All Things Urban

The original Stratosferica format Visiting Urban Explorers, for the first time expanded to a younger set of urban experts in 2021, continues its evolution in 2022. What’s Next for Stratosferica? The project’s outcomes: five designs for a new -spatially located- placemaking intervention in Turin, five ethnography studies of Stratosferica’s active placemaking initiative Precollinear Park, a collection of sketches and pictures from the explorations. The five designs, along with some pictures and sketches from the five explorations, composed one of the three exhibitions at Utopian Hours 2021, when the young architects were invited to return to Turin and attend the festival - being then interviewed by Corriere della Sera, one of the biggest national newspapers. 2022’s Research Question: Where next? The City of Turin plans to reactivate around 2025 the unused tramline which Stratosferica has, starting from June 2020, transformed into the Precollinear Park, an urban linear park 800-metre long. Though the timeline may change, and what’s temporary may remain permanent, planning ahead is an important part of a successful urban activation. The two iconic containers, the tropical timber-based, polyfunctional pieces of urban furniture (seats, stools, tables, chaise longues, canopies, etc.) and a lively community of Volunteers designers, and passionate “park-users”. Where will they go? If not in Precollinear Park, they will of course not go to waste, or disappear. A new space in the city is required. This year’s research question explores new areas for placemaking in the city, but with a heartfelt plea for spaces and projects that can accommodate all of the above in a new systemic intervention, with the purpose of creating a new vibrant place in another neighbourhood. Side tasks of the Young Visiting Urban Explorers 2022 project will include the personal mapping of Turin’s most interesting spaces and aspects and a collection of daily pictures capturing the exploration experience. Views, architecture, nature, opportunities, social life, all the aspects that make a city great, talent-sticky and livable. The three outputs, as well as finding space in Utopian Hours 2022, will contribute to creating a new welcome guide for all incoming students in Turin.

Stratosferica invites three young architects/designers and students to once again explore the city with their expert eyes, with the goal of discovering and highlighting the best possible solutions for the next place by Torino Stratosferica, whichever may be its form!

- Residency: 15 days - Time slot: 22 AUG - 30 SEP - Stratosferica offers a € 500 reimbursement per explorer. - The deadline for applicants is Monday July 25th at midnight. If interested please send your CV and a cover letter to Liam Korn [email protected] by Monday July 25th

Torino Stratosferica is a city-imaging project: a collective laboratory that wants to experience the creative power of urban imagination and the impact of visionary ideas on the city.

A scholarship is available, click "Register" to find out more.