In the light of Lumen
How to get a 30 years loan of use for a common space in Florence
There are architects who design walls and roofs to let people in, and there are architects who design processes to bring people together. To regenerate an urban fragment, the latter are just as important as the former. Lumen is a physical place in constant evolution: the result of a ten-year experimentation through temporary events. Today, many professionals work across disciplines to regenerate urban spaces, and they define themselves as urban practitioners.
In this context, practice can be interpreted as Aristotelian praxis, as opposed to poiein. Both terms mean “to act”, but while poiein refers to producing something—such as building a house—praxis refers to doing something that is good in itself, without resulting in a permanent physical construction, such as building social relations among people who inhabit the same place.
This paper was presented at Arup London for the conference Reporpusing Places. Images courtesy of Icchè Ci Vah Ci Vole.
Caneschi, F., Setti, C., and Ammendola, J. “In the Light of Lumen: How to Obtain a 30-Year Loan for the Use of a Common Space in Florence.” In Anastasia Karandinou (ed.), Proceedings of the International Conference Repurposing Places for Social and Environmental Resilience. Counterarchitecture, in collaboration with UEL and Arup, 2023, pp. 39–42. ISBN (ebook): 978-1-7392681-0-7.