Heritage and cultural accessibility: the role of design in the creation of an intercultural dialogue

The contribution intends to present a reflection in the field of design for the enhancement of cultural heritage in terms of cultural accessibility, and the implications related to the reception and integration of communities and social groups nowadays excluded. Within this context, design skills can be made available as tools to generate mediation processes between these cultural multiplicities, encouraging actions to enhance diversity and activating a dialogue between people and cultures. Design can devise strategies, services and integrated communication systems to facilitate meeting and exchange between the heritage and the multicultural community that lives in a territory. By mapping certain virtuous design actions (at different scales, such as graphic, product and strategic design), we aim to highlight new possible approaches in the design for the fruition of cultural heritage, according to which the design act presents itself as a “translation” of values and identities for new and existing communities that cohabit in a territory.