Forum - L'Aquila del Futuro

GSSI L'Aquila Forum at the Auditorium del Parco, 14th December

This Forum was the final session of a three part discussion on the redevelopment trajectory of L'Aquila, and the first Forum I was personally involved in. There were a series of lectures in the morning by PhD students from the GSSI on a range of topics, from the post-earthquake change to a polycentric University structure to the lack of street lighting in key areas of the city. These were followed by an afternoon of relaxed debates in which the issues raised in the morning were discussed by planners, architects, the Mayor and other key figures in the city.

I was involved with the overall presentation of the day, such as creating templates for the presentations, posters, hand-outs, advertisements, and so on. I also presented my own poster which summarised the design project, and raised further questions for exploration. By detailing my research methodology, I gave the background to why I need to collect stories and memories from the local people of L'Aquila. This information coincided with a second poster which was left blank apart from a few key questions posed to the Aquilani. I invited them to write on this poster to add their thoughts, memories and stories.

The most significant answers for me, in particular to the question 'What do you miss most in your city?', were:

'The Library.'

'The places I would hang out with friends and meet new people, like Piazza dei Nove Marteri.'

'The sound of the students' trolley bags as they moved over the cobbles.'