The active participation in the didactic experiment defined within the Erasmus+ Cooperative Partnership project “ASOC – (Architecture) School of Commons” has led the students of the Politecnico di Torino to create a student team inspired by the themes and methods of “project making” tested within the project.
On the basis of this three-year experience, the TOC2 team has matured some reflections on the ethical role of the professions of architecture, urbanism, design and engineering, and on the ability to mediate and collaborate with civil society in order to build spaces and models of governance that are collaborative and strongly attached to the needs and requirements of the territory. The working group is therefore characterised by its passion for the continuous search for models and tools for the valorisation of environmental and social resources, and how these can promote and activate common practices that favour sustainable territorial development that respects the context and its specificities.
The TOC2 student team is therefore committed in exploring the concept of urban/rural commons in an empirical and transdisciplinary way.
Through various collaborative design activities, we aim to build an active student community engage in generating seeds for concrete transformations while caring for the resources of the territory they are active. Aiming to act in an ethical and inclusive manner, enhancing local spaces and networks and promoting an open and collective use of the territory. The objective is therefore to create an interdisciplinary working and reflection group, bringing together students from different disciplines such as design, architecture and urban planning, inspired by networks of solidarity, mutual aid, horizontal collaboration and active listening. To achieve these objectives, we propose a programme of design and research in close collaboration with local realities and associations active in promoting community practices, through workshops that combine theoretical reflection and design aspects, focusing on co-design and self-construction practices to promote practical and participatory learning. The learning-by-doing approach integrates practical experience with traditional didactics, enabling participants to learn by doing.
At the end of August (2024) we participated in the last workshop of the ASOC project in Greece, in Morfi, organised by the local association TiriLab, and in July of the same year we organised the ESTIA workshop, during which we tested the knowledge acquired in the previous workshops in a more autonomous and self-organised way in the Monregalese area, with the local association Teatro Selvatico, experimenting theatre practices and collective building practices with local artisans.
We are determined to become ‘enzymes in action’, catalysts for local change, inspiring concrete and transformative action for a more sustainable and inclusive future for all. Our approach aims to make everyone a protagonist in the transformation of their environment.
Contacts and info:
Website: linktr.ee/toc2_polito
Instagram @toc2_polito
E-mail: toc.tocommon.tocare@gmail.com
Tutor: prof. Ianira Vassallo
