Public art project, light installation.

Luminaria, balcony lights

225x100x20 cm

Via Artom Public Housing, Mirafiori (TO).

 

The via Artom “Tower Houses” in south Mirafiori, are a public housing project built in the late 60s in order to provide accommodation for the new citizens who had reached Turin to work for FIAT. Throughout the years, this area became a symbol of immigration and marginalization, as well as degradation and criminality. In the latest decades, after the dismissal of the factory, and thanks to the City Hall urban regeneration policies, the district has changed its own identity. Nevertheless, in the collective imagination, the name Mirafiori still recalls the automotive industry and its past.

The work proposes a “conversion” of such imagination, changing the name of the district into MIRAFLORA, with regards to the Miraflores Castle it was named after. We want to put forth a new interpretation of the Via Artom urban environment and offer a new narration of an extensively green area, where a healthier lifestyle is possible due to the high presence of oxygen in the air. Such quality has emerged distinctively during the “lockdown” period of 2020.

The Urrà project involved accommodation for artists with the families of these houses. Due to the Covid19 pandemic, this wasn’t possible, so I conceived a piece that could be hosted in my stead and operated by the inhabitants. Christmas was approaching and, inspired by Turin’s traditional Luci d’Artista, I thought of some Christmas lighting for the farthest district from the city center. Balcony lights illuminate the communal space starting from a private one involving, year after ear, the families who accept to host and show the work. 

The lightwork was developed together with the young students of the Scuole Tecniche San Carlo and Istituto Forte Chance schools in Turin.

For the first year 2021-2022, I thank the availability of the Tedesco family, Mr. Nicola, and the organization of the event by the Mirafiori Community Foundation Onlus.

 

> Created for Urrà Torino (Urban RegenerAction in Torino), the project was made with the contribution of Compagnia di San Paolo -lead by Kallipolis together with ATC Piemonte Centrale-, Politecnico di Torino, CivicWise Italia Network, and Associazione Culturale La Stanza.