Open Design School installs multifunctional wooden plaza at UniversoAssisi 2019

At the third edition of the UniversoAssisi festival in Assisi, Italy, the Open Design School of Matera 2019 has created a temporary wooden installation called "Piazza dell'Architettura" in front of the Basilica of Santa Chiara. Designed for talks, workshops, and children's play areas, the structure is part of the Fountains of Paradise program curated by Martina Muzi, with educational activities coordinated by the Umbrian startup Ideattivamente. The project results from a collaboration between UniversoAssisi and Matera 2019, both addressing overtourism through inclusive formats and new narrative strategies for urban contexts. Rita Orlando, architect and coordinator of Open Design School, explained that the installation aims to suggest alternative uses of public space, being experimental, provocative, and disruptive. The triangular modules, derived from an octagon that echoes the square's fountain, respond to the historical presence of a garden and the current lack of furnishings. Made mostly of wood with reusable printed velvet, the installation emphasizes sustainability, a key theme of UniversoAssisi 2019. If not kept in Assisi, it could be reassembled in the Open Design School garden in Matera, a green space undergoing community-led regeneration. Open Design School, a key tool for Matera 2019's cultural program, is considering future roles in education, manufacturing, urban regeneration, and replication beyond Matera.