitewash, climbing wall, a bench, the greengrass, a flooring, a bricks flooring, a path, a bikepath and the sidewalk refurbishment.

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In a 80 cm strip, we gave a snapshot of a possibility for the abandoned building. The hope is to make Nurra (and Sardinia) inhabitants aware of the importance of these places, for the memory that they carry on and for their worth not only in the past but also in the future.

PicMonkey Collage 2

Actually, the website is working. It’s a testing phase and it will be followed by its implementation. We guess that it could really represent an important tool for Sardinia and for Sardinian people.

Eleonora, Claudio e Giuseppe


Something has been built…

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…in Pozzo San Nicola.


something happened…

PicMonkey Collage

 

…in Pozzo San Nicola

PicMonkey Collage

 


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We have just to decide between one of these four hypothesis!

Any suggestion???


Nurrapp is a smartphone app proposal that contains: a social platform for carpooling, a navigator with ecological info, an interactive map with interest points focused on Nurra and a intermodal-mix software that calculates the best transport mix following various parameter like “less polluting” or “less expensive”.

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Asking to several groups of citizens we realized they don’t completly agree with our idea of “barter”, even if they told us the opposite at the begining.

They showed us they were available, but when we asked for a completely participation they did a step off.

Also the association who was involved in that with a strong part on the process were unsure about the event. They gave us two reasons:

According to this situation we decided to do a step back too and to not being involved in this legal stuff.

We had a new plan for our project is just under construction!!

STAY TUNED!


We’ve analysed 2 extreme solution (minimum and maximum expense)for integrate pedestrian, cycling, carpooling and carsharing into a new public transport system in Nurra area (focus on Santa Maria la Palma).

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The aim of the project is to involve people of Nurra through proposing a network of multifunctional points inside every village, to have a proper waste management system. These points have 3 different functions:
1_COLLECTION of the differentiated waste and selection to reuse and recycle.
2_INVOLVING PEOPLE, by activate them into the system and improve the tools for communication and information. For example we can rethink about the existing mobile stand, used for awareness program, in a more efficient way .
3_PROPOSE A SYSTEM OF FINANCIAL BENEFIT, through the collaboration with local productive activities.

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The goal of this proposed system are:
• to reduce the disposal of undifferentiated waste to the existing landfill of Scala Erre in Nurra, that will be closed in seven years;
• to improve the collection of differentiate waste;
• to decrease the CO2 emission and the costs of the transport system;
• to decrease the waste municipality fee.
With the findings of our research and proposal we want to make people aware of the existing problems and opportunities about the proper management of waste in Nurra.
It also can be useful for the municipality and different organizations to reconsider the management system of Nurra and communication to the citizens.


The topic of the project starts from the problem of waste in a low density area, as Nurra.
We have analyzed the existing waste management system and its impact in social, economical and environmental aspect.

From our analysis we found some critical points, which are:
• Exploitation of natural environment to the use of three landfill site
• Decentralized waste management system in Nurra (centered in the main city of Sassari)
• Weakness of information and communication from the municipality mismanagement of the system

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