Suspended Living in Temporary Space

Book excerpt: On 9th October 2017, the international conference Suspended Living in Temporary Space was held at the headquarters of the Architecture School of the Polytechnic of Turin. Some scholars, architects but not only, have found themselves reflecting on the role of the architect and architecture within the almost apocalyptic scenario of the great migratory waves following disasters and emergencies, with specific attention to the context of the Mediterranean area. In this scenario, there are those who flee alone and with the whole family, people who leave a promising profession and others who leave almost nothing; unaccompanied minors and adults. For everyone, we must, first and foremost, guarantee the fundamental right of a refuge. It is easy to see how many studies, idea competitions, experimental projects carried out by architects to tackle this problem, but if we refer to common practice, then we must recognize that the role of architecture as a discipline has been decidedly secondary. The contributions collected here testify to this double track, where the most innovative experiments haven’t often interfered with the reality of the facts. The origin of the participants at this conference, Turkey, Spain, Tunisia and Italy, also underlined how the problem of housing emergency is particularly felt and debated in these countries also within the universities.