Cascina Roma Creative Hub
GENERAL INFORMATION
Location: San Donato
Organization(s) Involved: Avanzi aps, Sandocalling aps, Comune di San Donato Milanese
Contact Person: Camilla Checchi
Email: camillachecchi99@gmail.com
Web: https://www.facebook.com/cascinaroma/
SUMMARY
Cascina Roma Creative Hub was a community hub of San Donato Milanese. A place of production and cultural experimentation, with spaces dedicated to work and training, designed to promote innovation and social cohesion.
Avanzi, together with the City of San Donato Milanese and the youth association Sando Calling, was awarded the call “Fermenti in Comune”, promoted by ANCI, to encourage the activation of young people and enhance Cascina Roma. The project was launched in early September 2021, with the opening of the space on 10 December and ended in August 2022.
Cascina Roma Creative Hub wanted to be a new center of cultural and creative fruition, a multifunctional center for and of the city. A place that places culture and participation at the center of change, promoting new forms of interaction between local communities and the public space.
OBJECTIVES
Project Objective: Creation of a Community Hub
The objective of the project is to create a cultural and creative hub that works on the enhancement of cultural heritage through the promotion of art and culture, as well as focusing on aspects of aggregation, training, and work. The project aims to activate the direct involvement of the youth population as protagonists in cultural promotion.
Additionally, the project promotes the role of Cascina Roma:
Within the cultural offering system of San Donato and the surrounding areas (South East Milan), as a breeding ground for projects and initiatives related to creativity and culture.
As a lively, vibrant, and attractive public life space.
As a place of expression, learning, and work.
Specific Objectives:
Development of Attractive Cultural Programming:
Structure a cultural program capable of meeting the city’s cultural needs and attracting diverse audiences.
Activation of the Local Community:
Engage the local community in the management of common goods, providing a significant opportunity to experiment with structured collaboration between public administration and local youth on cultural and training themes.
Care for the “Presidio” Dimension:
Maintain the space, programming, and networks effectively.
Promotion of New Skill Development:
Foster the growth of new skills, including community management and hard skills related to various forms of art, particularly photography and imagery.
Enhancement of Visibility:
Strengthen the visibility, including physical presence, of Cascina Roma by designing the outdoor space (the square between the Cascina and Via Martiri di Cefalonia) as an extension of the Cascina itself.
CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND
The project stems from the stimuli received during a valorization process promoted by the Municipal Administration of San Donato M., aimed at reinforcing the vision of Cascina Roma as a cultural space for and of the city. This process has fostered a sense of belonging towards Cascina Roma by engaging cultural operators and the local community, particularly focusing on the youth of the area.
The territory is fertile; however, it faces challenges due to its proximity to a major city like Milan, which attracts much attention with its rich cultural offerings. The idea is to root ourselves in this complex fabric to activate a cultural proposal that does not aim to compete with Milanese culture, but rather to complement it. Our deep understanding of the sensitivities and potential of the suburbs (having been born and raised in one) allows us to generate an offering that, if not richer in volume, is certainly of high quality, diverse, and stimulating.
In this context, Cascina Roma represents an important opportunity for us to express our creativity and activation, as well as a chance to respond to the cultural needs of the city.
IMPLEMENTATION: ACTIVITIES AND METHODOLOGIES
- Exhibitions and cultural events
- Urban art museum (Augmented street art tour (and more) in San Donato)
- Newsroom
- Photographic archive
- Artistic workshops (photography, archiving, ceramics, image work…)
- Artist residency (the works created were donated to the community)
- Training to become a community manager
- Creation of a coworking space
- Artistic and photographic exhibitions
- Fresh Festival (a three-day festival of performing arts featuring workshops, talks on various current themes, social dinners, concerts, exhibitions…)
PROJECT OUTCOMES & LESSONS LEARNED
The project did not move forward due to a lack of funding and support from the municipality, despite having the potential to become a cultural hub for the city.
IMPACT
The optimization of uses and spaces, the broadening of the target audience, the enhancement of existing activities, and the involvement of the local community—particularly the associations and schools in the area—are the focal points of the work promoted by the Municipal Administration. This initiative lasted six months and saw the active participation of individual citizens and associations, who became a small community of stakeholders: active citizens interested in making Cascina Roma an increasingly available and accessible common good.
VISUAL AND SUPPORTING MATERIALS