Empowering actions. The participatory renovation of a shelter

In Italy, shelters for homeless people are often the result of reuse practices. Former schools, abandoned factories, ex-offices, they are usually repurposed to host people in deep marginality. These spaces are never materially altered, even if they had completely different purposes and users. Since the welfare system tends to work in a state of emergency, it’s common the idea that people have to adapt to spaces - and not viceversa - as their stay is only temporary. In these cases, local administrations seem to prefer a conservative reuse in order to preserve the existing building in its original state. However, this strict method can’t meet the guests’ needs and contributes to increase their sense of marginalisation and suffering. We would like to present a case of participatory renovation of a Milan shelter, hosting more than 250 homeless people. Design interventions are directed by our multidisciplinary team (composed by designers and anthropologists) but also negotiated with the inhabitants of the shelter (both users and workers). The two years lasting design projects are materially fulfilled together during a series of workshops that involve occupants, students and volunteers. These participatory processes undermine the static concept of space and contribute to re-think at the shelter not as something imposed by others but as a space that can be transformed by the inhabitants themselves. Moreover, participatory design-process helps to better understand the social and cultural mechanisms that characterize the context and gives everybody the opportunity to have a voice and make decisions altogether.