The intangible regeneration of a neighbourhood through spontaneity

Performance di Parola, tra Gesto e Architettura is a curatorial project by studioconcreto, which invited some artists, collectives and cultural operators to work in Lecce, Italy, in the particular context of an INA-Casa neighbourhood. The dense title already expresses well the desire to hybridise practices and disciplines, an approach that characterises their work. "Even if we start from visual and performing arts, we are aware that all languages inhabit architecture and have to do with spaces. Our reflection in this case starts from an idea of inhabiting, departing from the neighbourhood in which we find ourselves. The place where these creative flows take place also coincides with our domestic space," say Laura Perrone and Luca Coclite, the founders of studioconcreto.

The neighbourhood in which the couple operates is located next to the historic centre of Lecce, but due to its morphology it manages to escape the institutional processes of planning and "embellishment". No little red stone houses or baroque churches, but very decent residences built after the Second World War, with a great attention to social spaces. "We started to organise conversations and performances down the street to highlight the existence of meeting points, green and social spaces, areas whose potential is often not understood. In front of our house there was for example the social centre of the neighbourhood, with a social kitchen and a small theatre. In the same way we lost the use of the terraces, which were historically used for neighbourhood parties. Over time and as a result of many small transformations many spaces are no longer usable and we have lost the habit of living in the neighbourhood together," Laura and Luca explain.

Spoken word performances are non-invasive, analogical and ephemeral actions. The presence of the artists is never imposed but in permanent dialogue with the inhabitants of the neighbourhood. Among the interventions hosted in the project are the exhibition "I - We - Yes" by Clair Fontaine, the performance Corpotesto, conceived by Roberta Mansueto (takecare) and Marta Olivieri, a Popular Lesson by art critic Pietro Gaglianò, the action of the Post Disaster collective on the roofs and among the streets of the neighbourhood and the permanent work Prima Casa by the Casa a Mare team. The event ended with the publication of a catalogue, accompanied by a site-specific installation by PLSTCT studio. In recent years we have seen in the architectural field a great homologation of languages and practices for urban regeneration: pallets, floor paints and DIY planters are seen as immediate solutions for the aesthetic revaluation of peripheral contexts. Often, however, these actions do not even manage to scratch the surface of the complex issues surrounding these environments. Working on the intangible, instead, means acting on the real dynamics of a place, but also employing the language best suited to the sensitive stimulation of its inhabitants. studioconcreto interprets the meaning of regeneration in this way: "we are not interested in creating fancy spaces, but in living them again with spontaneity".