
Author:
Ezio Manzini
Designing coalitions Design for social forms in a fluid world
Abstract:
The fluidity of the world produced by the diffusion of connectivity drives us to adopt a similarly fluid interpretation. Doing so, the
products of human activity are to be seen as fluid forms: social forms in a turbulent world, the existence of which continuously
requires us to exercise a considerable diffused designing capacity. The article applies this interpretation to a concrete case: a line
of social innovation known as collaborative living and a programme of initiatives on this theme promoted and implemented in
Milan over the last 10 years. What this case shows us, and is assumed to be generalisable, is the creation of new social forms, new
communities of residents, and the existence within them of proactive groups that operate as design teams, which the article refers
to as designing coalitions. The article discusses the nature and dynamics of these communities and the designing coalitions that
act in and with them, and concludes by stressing the importance of a strategic, design approach capable of bringing them into
being, orienting them and keeping them alive, ultimately making them independent of external support.
Keywords: social forms, community, designing coalitions, design for social innovation, collaborative living.
Strategic Design Research Journal, 10(2): 187-193 May-August 2017
Unisinos – doi: 10.4013/sdrj.2017.102.12