Manualetto
The name manualetto, derives from the simple composition of the two words manual+bed, (manuale+letto in italian language)which summarize the idea behind the project: the desire to domesticate (make domestic) space. The design operation is implemented through the execution of an illustrative manual that provides for a self-building space with the dimensions of 4x4m, that has the size of a bedroom, and through its repetition aims at the reconquest of public areas that are in a state of neglect.
Manualetto was created in response to a newspaper article regarding future plans for Ravenna's dockyard and was developed as a handbook (of self- assembly) for the occupation of public space with the goal of becoming a cultural event open to the entire city. Manualetto was financed through partners of excellence and crowdfunding campaign, designed by DENARA, artistically curated by the cultural association Studio Doiz, built with the help of an active community of volunteers mostly under35 and involved cultural associations and local artists for a week until it became a 'cocktail' of architecture, art, theater, music, dance and cultural meetings.
The intervention stems from a stance, a necessity, toward what it means to do architecture today. For us it had to meet two criteria: it had to be done as soon as possible, and it had to be done together. At the beginning we did not know when "as soon as possible" might be, nor who this "togetherness" might be, but the process in the making meant that in just 5 operational months (May-September 2022) more than 100 people were involved in collaborating together in consequential stages, from donors to partners, from builders to artists, all together simply to give the city of Ravenna a few autumn days made up of events that attracted, between curious goers and turners, more than 2,000 people. In the booklet we wrote in May 2022, we state, "We prefer to bet on broad participation and volunteerism since we think that when working together on something like this you can really feel part of doing together. Even just joining the initiative would contribute to the beginning of changing the urban space that belongs to us." Five months later we could say that for seven days, all together, we changed it.
Looking back, what is clear is that the realization was really the result of a virtuous circle: without people there would have been no architecture, without architecture there would have been no events, and without events there would have been no people: the involvement, interest and desire to do created all of this.
