Regenerating spaces, the sustainable way of transitional uses

A treasure of history to be protected, yes, but also to be revived. In Bergamo, the former Carmine Monastery is enjoying a season of vitality thanks to a partnership between the City Council and the Teatro Tascabile social cooperative. But how can the place be made attractive beyond the albeit rich cultural programme? What kind of activities can be imagined to exploit the huge spaces and, at the same time, generate economic resources to reinvest? How can this enhancement be made compatible with the historical constraints imposed by the Superintendency of Cultural Heritage? The answer did not come at the desk, as often happens, with the risk of perhaps being a washout. Rather, the solution - which will be a guesthouse service for artists and tourists - has matured through experimentation with the approach of transitional use, made possible by 'Spaces in Transformation', a Fondazione Cariplo tender (which has allocated 3.5 million) realised with the technical collaboration of KCity (and Fondazione Riusiamo l'Italia, for training). The project aims to support processes to reuse the many existing abandoned or underused spaces, experiment new functions and return them to community use.

Thus on almost 4,800 square metres distributed in three large cities (Milan, Brescia, Bergamo), four medium-sized ones and in three towns in Lombardy, new functions have been imagined and tested, from community hubs to exhibition spaces, from cultural centres to open schools. The transitional use approach, of French origin, is making its appearance in urban regeneration processes in Italy. "This is a new method that tackles the biggest problem in design today, which is uncertainty," explains Paolo Cottino, at the helm of KCity. "In fact, it reduces risks because before doing a major and costly intervention, I make sure that the functional choice is the right one. In practice, the design phase is no different from the development phase, you learn by doing. Transitional reuse therefore allows you to test possible solutions and experiment in practice with what works and what does not, thus minimising the costs of choices if they turn out to be unsuitable. As happened in Milan at Base, a hybrid cultural centre. On the second floor, experimentation with layouts to make different functions of the spaces coexist (music rehearsal rooms and a relaxation area for artists) led to the original idea being ruled out, avoiding future problems. "Thanks to the commitment and creativity of people and organisations, we have been able to support the rebirth of 11 abandoned or unused spaces with cultural projects of great value: 'laboratories of experimentation' where there is room to try and also to make mistakes, to observe the changes in the area and seek new answers," comments Sergio Urbani, director general and ceo of Fondazione Cariplo.

Interest in this innovative method comes from both the private and public sectors as well as philanthropy. In the Parma Apennines, the Dallara Foundation, founded on the initiative of the car company of the same name, has co-constructed a park together with the local community, the citizens of Varano de' Melegari and their associations. It has done this with the approach of transitional use, which it is now also using to design - based on the needs of the citizens and possible functions - the internal layout of the building, home to the foundation itself. Remaining in Emilia Romagna, the Region - which has already made a call on transitional uses - has just introduced a digital toolkit to accompany all those who want to design urban regeneration in an innovative way.

There is also interest in neighbouring Tuscany. The Municipality of Livorno has included transitional reuse in the regulations of the urban plan. Experimentation is already underway in the area of the former Atl 'creative hangars' warehouses to define their destination and management mode. "We have just drawn up the call for co-projecting with the municipality in accordance with the Third Sector Code," explains Cottino, who will be speaking at Utopian Hours, a festival on urban regeneration, together with the top management of Fondazione Cariplo, "and will be able to rely on ESF funds. Until now, the spaces have been managed on a temporary basis with the support of the Goldoni Foundation and the intended use was the growth of the creative industry, from the hospitality space for artist residencies to the space for connecting with the local community. Now this idea will have to be rethought and integrated with the vision of the third sector and with a strong focus on inclusion.

The initiative is based on a resolution by the Region of Tuscany that sanctioned the willingness to work in the direction of transitional uses using ESF European funds and identified three pilot municipalities, in addition to Livorno, also Prato and Follonica.