(Un)planned interferences. Study on the opportunities offered by the application of curatorial methodologies in creative urban development and planning processes in contemporary Europe

La tesi analizza le potenzialità offerte dall’applicazione dei metodi curatoriali alla pianificazione e allo sviluppo urbano, con particolare attenzione all’innovazione e alla sostenibilità sociale. Sebbene non sostitutive degli strumenti tradizionali di pianificazione, le pratiche curatoriali possono stimolare riflessioni critiche, rivelare aspetti nascosti delle città, riorganizzare il tessuto urbano in modo flessibile, generare senso di appartenenza e attivare interferenze non previste. La ricerca si concentra su casi studio europei dagli anni Novanta in poi, in cui i curatori, come figure professionali definite, non si limitano ad abbellire lo spazio urbano, ma intervengono in sinergia con i processi pianificatori, contribuendo alla trasformazione profonda degli ambienti. Durante la revisione della letteratura è emersa una certa carenza di contributi sistematici sul tema, con la maggior parte degli studi incentrati su singoli progetti. Spesso, inoltre, parte della conoscenza acquisita si è persa a causa della mancanza di documentazione adeguata. Anche la terminologia rappresenta un ostacolo: il concetto di “curatela”, poco noto al di fuori dell’ambito artistico, risulta di difficile applicazione nei contesti urbanistici, limitando il riconoscimento del potenziale professionale dei curatori urbani. La tesi si struttura attorno a tre nuclei di domande principali: quali sono gli impatti e le implicazioni etiche delle pratiche curatoriali in ambito urbano? Quali metodi e modelli guidano la curatela degli spazi urbani? In quali contesti organizzativi operano i curatori? Obiettivi del lavoro sono: da un lato, offrire una sistematizzazione storica e metodologica dell’argomento per salvaguardare il know-how esistente e stimolare nuove pratiche; dall’altro, promuovere l’integrazione consapevole della curatela nei processi di pianificazione urbana come elemento strutturale e duraturo, contribuendo al riconoscimento del curatore urbano come figura professionale. Il primo capitolo introduce domande, obiettivi, metodologia e limiti della ricerca. Il secondo ripercorre due esperienze curatoriali personali dell’autrice, che hanno motivato l’indagine. Il terzo capitolo costruisce il quadro teorico, sintetizzando le relazioni tra arte e pianificazione urbana, ricostruendo la storia della curatela urbana e illustrando i dibattiti concettuali e terminologici, oltre a presentare alcuni progetti pilota. Il quarto capitolo è dedicato al caso studio principale: Public Art Agency Sweden, analizzata in termini di storia, incarichi, progetti, struttura e approccio operativo. Il quinto capitolo raccoglie tredici casi studio minori in Germania, Regno Unito, Svezia, Italia e Paesi Bassi, basati su interviste semi-strutturate ai curatori coinvolti. Il sesto capitolo propone un’analisi comparativa, rispondendo alle domande di ricerca e delineando ruoli, metodologie, strutture, opportunità e criticità delle pratiche curatoriali urbane. Propone inoltre la creazione di un archivio aperto per la conservazione e la diffusione delle esperienze analizzate. Il settimo e ultimo capitolo raccoglie le conclusioni, sintetizzando i risultati emersi e valutando l’efficacia del metodo nel raggiungimento degli obiettivi prefissati.

The thesis aims at studying the opportunities offered by curatorial methods’ application to creative urban planning and development practices, in a perspective of innovation and social sustainability. In fact, several influential urban practitioners and scholars agree upon the fact that curatorial practices, even though they can’t completely replace conventional urban planning tools, can encourage critical reflection, reveal cities’ unexpected characteristics, reorganize the urban system in a flexible way, create sense of belonging and (un)planned interferences. In particular, research has been delimited to case studies located in Europe from the 1990s on, where curators were outlined professional figures, whose practices were not meant to merely decorating urban spaces, but deeply transforming them in synergy with planning processes. During the literature review phase, it has been found out that contributions about urban curating were rare, and mostly focusing on single case studies. Moreover, in many cases knowledge about projects and practices was hard to preserve and got lost. A second critical layer of accessibility is language: in fact, curating can seem a very elusive concept for those who are not working in the Arts. This has led often to a difficulty in considering its usefulness and potential in concrete planning and development projects, and to not acknowledging and employing these professionals systematically. The thesis asks three sets of questions: the first is about impacts and ethics of curatorial work in urban planning contexts; the second regards methods and models for curating urban spaces; the third is related to organizational structures the curator works within. By answering these questions, it has two main objectives: the first is to organize the subject for the first time, both from a historical point of view and from a methodological one, in order to preserve the already existing know-how, and to implement it thanks to new practices. The second objective is to foster a more aware use of these practices and their integration in inclusive, innovative and sustainable urban planning processes as a structural long-term element. This would allow also to establish that of urban curators as professionally acknowledged cultural work. The first chapter is an introduction to the thesis, illustrating its research questions, objectives, methodology and research delimitations. The second chapter describes two curatorial experiences the author had before starting her doctoral research, which paved the way to writing this thesis. The third chapter constitutes the thesis’s theoretical framework: after briefly summarizing the relationship between artistic practices and urban planning, it outlines urban curating by building a history of these practices and by reporting conceptual, terminological and philosophical debates around them. Lastly, it illustrates some pilot projects. The fourth chapter illustrates the major case study, that is Public Art Agency Sweden: it describes its history, main assignments, project typologies, organizational structure and working methods. The fifth chapter contains the description of thirteen minor case studies, located in Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy and the Netherlands, analyzed through semi-structured interviews to curators. The sixth chapter makes a comparative analysis of the case studies and illustrates the research outcomes, thus answering the three sets of research questions presented in the introduction: it outlines the role of curators in urban planning processes, their methodologies, organizational structures, and, lastly, the risks and opportunities of these practices. Furthermore, it suggests to create an open atlas of urban curating practices. Lastly, the seventh chapter draws the final conclusions, summarizing the main results obtained by the application of the research methodology to answer the research questions and reach the proposed objectives.