Oltre le linee non accreditate

We are increasingly prone to walk through, visit or inhabit spaces that in our collective imagination are not perceived as being warm of friendly for our everyday lives. They are located beyond the boundaries of the reassuring city. They are spaces that we walk through out of necessity, reluctantly or at least edgily, sometimes fearfully, with some sense of anxiety. The process that leads from our fear, mistrust and rejection of these places, towards an acceptance of them in our everyday koinè, is a long and complex one. Because of the progressive extension of the contemporary city and in particular, the role played by infrastructural routes, these areas and construction works have now come to play a new central role in the territory. They constitute a territory open to all the uses that are not possible, tolerated or permitted in historic city centres. It come natural to believe that these places are theatre of conflict, mistrust, challenge, but it is surprising to observe how rich they are in differences, intersections, unexpected relationships, interactions, dialogue, solidarity. Several different qualities concur to make these places desirable. First: the extent of the voids with the abandoned buildings. Second: the less restrictive social conventions and constraints, that do indeed encourage anti-social phenomena, but also innovative initiatives. Third: the multiplicity of conditions that fuel diversity. These are the factors that can upgrade these places from refuse to resource.