RUFA and SPD Scuola Politecnica di Design with Repubblica del Design at the Milano Design Week 2023
Present! To relaunch an idea of sustainability that is as relevant as ever, and to generate new creative and development opportunities through confrontation.
RUFA, Scuola Politecnica di Design and Repubblica del Design join forces, thanks to significant collaborations with local institutions such as the Municipality of 9 and the Municipality of Milan, the experimental recycler Design Differente, il Gruppo Cap, for a project that will be presented at the same time as Paper Week and Design Week 2023 from 17 to 23 April, and which will remain as a permanent tactical urban planning intervention.
The project is called SLURP – Social Ludic Urban Regeneration Project.
The activity is part of a series of initiatives already developed in the Bovisa -Dergano – Affori ‘design district’, in a logic of scalability and circularity of educational models and interaction with local communities and, in this case, also with visitors to Milan Design Week.
There are two phases, one of design with workshops and laboratories in which school students participate, the other of concrete realisation on the territory, on the north-east side of the former Scalo Farini, between Piazzale Lugano and Piazza Schiavone.
There are three interventions: a project of Landscape Design, conducted by designer and RUFA lecturer Meltem Eti Proto and Davide Crippa of Repubblica del Design, to create natural street furniture made of recycled cardboard, earth and grass enabling greater use of outdoor spaces; a project of Visual Design, led by designer and SPD lecturer Serena Confalonieri, with the creation of a route of road markings and pictorial works, thanks to the contribution of Arexons; a project of Product Design, coordinated by designer Alessandro Mason for RUFA and Matteo Guarnaccia for SPD, with the realision of a series of ‘Courtesy seats’, made from discarded pallets provided by the logistics company Fercam, which are donated to neighbourhood shops, in continuity with the experiences of gentle urbanism.
«Ideas related to urban regeneration action – declares Anita Pirovano, President of Milan’s Municipality 9 – are followed very closely by the council. I am personally convinced that the relationship between design – sustainability – territory does not only generate innovative paths and experiences, but enriches the district with that dynamic energy that only new generations, without filters and conditioning, are able to guarantee».
«RUFA– explains Director arch. Fabio Mongelli – creates dynamic experiences and added value, generating the right synergies, programming relevant cultural and artistic initiatives and supporting talent. In this context, we want to be not only an educational centre, but a place open to the sensitivities of the community, where research and artistic production can be enjoyed in different ways. This is why we pay special attention to the so-called Third Mission and to openness towards the socio-economic context. RUFA, in short, proposes itself as a Creative HUB sensitive to the experiences of the territory and ready to seize the opportunities it can offer”.
«SPD Scuola Politecnica di Design has lived in Milan for almost 70 years – says Amos Bianchi, Academic Director of the school – and in the course of its history, figures who have become leading names in Italian and international design have taught and studied there. The alliance that SPD and Milan have forged over the years is reconfirmed through participation in the urban regeneration action planned for this Salone del Mobile, in order to strengthen the relationship between design and the territory while respecting sustainability and the environment. For SPD Scuola Politecnica del Design it is a source of pride to renew this relationship with the city together with RUFA and Repubblica del Design».
«Repubblica del Design is the only year-round design district in the districts of Bovisa, Lancetti, Dergano and now Affori. We are happy to be able to participate in a new process that continues the idea of sustainability of our DaCosaNasceCosa project, now in its third edition. SLURP, Social Ludic Urban Regeneration, included in the Milan Design Week 2023 programme generates new creative and development opportunities with RUFA and SPD. The experience is based on the principles of circular economy and involves neighbourhoods through design», says Davide Crippa, President of Repubblica del Design.
© Illustrated comics: Emilio Lecce, cartoonist and RUFA lecturer
