Geografie, relazioni e ritual personas. Strategie e strumenti di progettazione partecipata per l’heritage Made in Italy

The attempt at reconstruction proposed by the design system and focused on the relationship that binds it to local crafts and cultures is now evident and growing. The goal of the proposed research idea is to explore the relationship between people and objects, starting with personal and collective habits and rituals, in order to identify a mode of co-design that involves users in a system capable of drawing on local traditions and production systems. By interweaving the desire for discovery with experimentation and valorization, the aim is to contribute to the spread of a new ‘feeling of memory’ (Gambardella, 2020, p.99) based, among other things, on the presence of rituals that guarantee the survival of the identity of social groups (Pils, Trocchianesi, 2015). Starting from the shared rituals, communities are related and their distinctive traits are enhanced, leading from a private sphere to a communal understanding. A careful investigation of the role played by objects, in relation to cultural specificities, allows the construction of the same ‘personas’ that accompany the development of projects. The proposal addresses not only the role played by individual products, but also their accessibility to a diverse audience, in order to avoid exclusive or elitist fruitions. In conclusion, it is shown how certain rituals can be scaled and posited as a means of understanding, inclusion and cultural cohesion.