Authorship on the Margins Regenerating Urban Voids through Design-Driven Narratives

Abstract

The reconfiguration of residual spaces along infrastructures, such as Milan ring roads, offers fertile ground to explore authorship as a collective and iterative process. Through methodologies including mapping, taxonomy-building, and the construction of narratives, this research investigates how the designer role transitions from individual creator to mediator who synthesizes technical, cultural, and spatial components. It addresses site-specific explorations beside broader systemic analyses, stressing the balance between micro-scale sensitivity and macro-scale strategic frameworks. It places infrastructural voids as opportunities for urban regeneration, challenging traditional and prescriptive approaches by adopting adaptive and scalable guidelines. Co-funded by a third-party commissioner, this applied research aims to define conditions for future interventions without fixed outcomes, raising critical questions about the nature of authorship when multiple stakeholders are involved. Eventually, by reclaiming neglected urban voids through collaborative narratives and design-driven explorations, the research expands disciplinary boundaries and reframes infrastructure as both a technical necessity and a cultural opportunity.

Keywords: metadesign, mobility residual spaces, applied research