VIVERE E LAVORARE DENTRO LA FABBRICA DISMESSA

Living and working in a disused factory In collective imagination, living and working inside a factory immediately brings into mind the lofts of New York in the 70s and 80s. Nowadays in large Italian towns and cities, this type of building is ex- periencing an explosion of demand because it is able to interpret some of current society’s needs: our life style is undergoing profound changes and in a working and personal environment the flexibil- ity of role, time and space is thrust to the forefront. Structures arise from the larger flexibility of reusing spaces – in many cases former industrial buildings – where a vast series of services and experience are offered to artists and professionals, but without living quarters. Instead the loft represents a “multi- role and multifunctional” dwelling, that can rapidly be transformed according to need without invest- ing too much time and money, also becoming a work area under the same roof thus economically convenient. If on one hand it is necessary to pro- pose new types of homes in relation to new socio- economical realities, on the other, one comes up against regulations and development processes that often require different scheduling and modali- ties compared to the increasing demand on behalf of private entrepreneurs. In spite of society’s real and legitimate needs, it is evident how several development operations car- ried out in Italy are often promoted with an eye to fully exploiting the building capacity of the area, us- ing the loft image merely for marketing purposes privileging the aesthetic aspect in respect to the original meaning of home and place of work and to the interpretation and comprehension of material and immaterial characteristics of the former indus- trial spaces and their potentiality.