Terre di Mezzo
Cultural planning for the chinese quarter of Milan
About the project
The idea of Terre di Mezzo (literally meaning “middle lands”) was developed as an exercise for a workshop held during the Master course I attended at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan.
It was a group project for which we were asked to focus on the possibilities to promote the cultural diversity characterizing the neighborhood of Via Paolo Sarpi in Milan, locally known as Chinatown due to a relatively high concentration of Chinese commercial activities.
Historical research
Our first step in the process was to delve into historical insights about when, how and why that particular area of the city developed in such a peculiar way. We primarily gathered information from news, articles, videos and interviews we found on the web (given the unusual nature of the topic, we could find just one title about it at a public library).
Insights
This first qualitative-quantitative insight proved very helpful as it provided some relevant information which led us to outline similarities between the entrepreneurial spirit distinguishing both the Chinese population and the people of Milan.
Collecting the data
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We then proceeded to study the area in a more analytical manner, extrapolating data regarding how over time the commercial activities developed from a more traditional, workshop-form to a wholesale-oriented type of market, where retailers are gradually disappearing.
Studying the demographics
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This step, as the previous one, required us to draw information primarily from the web, but also from Milan’s Statistics Office as we needed to outline the actual demographic situation in the neighborhood – hence discovering that 9 out of 10 residents are actually Italian.
On-field interviews
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The next step of our mapping was going out in the streets equipped with a specifically-created questionnaire and interview a fair amount of residents and non-residents of the neighborhood.
The list of people we interviewed included, among others: Chinese residents and shop owners, Italian residents and shop owners, spokespeople of different local associations, tourists and passers-by, the local parish priest and the parents of the children frequenting the parish church.
The objective of the study was to identify the characteristics, the resources, the dynamics and the needs of the neighborhood, in order to plan an intervention which could be coherent with respect to the major issue we identified, namely the fact that the Italian and Chinese communities developed a certain attitude of indifference towards each other.
S.W.O.T. analysis
In the next phase we defined one main objective, two sub-objectives, and the target of the project:
Main objective
Reinforcing the sense of identity and belonging to the neighborhood by highlighting the shared history between Italian and Chinese communities, in order to promote a stronger social cohesion.
Sub-objectives
– Promoting a virtuous circle of redevelopment and promotion of the area
– Facilitating a dialogue between the associations
Target group
All those people who benefit from the neighborhood and its services.
We then defined the various bodies which would guarante the feasibility of the project:
Ideation
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On the basis of all the collected material, we came up with our key idea:
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"A historical reconstruction to increase the awareness and the active participation from the identified target, to be implemented by collecting and using documentation originating from the photographic archives belonging to the City of Milan and the associations."
Final idea
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The final idea leverages the blue screen technology used for creating VFX in the cinematic industry, and consists in placing a certain number of blue-painted benches in correspondence with significant spots of the Via Paolo Sarpi area, provided with trilingual explanation (Italian, Chinese, English), period photographs and a QR Code connected to a specifically designed free app, which would allow the users sitting on them to take selfies against historic views of the neighborhood – in place of the monochromatic background – and share them on the social networks.
The bottom line
Terre di Mezzo can promote the knowledge economy bringing benefits to the area where it would be installed and for which it has been conceived.
Its nature is purely experiential, immersive, participatory and democratic, as well as strongly put into context.