The second WOZ experimental design workshop is to be held at Riace from 25 to 30 April, organised by the architect Domenico Cogliandro and sponsored by the architectural publisher Biblioteca del Cenide with organisational support from the Associazione Culturale Xiphia and logistic help from the cooperative “Il borgo e il cielo”.

Under the initiative of WOZ the intention is to underline the strong identity of this place and interact with the administrative and cultural reality of Riace to promote and formulate a design based on this that works alongside the autonomous development of local production and organisation of the urban and architectural spaces within the town. This includes the development and integration of existing values, retrieved values, innovative values, interaction and dialectics with the public administration of the area to orientate it in a relationship with architects, engineers, businesses, artists.

Following on from the first workshop in 2004, this year activity will be concentrated on creative and design projects such as the making prototypes of street furniture that range from standard fixtures (such as street signs, house numbers, tourist indications, shop signs) to elements for improving the quality of the environment (canopies, railings, benches, lighting) and the design of areas for community use such as streets, avenues and small piazzas as well as improving usability of green areas (public gardens, small parks, allotments, redesigning pedestrian access roads).

The prototypes, designs and more complex drawings will remain the property of the town, curated by WOZ together with associations linked to its organisation, whilst awaiting implementation. The centre of Riace offers as such a complex experiment in urban design, anticipating through proposals and results a model for intervention that could be replicated elsewhere in the future. Those taking part are encouraged to tune in to the place and its inhabitants with the aim of listening to and interpreting needs, testing their own ideas and designs against necessary criteria and limitations.

The subject areas to develop will be announced on the first day of the workshop, although other ideas may also by welcome. Participants choose from the subject areas, either individually or in groups, deciding on what method and materials to adopt. The places to be examined will be the hillside village and the area between the centre and the sea, including spaces bordering onto it, interiors and exteriors, inhabited and urban. The overall activity is aimed at facilitating contact and exchange above anything else. The inspiration for the projects will be derived both from the interpretation of the existing places and the multiple influences arising from the fact that WOZ will involve professionals and schools of architecture from all over Italy as well as sixteen contemporary art exhibitions that range from photography to painting, video and sculpture.

Info:
Organisational administration
Dr. Elena De Luca (348.9273121); Arch. Antonella Errigo; Antonio Tarantello