IAAD IAAD

BEYOND BOUNDARIES: TACKLING MENTAL HEALTH PREJUDICE THROUGH URBAN CULTURAL HERITAGE

Team Leaders: Giulia Sala, Irene Tozzi and Asia Mounsabi (Mad In Design)

NEWS!

Dates
19-24 February 2024

Location
IAAD. Turin

Urban space, including public space, often conceals invisible barriers that hinder the dynamics of inclusion and social cohesion necessary to strengthen the well- being of communities. Addressing the stigma and prejudice surrounding mental health represents one of the most urgent and challenging social challenges to promote the well-being of new generations.
Over the past decade, the intertwined relationship between culture and health has led to new approaches and research exploring cultural heritage’s impact on well- being. Recent studies indicate that Cultural Heritage positively affects mental health, actively combating feelings of isolation, anxiety, and depression.
This workshop aims to investigate the intersection of cultural heritage, public spaces, collaborative practices, and youth mental health challenges. It engages young individuals in heritage-led activities as a means for creative expression, social interaction, and exploration of personal and collective histories.
Cities’ public spaces often embody tangible and intangible cultural and natural heritage. They are spaces intentionally created by our society to reflect on meaningful events, heroes, and community symbols.
Different communities shape these spaces, creating new meanings based on their needs and identities, thus influencing the well-being of individuals.
The workshop aims to investigate the connection between cultural heritage and the well-being of young adults in cities to guide proposals for redesigning inclusive and sensitive public spaces.
It will delve into the fundamental characteristics of a public space and investigate the multifaceted processes involved in the creation, promotion, and utilization of cultural heritage, encompassing both tangible and intangible aspects. Additionally, it will examine the intricate dynamics shaping a city’s identity through cultural elements and their integration into urban life for the promotion of well-being.

Giulia Sala

Urban Planner and Designer graduated from the Politecnico di Milano and registered as an Architect and Land Planner. She holds a master’s degree in International Cooperation and Urban Development from TU Darmstadt (Germany) and the University of Grenoble (France). An expert in coordinating urban development projects – at different scales – in international contexts, she works on addressing the challenges of sustainability and inclusiveness through innovative approaches related to Service Design and Placemaking. Her experience working in international architectural firms, research institutes, and in the non-profit sector has enabled her to observe city dynamics from different perspectives by putting their main inhabitants and users at the centre.
She currently collaborates with MinD Mad in Design and Arup on the topic of inclusive cities in close collaboration with local authorities and the academic sector.

Irene Tozzi

Irene Tozzi is an interior designer who graduated from IAAD in Turin in 2022 with a thesis on urban regeneration through a tactical urbanism intervention of a disused and abandoned area in Turin. Through the different experiences that she has been able to undertake in recent years, in architectural and interior design studios, sector companies, theatres and cultural festivals, she seeks to investigate and look at spaces starting from the reworking of methodologies and the meeting of multiple disciplines by focusing on the well-being of people in relation to cultural heritage. After an initial workshop as a student, she now collaborates with MinD Mad in Design in researching and building activities on inclusive space design.

Asia Mounsabi

Asia Mounsabi is a psychologist and psychotherapist in training at the school of Coirag specialization. She currently works in the educational sector, in specialized school counselling, to facilitate children with autism and disabilities in developing social skills and basic autonomy. With a strong interest in groups and the dynamics that animate them, she studies and works to develop systemic thinking, which can look at the individual and their difficulties without losing sight of the social and family context, the source of rootedness and belonging.

MinD – Mad In Design

MinD Mad in Design is an association founded in Turin that has been working in response to situations of distress and marginalization in the field of mental fragility since 2014.
It is among 53 European entities selected to participate in Voices of Culture, a dialogue platform that brings together representatives of the cultural sector from EU member states with the European Commission.
It carries out creative, multidisciplinary, and inclusive projects that generate social inclusion practices with the aim of reducing stigma on mental health, acting on two aspects of design: on the one hand, the project as a tool for transformation in a context-improving key, and on the other hand, the creative process as a system of relationships that result in social inclusion and rehabilitation practices. https://
www.madindesign.com/