Raumlaborberlin is a collective of eight architects who work at the intersection of architecture, city planning, art, and urban intervention. Attracted to difficult urban locations and places torn between different planning ideologies, they propose new forms of activation and transformation, dealing with urban form and participatory design processes. Cantiere Barca is the result of a building workshop with the underprivileged population of a suburb of Turin, Italy. It is a space of communication, common activity, and discussion for local young people, reappropriating and renewing previously disregarded urban space. Where institutional support failed, an orchestrated bottom-up design process and recycling tactics allowed for new hope. Realizing a collective idea, the participants—led by the architects—experienced that it is possible to make changes to their environment.
Gallery label from 9 + 1 Ways of Being Political: 50 Years of Political Stances in Architecture and Urban Design, September 12, 2012–March 25, 2013.