Abitare lo spazio del corpo. Una riflessione empirica e uno sguardo antropologico sulle pratiche artistico-performative come dispositivo di risignificazione dello spazio pubblico

Abstract

Starting from the idea that the body is not sufficiently taken into account in spatial design practices and that indeed the theory of corporeality lacks exactitude in the field of spatial design, this research discusses the role of the body in Western design culture and develops the proposal of a collaboration between urban design and the performing arts. The centrality given to the body by the latter, together with the possibility of re-inhabiting urban spaces in a synaesthetic and kinaesthetic way, as well as the possibility of involving citizens within participatory projects, lead to a collaboration between the two disciplines in order to build a sensitive method, a performative urbanism operating in urban public spaces. The case study examined, in the residential district of Isolotto in Florence, verifies the usefulness of such a collaboration, which stands as an alternative to the usual disembodied practices of urban planning. The possibility of using the body as a device for reading and measuring space through bodily-artistic-performative actions can become an opportunity yet to be explored for urban design for spaces composition and re-signification.