LUOGO COMUNE invites people to interact and offers space for sharing in public space.
The pandemic forces us to rethink our cities and the way we perceive their spaces and functions. We believe that the feeling of loneliness and isolation spreads and the only social interaction takes place in a digital space. But now it's more important than ever to process what happens and listen to each other’s experiences and struggles.
We created LUOGO COMUNE with the aim of proposing new ways to allow a community to interact in public spaces, share emotions during the pandemic, reducing the feeling of isolation and loneliness – symptoms of the pandemic we are experiencing.
The project proposes 4 types of interactive objects to be connected to any public bench. Those add-on elements are at the complete disposal for the inhabitants of a neighborhood.
The first station we designed is our TURNING TABLE, a versatile communication tool for interacting in safety. It transforms according to the Corona regulations and is fostering a playful time together. Either it is a wall that invites people to draw or play together or during softer regulations, it transforms to a table that respects the distance.
The MOODY BENCH is our neighborhood jukebox: Various stickers are attached to plenty of benches within one area. Each has a QR code to scan and corresponds to a collaborative playlist on Spotify where you can listen and add songs. By taking a seat that suits your current mood, you can rest and feel the community feeling while listening to the neighborhoods playlists.
The HAPPY BOX shares happiness, therefore it is strengthening the community feeling and improving one’s own mental health. Because doing good, does you good. It invites passengers to write an anonymous happy-task or -message to someone of the neighborhood. For every card you feed the box with, you get one in exchange.
Last but not least, our TALKING BENCH invites people for a chat with a friend or a stranger. By asking questions about our thoughts, anxieties and hopes, people can reflect together in uncertain times and share plans for the future. It is attached to the bench’s lean and forms like a book behind the people that sit here, which is metaphoric of exchanging stories.
We believe that the LUOGO COMUNE project can bring benefits not only on a local level in Bolzano, as it is about symptoms that are currently felt by people all over the world.
