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A-Z GENOVA2 6 U R B A N I N T E R A C T I O N S
I N 2 D A Y S
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A-Z GENOVA
D A L L A A A L L A Z E T A
{[dl-la] [a] [l-la] [z-ta]}
Using the alphabet as a frame is grounded in the
Italian phrase dalla a alla zeta that means to
change everything from head to toe. Each letter rep-
resents a theme of your city, and within each one an
ephemeral interaction is created. In a short period
of time the alphabet is covered to provoke new per-
spectives on the chosen themes, and therein an urban
metamorphosis from A to Z.
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GEN OVA.
A CIT Y IN DECLINE?
Genoa wasnt designed to be understood. The slow
evolution of its narrow passageways created one
of the darkest and most confusing city centres
in Italy, and its expansion onto the surrounding
hillsides that enveloped nearby villages into
its suburbs has established a sprawling metropo-
lis that defi es both geography and logic. Riv-
ers have been cemented over, hillsides drilled
through, hilltops built on, and seafronts fl anked
by busy highways.
The dysfunctional physicality of the city un-
derpins its intrigue. Winding outdoor staircases
form improbable residential streets, and eleva-
tors buried in steep cliffs lead to unexpected
vistas of the city. Navigating out of the old
towns dense maze of shadowy alleyways into the
sunsplashed light of a vast piazza only to fi nd
a busy elevated motorway dividing you from the
citys harbour may seem like a bizarre intro-
duction to one of Genoas main attractions, but
this is the sort of contrast locals have learned
to tolerate.
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GEN OVA.
A CIT Y IN DECLINE?
But residents endurance of the citys physical
form is day-by-day mutating into a full-scale grap-
ple. As one of the oldest and most rapidly ageing
urban centres of Europe the built environment is
increasingly perceived as a challenge. And floods
are increasing in intensity and frequency as the
natural environment ruptures from its built suf-
focation in violent bursts. Each episode causes
millions of euros worth of damage to burden an
already squeezed local authority that has faced
budget reductions in-line with Italys economic
crisis.
This state of crisis is slowly emerging as a per-
manent reality. Street maintenance slackens, gar-
dens are left to rot, emigration grows, social
gaps widen, and politics divides rather than unite.
These issues expose current system inefficiencies
and also magnify past profligacy the longest time
to complete the worlds shortest and least useful
public metro, being one anecdote all residents have
in their conversation armoury. This cocktail of dy-
namics has the potential to culminate in a defeat-
ist attitude whereby residents accept that things
inevitably work against them.
If peoples interpretation shapes their reality,
then tweaking perception can mediate change. The
history of Genoa is replete with examples of how
this works in practice. When the city-republic was
a maritime power in the twelfth century, the Eng-
lish fleet sought to secure safe passage in the Med-
iterranean by adopting Genoas flag the St Georges
cross in exchange for a periodic payment from the
monarchy to the Doge, the citys ruler. A seemingly
superficial image swap, altered the perception of
the English, and thereby actually changed the way
that others interacted with their fleet.
This type of thinking can be applied to the Genoa
of today. The citys palazzi embody an admired past
that contrasts sharply with the dysfunction of the
present day social and built environment, and this
relationship between nostalgia and the perception
of an inevitably deteriorating future have become
the central axis of its identity. By modifying the
interfaces through which city problematics are ex-
perienced, a new intangible value can be estab-
lished, and this could provoke change.
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O B S E R V E
Use the urban environment to seek
new perspectives that generate in-
sight. Walking through the city,
even without a predetermined des-
tination, can provide access to lo-
cations that may not otherwise be
considered places. Speak to people
and understand how they interpret
the city, and what their perceived
issues, concerns and values within
it are. Above all be open to having
assumptions challenged by what is
observed.
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L O C A T E
Locating is finding the points at
which perception and geography meet.
This is always mediated by our own
negotiation with the city. But an un-
derstanding of how interactions be-
tween people and environments play
out through observation can become
the springboard for identifying sto-
ries that capture the context of
specific places. These stories need
to be located through the city in
ways that create new interactions.
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P E R M E A T E
Permeating is the spread of inter-
actions through an urban environ-
ment, and also the rearrangement of
things that already exist. This can
be the creation of new interfac-
es for issues that have been ob-
served and placed, which could alter
how people interact with them. The
change in the subjective perception
of something can create a new value
for that particular urban theme and
thereby permeate its interpretation.
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A C C E S S
B I S A G N O
C L O S U R E
D E L I N Q U E N C Y
E M M I G R A T I O N
F R A G M E N T A T I O N
G A R D E N S
H A B I T A T
I N N O V A T I O N
J U N K
K R A P
L A N G U A G E S
M E N T A L I T Y
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N E P O T I S M
O P P O R T U N I T Y
P A R K I N G
Q U A L I T Y
R A G E
S O P R A L E V A T A
T R A F F I C
U R I N E
V E R T I C A L I T Y
W A T E R F R O N T
X X X
Y A C H T
Z E N A
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Access issues manifest themselves in many ways
through Genoa. City demographics make it one of
Europes oldest, and its sprawl complicates core-
periphery connectivity. Inadequate clear sig-
nage, disregarded street furniture, poor quality
crossings, and potholed pavements are regular
obstacles to walking. Giving fading zebra cross-
ings a colourful outline highlighted some access
challenges and improved the walking context.
Many shops, underpasses, elevated walkways, fac-
tories, and houses have been abandoned or closed
in the last few years across Genoa for a variety
of reasons. Recently built public amenities have
been left to decay, and in the historical centre
artisans facing diminishing trade are closing
their businesses for good, making for a surreal
atmosphere of forgotten places hiding in plain
sight. Giving these abandoned places speech bub-
bles could encourage a new approach to closure.
Many shops, underpasses, elevated walkways, fac-
tories, and houses have been abandoned or closed
in the last few years across Genoa for a variety
of reasons. Recently built public amenities have
been left to decay, and in the historical centre
artisans facing diminishing trade are closing
their businesses for good, making for a surreal
atmosphere of forgotten places hiding in plain
sight. Giving these abandoned places speech bub-
bles could encourage a new approach to closure.
Access issues manifest themselves in many ways
through Genoa. City demographics make it one of
Europes oldest, and its sprawl complicates core-
periphery connectivity. Inadequate clear sig-
nage, disregarded street furniture, poor quality
crossings, and potholed pavements are regular
obstacles to walking. Giving fading zebra cross-
ings a colourful outline highlighted some access
challenges and improved the walking context.
C L O S U R E D E L I N Q U E N C Y
B I S A G N OA C C E S S
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Over the last decade Genoas population has
shrunk and got older, indicating that a brain
drain is in full swing. People are emigrating
after graduation to pursue their careers else-
where. An altered image of a note from the old
currency 1000 lire was placed outside the Mu-
seum of Migration.
Genoas green spaces are difficult to enjoy be-
cause they are often poorly maintained, hard
to access and unfriendly places with seemingly
never-ending building work. Restoring a level of
citizen ownership over these spaces by estab-
lishing small herb gardens in these parks could
lead to them being better cared for. Installing
a series of mini gardens across the city in var-
ious parks and squares could encourage people
to rethink their interactions with these spaces.
As the majority of people in Genoa live in large
apartment blocks that face directly onto traf-
ficked roads, many facades have become stained
by pollution over the years. This creates an un-
pleasant and unhealthy local habitats. But these
dirty walls are not an inevitability, clean fa-
cades can be achieved with low-cost civic ini-
tiatives, which can lead to improved local en-
vironments.
Despite the multiple nationalities and back-
grounds of Genoas residents, there is a notice-
able fragmentation between different people.
Many migrants are excluded from the formal job
market, which makes social interaction beyond
transactionary experiences in the informal sec-
tor difficult. Placing a barcode that does not
work on a street sellers impromptu stall is a
new way to tell this story.
E M M I G R A T I O N
G A R D E N S H A B I T A T
F R A G M E N T A T I O N
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In the past, Genoese companies
revolutionised transport, bank-
ing and textiles, and although
these companies may have been
and gone, innovation can be re-
claimed by city residents. Peo-
ple have the capacity to create
original ideas that add value.
Establishing book exchanges on
disused and underused street
furniture to show how eas-
ily ignorable aspects of the
streetscape can be repurposed
for something positive.
Cigarette butts, litter,
and discarded materials
are easily found lying in
the streets. Reassembling
junk found in streets can
bring these disparate and
forgotten elements back to
life.
J U N K
I N N O V A T I O N
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Its difficult to turn a corner in Genoa without
encountering dog krap on the pavement. Dog own-
ers fail to pick up their pets poop, and the
city fails to provide dog toilets or poo-collec-
tion bags. Integrating pop-art images into the
poo can change the experience of the sight, and
highlight the issue in a new way.
K R A P
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One of Genoas biggest resources is the num-
ber of languages spoken in the city. Aside from
Italian and Genoese dialect, Arab, Spanish, Man-
darin, Bengali, Wolof, and French are heard reg-
ularly in the streets. Modifying the image of a
popular money transfer brand to create an ad hoc
language exchange in the city centre can encour-
age the exploration new cultures.
Nepotism is a well-established practice in Ge-
noese society, and is especially pronounced in
academic life recently the University of Genoa
unceremoniously topped a table as the most nepo-
tistic higher education institute in northern
Italy. This was highlighted through the creation
of a low-cost airline style gate for university
departments, with degrees provided on a table
for priority students, and all others pointed in
the direction of the library.
Genoa has struggled to cope with its shift to
a post-industrial economy. The stream of op-
portunity in the city has dissipated recently
following centuries of steady career paths. A
poster communicating the evolution of typical
jobs through the ages in the city showed the
typical 2000s man on his knees holding an Im
hungry sign.
Streets and pedestrian passages can be bland
and uninspiring. Experiencing the same unchanged
contexts over and over can under stimulate our
minds. To break the ritual monotony of these
places, creating new dimensions out of tape at-
tempts to establish new spaces that stretched
beyond the physical realm.
N E P O T I S M O P P O R T U N I T Y
M E N T A L I T YL A N G U A G E S
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Its impossible to move around Genoa outside
of the pedestrianised historical centre without
seeing long stretches of parked cars. Public
squares have become car and motorbike parks,
and the number of parked vehicles create an un-
friendly walking environment that encourages a
driving culture. Mini-areas for human relaxation
in car parks shed light on the absurd dominance
of vehicles in the citys public space.
City environments can be stressful, and Genoa
is no different. Many streets carry the echoes
of arguments and disagreements at all times of
day. With mindfulness proven to reduce stress,
why not establish spaces for meditation at bus
stops to encourage reflection while waiting?
The elevated motorway that separates the port
with the historical centre known as the So-
praelevata is one of Genoas most talked about
problems. As discussions on resolving the flyover
have still come to nothing, it needed a cry for
help.
Genoas urban fabric can be difficult to navi-
gate as many roads are scarred by potholes and
pavements have upturned and out of place paving
stones. This level of quality can exacerbate the
difficult mobility situation faced by the age-
ing population. Giving pavements a voice with
ad hoc emojis made from litter, pine needles,
and leaves found around the site underlines poor
quality streetscapes.
P A R K I N G
R A G E S O P R A L E V A T A
Q U A L I T Y
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For a relatively compact
city, car dependence in Genoa
is surprising. The volume of
cars can be quite oppressive
for pedestrians and cyclists
alike. The few measures taken
to reduce cars have failed,
the citys cycling scheme
flopped due to a lack of am-
bition, and the local metro
is ridiculed by locals as the
smallest and most useless in
the world. Traffic hacks, like
this one with a deckchair, can
momentarily create a new road
experience.
T R A F F I C
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Public urination is not uncommon on Genoas
streets. Placing gold frames around traces of
urine can change how this phenomenon is medi-
ated.
U R I N E
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Genoa has a large illicit red light
district in the heart of the city.
Many of the women involved in prosti-
tution have been trafficked illegally
in the country and are exploited by
organised crime syndicates. Placing
a black and white image of a naked
woman in the centre of this area,
and covering her mouth in red tape
could provoke reflection on this sit-
uation.
X X X
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Z E N A
A bike sharing scheme called MoBike was intro-
duced in 2009 with power assisted cycling to
help climb hills, but the initial six stations
in flat parts of the city have not been expanded
on, and the scheme has gone unused, exposing it
as a tokenistic gesture rather than a meaning-
ful project. Sticking stars on them provides the
commune with a visible citizen feedback mecha-
nism.
Genoa is a maritime city with boats of all kinds
constantly docking in the citys harbour, its
ports, and marinas. Many of these are tourist
yachts and ferry loaded with day visitors who
disembark from their vessels to visit the city.
The reciprocity of this process is limited, why
not enable people in Genoa to visit the empty
boats while their passengers are in the city?
Although Genoa enjoys many beaches, some stretch-
es of the waterfront are more bizarre and over-
looked. Many of these places are littered, and
flanked by carparks or old industrial buildings.
A WTF (What The Fuck) sign that moved around
an area of the waterfront in La Foce may have
provoked passersby into not taking these places
for granted.
Y A C H T
W A T E R F R O N TV E R T I C A L I T Y
Zena is the name for Genoa is local dialect. The
frame of the citys new brand, GE NO VA: More
than this became a template for new GE NON VA
posters. Non va means not working and Ge is
the official abbreviation for the metropolitan
are. Placing these Genoa isnt working posters
in glitches found across the city highlight how
the Genoa can really be More than this.
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W W W . A Z G E N O V A . C O M
@ L O O K A T Y O U R C I T Y