REPORTING FROM THE FRONT: WELCOME TO LAMPEDUSA  (Italy)

You want to work on up-to-date topics. You like to combine a theoretical approach with a practical design solution. You like to be involved in current social developments and you want to make a statement with your design.

Then you should join this exhibition which combines la Biennale Archittetura di Venezia 2016: “Reporting from the Front” with a urban design project on Lampedusa.
Spatial study of students at the Biennale 2016

Design weeks

The first design week ( approx. 21 September – 24 September) is in Venice to visit the biennale and to research the value of the exposed projects for your design on Lampedusa. Immediately after visiting the biennale we will fly to Lampedusa you develop a concept for the further development of the island. You will get lectures by professionals on site and you will work in interdisciplinary mixed groups.
design of new housing typology by Justyna Kaźmierczak

Partners

Saxion University of Applied Sciences, department of urban design
Rosalba Ferbo, architect Verona
Coast Guard station Lampedusa
CISOM Lampedusa
Nino Taranto, Archivo Storico di Lampedusa
Nicola Rainisio, social and environmental psycholog, Univesità Milano
Livia Corbo, journalist Milano
Assignment
Design week at Biennale Architettura 2016:
You will define a strategic vision on the spatial development of the island, based on the input that you will get on the Biennale dell’Architettura 2016 in Venice. Take the people that live on Lampedusa into account: your vision should be a structural improvement of the living conditions of both refugees and the inhabitants of Lampedusa.

Design week at Lampedusa & rest of semester in The Netherlands:
After that you will use that vision to make an urban design plan for a new reception area (buildings and public space/ landscape) that is designed to address the needs and specific vulnerabilities of people arriving at Lampedusa, in particular their medical and mental health needs, accommodation, education and social activities.

Results

Vision on a strategic development the island:
spatial scenario’s in different scale levels,
site plan 1:1000, completed with sections and perspectives, model 1:1000

Urban Design for reception area and public space: 
site plan 1:500,ground floor plans and sections 1:200, perspectives,
model 1:500 or 1:200

Schedule

Concept schedule winter term (September – December)
                     September               October                          November                  December
week 1       introduction               design week2               midterm reviewportfolio assessment portfolio assessment       urban design
week 2      professional week     concept / research     urban design             final presentation
week 3      portfolio                       concept / research     urban design             portfolio ass.
week 4      design week 1             strategic design           urban design
Period:
2016 winter term

Work load:
40 hours per week

Costs
€ 4800.-
model Lampedusa Justyna Kaźmierczak
La Biennale Archittetura di Venezia 2016:
“Reporting from the Front”
The Venice Biennale has announced the theme selected by 2016 Biennale director Alejandro Aravena. Titled "Reporting from the Front," this year's Biennale will be an investigation into the role of architects in the battle to improve the living conditions for people all over the world. The theme aims to focus on architecture which works within the constraints presented by a lack of resources, and those designs which subvert the status quo to produce architecture for the common good - no matter how small the success.
In this project you are going to translate the theme and focus of this years Biennale into a concrete design.
Lampedusa
A small island known primarily for fishing and tourism has become an unwitting player in a tragic and ongoing crisis in the Mediterranean. Since the early 2000s, Lampedusa, the European territory closest to Libya, has become a prime transit point for irregular immigrants from Africa, the Middle East and Asia wanting to enter Europe. As the southern most point in Italy, Lampedusa has received the brunt of a migrant tide that carried around 250,000 people from Africa to Europe. Some 3,500 died or went missing along the way.
                                                                      
Lampedusa has an area of 20.2 square kilometres and a population of approximately 6,000 people. Historically there has been an inherent cultural desire to offer hospitality to all those who arrive on Lampedusa, and also there is a growing sense that this island is, in its hospitally, leading the way for the rest of the country, maybe even fort he rest of Europe. At the same time, Lampedusans have particular strategies managing tourism flows, rendering them at times masters of their own island, but concerning migration they are at other times constrained by the global political circumstances.
 
With the flow of refugees mentioned above, hospitality is difficult to practice. The unsafe conditions of the crossing to Lampedusa (which leads to countless human tragedies) and the insufficient facilities on the island are in this the most distressing.
In this project we, as urban designers, will focus on the improvement of the spatial facilities that are needed to receive and (temporary) accommodate refugees.
 
The Temporary Permanence Centre' (CPT) of Lampedusa, which was designed to accommodate 400, currently holds about 1,200 migrants. There is also a centre for women and children – a converted American army base built during World War II that contains approximately 200 refugees – and another centre for older minors, which also houses around 200 or 300 souls. About 5,000 to 6,000 immigrants live outside the holding structures. The appalling conditions in which the refugees are accommodated no, not do justice to the hospitable nature which characterizes the identity of the island of Lampedusa. The most isolated island in the Mediterranean, which consists only of rocks and a small village is poor and can’t offer the refugees what they need. There is no playground and no hospital on Lampedusa. The 6,000 people who live here, must import both their drinking water and the teacher of the only high school.
 
Till now there is no vision or strategic approach for the development the island. On a smaller scale there is no reception area that is particularly designed to address the needs and specific vulnerabilities of people arriving at Lampedusa.
Lecture at Archivo Storico Lampedusa

Course contents

Competences:
In this Urban Nomads program you will develop  6 professional competences: Concept, Urban Design, Analysis, Urban Research, Urban Strategy, Being aware of surroundings.
During 1 semester you will work continuously and integrally on these competences. You work individual and you will get weekly feedback in classes on your products. This project includes 2 design weeks and a final presentation.

Feedback on products:
Once a week (see schedule) you get individual feedback on the design products in the studio of Urban Nomads in Deventer.

Final presentation:
At the end of the course you will present your project to professionals.

Portfolio:
After the final presentation your portfolio will be accessed by certificated assessors on the 6 competences. You will receive a certificate