Two concepts, One hundred thousand thoughts, One solution.
Team group and citizens work together finding a final solution for Piazza Tripoli.
25.05.2020.
April 25, Freedom Day, what better day to write the article dedicated to the third phase of design development of Team 8. A day in which we could go out of the house, have the usual lunch with family or friends in some tourist resort, but that forces us to stay holed up in our homes to escape the pandemic from Covid-19. Some signs of hope are coming to us from the outside: less infected, less dead and less sick in resuscitation. Maybe we are really seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, but it is still early to sing victory and return to live the days with our old habits.
As I said, on this day I’m going to tell the third part of the project development, that of co-design session. At this stage, the citizens are invited to participate in a meeting with the designers, in this case we university students, through which they have the opportunity to know, “touch” the concepts made in the previous phase. With the use of digital tools, participants have the opportunity to comment, discuss, indicate problems and suggest solutions in order to get everyone the same goal: to give Piazza Tripoli a new identity that can meet the needs of all. Surely if we had had the opportunity to carry out this initiative outdoor (as it was originally supposed to be), it would have been a more pleasant and even less stressful experience, but unfortunately the situation is what it is and we must settle and try to get a good profit anyway.
First of all, Group 8 found themselves virtually to figure out how to organize the work, what tools would be used for the live session, and how they would be presented. We looked at the two concepts and decided that it would be right to show them both to the citizens, so that they too could have the opportunity to follow our choices and ideas step-by-step. We took a few days to think about the best solution that could satisfy our “helpers” with the receipt of the material and us for the data collection. In the meantime, Luca Sacchi welcomed our idea with great joy and made a commitment to contact other people who could have helped us in the enterprise, showing, however, the concern encounter some problems in the management of the live session via telematics.
Once the holidays passed, we produced and shaped the instruments. Assuming that we do not wanting to leave anything behind us, the two concepts have been divided into the categories of ‘zones of the square’, each of which shows different qualities and characteristics depending on the activities that take part. Each of them have been associated with the so-called “WH- questions” used as a means to explain WHAT are the main features, the REASON for which that particular space was chosen as the final place to host the specific activity, and WHO and HOW it is addressed to the inhabitants of Piazza Tripoli, using keywords and illustrative images. Awareness of the subject matter, citizens are asked to leave comments within the “Idea Card” and to give some suggestions in the “Suggestion Card”. At the end when individual forms have been completed, people must finally answer the questions of two surveys, one for each concept.
It is true, many of you reading might think “Damn how much work, but will it really be necessary?” and I might agree with this misgivings, but if it is true that this is our only way of having an external feedback, it’s good to try to get as much information as possible by asking as many questions as necessary. After all, it could be an opportunity for them to escape from a routine increasingly linked to the rhythm of work-home-work, without any external stimulus to distract themselves from this situation.
After finishing the last details, we start the co-design session. We discover with joy that there are many participants and that, fortunately, we have organized the work so that each of them has their own dedicated space and is accompanied during the filling out of forms.
The live session begins with a video call on Microsoft Teams. We introduce ourselves; we know the citizens and we explain to them the multiple features of Miro, the online platform where they will have the opportunity to interact directly with the material we produce. There are many doubts and questions asked by the participants, and many others are the answers and the help we give them. Then set the method, we decide together to end the video call, giving them the opportunity to express a personal judgment without haste and pressure.
After a couple of days, we find with pleasure that we have achieved a great result, beyond our expectations. Many are the positive comments in favour of our ideas, others instead show doubts and concerns about the feasibility of the projects, such as, for example, the possibility of closing traffic to the street “Via Zanzur” to give more space in security to the community with an attractive street-art, or even the movement of the dog area near “Viale Misurata”.
After collecting the data, reflection and comparisons, group 8 meets again on the Miro platform, now its second home in this project. By organizing the information obtained, we realize that there are many positive aspects and suggestions that come out of both visions. This is a source of joy for us because it allows us to create a unique concept that embraces and unites our two initial projects, to which individually, and for different reasons, we are all linked today. We then create a conceptual map that helps us understand what the new path will be in the next phase.
We divide the data into “input” and “output”. The first are those perceived by the two surveys and the open responses; the latter are the ones that characterize our final project. What emerges is the desire to create a central space where it is possible to perform, through singing, dance and acting, telling facts of daily life and exchanging opinions. The will to create parking spots in areas currently trafficked by cars, to allow citizens to expand even more the spaces dedicated to them, increasing the safety factor. The challenge of changing the current location of the dog area in favour of a botanical garden in the service of the community and self-managed by the same. The creation of events that can embrace the Milanese and not the square and unite them in moments of celebration and fun.
But above all, the desire to get involved, to participate in a project that can tell the lives of the citizens of Piazza Tripoli emerges.
Team #8: Reehanul Karim Ashraf Ali, Pierluigi Angelo De Pace, Miriam Ganci, Elisabetta Ralli and Sobhana Suriyaprakash
