DESIRE

The DESIRE project will support the implementation of some pilot sub-projects which will act as “lighthouse demonstrators” throughout the European Union and in associated countries. Demonstrators will have to embrace the key principles of the NEB initiative (sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics), using architecture, design and culture as fundamental resources for a sustainable society, and the mission-oriented approach (impacting, measurable, targeted ) in an innovative and exemplary way.

During the two years of the project they will have to face some important challenges including:

• Environmental and climate adaptation challenges, environmental and climate risks, prevention and resilience
• Economic and territorial changes linked to the green transition
• Social challenges (poverty, segregation, social exclusion, etc.)
• Challenges related to the use, conservation and conversion of existing infrastructures and heritage
• Demographic challenges (aging, migration, depopulation, changes in the real estate market due to tourism, etc.)

European partners

Foreningen Bloxhub (Coordinator) (DK), Design Society Fond (DK), Confederation Of Danish Industries (DK), Aalborg Universitet (DK), Dansk Arkitektur Center (Fond) (DK), Danmarks Tekniske Universitet Knowledge Hub Zealand (DK), Domea (DK), Danske Arkitektvirksomheder (DK), Cer Partnerstvo Zavod Za Trajnostno Gospodarstvo, Ljubljana (SI), Gxn As (DK), Riga City Council (LV), Politecnico Di Milano (IT), Nxt Aps (DK), Fonden Chart (DK), Kairos Consorzio Di Cooperative Sociali – Societa Cooperativa Sociale O.N.L.U.S (IT), Plusvalue Italy Srl Societa Benefit (IT), Stichting Samenwonen-Samenleven (NL), Stichting The Beach (NL), Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademis Skoler For Arkitektur (DK), Design Og Konservering, Blagovno Trgovinski Center Dd (SI).

The project in Torino

Thanks to the DESIRE project, the City of Turin in close collaboration with KAIROS aspires to regenerate the territory of Falchera, starting from Cascina Falchera and involving other key areas of the area such as its lakes. In the past years the Falchera district has been characterized as an area of high social disadvantage with various individuals living in conditions of marginalization and difficulty. The main challenge is to transform the Falchera area based on the concept of circularity in terms of social, economic and environmental sustainability.

The ambition of the project on our territory is to revitalize the Falchera area and enhance its historical links with water and other natural elements by reconnecting its inhabitants, and especially the new generations, to natural spaces and to their biodiversity. To facilitate this, we want to make Cascina Falchera a local hub following an open community perspective, thus becoming a point of reference for all citizens.

Practical steps

Specifically, the City of Turin in close collaboration with KAIROS and in agreement with the newly formed New European Bauhaus Turin Promoting Committee intends with this application to produce an action plan to act on Falchera, starting from Cascina Falchera, recently granted in concession by the City. of Turin to the Kairos consortium.

The action plan will be developed to act on three areas:

• Regeneration of the Falchera land to improve the landscape and the quality of life, with particular reference to those lands that are part of the rural agricultural management of the soil implemented in different areas of the district;
• High-tech renovation of Cascina Falchera through the recovery of the ancient splendor of the eighteenth-century farmhouse in a modern key that combines environmental sustainability (eg solar panels, geothermal heating systems) with the innovative use of technology to support the construction of the community and the redesign of the spaces in the neighborhood;
• Space for nature by designing new green and eco-friendly areas (e.g. bio lakes) to support local biodiversity and improve the community’s connection with water.

The numbers

• EU contribution to the City of Torino:  € 72.500,00
• Duration of the project: 24 months