Cara Casa: The travelling festival on contemporary living crosses Italian borders

After the events in Milan, Bologna, Genoa and Venice, the event continues abroad to broaden the debate on new forms of collaborative living and share the most successful co-housing experiments in Europe.
Practices and experiences of social, collaborative and supportive living, urban regeneration and the fight against gentrification. These are just some of the themes that permeated the first edition of Cara Casa, the itinerant festival dedicated to contemporary forms of living created thanks to the public notice “Festival Architettura – II edizione”, promoted by the Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture and organised by the Foundations of the Architects’ Associations of Milan, Genoa and Venice and the Order of Architects of Bologna, in collaboration with the University of Genoa, the Social Housing Foundation and the AmbienteAcqua APS Association.

The event, which has seen Milan, Bologna, Genoa and Venice come alive with meetings, talks, exhibitions and architectural walks from 15 to 30 April, continues its journey abroad with a series of new appointments all dedicated to new social and inclusive housing projects.

On 11 and 12 May, a study tour was held in Paris, coordinated by Fondazione Housing Sociale in collaboration with Paris Habitat, European Federation for Living and Urbamonde. A group of young Italian architects visited residential complexes where public spaces have been integrated into the housing project and model neighbourhoods with a low environmental impact such as the Caserne de Reuilly, a former military area converted for residential use and neighbourhood services.

From 7 June, Cara Casa will be in Barcelona, host of the city’s International Social Housing Festival, bringing the Matilde Baffa Ugo Rivolta European Architecture Prize, which has been awarded every two years since 2007 and is now in its ninth edition. In the halls of the Palau de Congressos de Barcelona, until 9 June, the best European social housing projects realised from the early 2000s to the present day will be on display, selected by a jury of experts including Søren Nielsen, Carles Muro, Fabio Lepratto and Chiara Rizzica.

On 19 June a site visit and talk organised by the Amsterdam Centre for Architecture (ARCAM), the European Federation for Living (EFL), the Foundation of the Order of Architects of Milan and Fondazione Housing Sociale will take place in Amsterdam. The Italian delegation from Milan and Genoa will meet with Dutch colleagues for an exchange on the topic of collaborative living and the most innovative building types and features. To explore this topic in more depth, a bike tour of excellent projects in the city is also planned, such as the new sustainable district of Houthaven, the floating houses of SchoonSchip and the residences of Copekcabana, a local cooperative association with affordable rents. In the ARCAM premises, an exhibition with explanatory panels will also present the Festival project and tell about some of the Baffa Rivolta prize-winning projects.

These events contribute to the lively and topical discussion in Europe, especially in Italy, on the quality of living in urban space, as confirmed by the strong turnout at the April Cara Casa events.
For more information visit www.ordinearchitetti.mi.it/it/cara-casa.

PHOTO CREDIT
Cover: Gabriele Ardemagni
Photo 1: Giorgia Rorato
Photo 2: Alberto Brunello
Photo 3: Stefano Sabatino
Photo 4: Anna Gugliandolo
Photo 5: Gabriele Ardemagni