PARIPASSO - Per crescere insieme

The PARIPASSO project, led by the Cooperativa Sociale Stripes Onlus, is being developed across five territories — Castel Volturno, Rome, Desio, Valle Trompia and Bari — by establishing territorial hubs for children. These spaces are designed to welcome children and families, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds who are often excluded from traditional services.

The hubs' interior and urban design explores how multi-functionality, flexibility and accessibility can generate 'threshold' spaces that foster the engagement of local communities.

In this context, the Department of Design's research team is contributing to the development of the hub model as a tool to support parenting. This involves promoting a multidisciplinary educational approach and enhancing the experiences of territorial partners in order to build a shared and lasting legacy.

The Department has organised two participatory design workshops at hubs in Bari (November 2024) and Desio (May 2025). These workshops involved design students, pedagogists from the PARIPASSO network, and local families. The aim was to strengthen the sense of belonging and co-responsibility within the community.

Light spaces to welcome families. The workshop in Bari

From 6 to 9 November 2024, the Hub in Bari hosted Department professors Barbara Camocini and Elena Giunta, together with School of Design students Catharina Dias, Martina Manfè, Elisa Poma, Francesca Porcile and Sara Vasco. The workshop, entitled 'Light spaces to welcome families', involved co-design work with parents and the project's pedagogical referees, Michela Brugali of Stripes and Valentina Colonna of the Mama Happy Social Promotion Association, which manages the Hub that was the subject of the intervention.

The workshop aimed to devise design solutions to enhance the outdoor spaces adjacent to the school, namely the courtyard and the public area in front of it, by installing light fittings designed to encourage and facilitate activities for parents and children.

As well as providing practical support for the Hub's activities, the projects are intended to reinforce the project's narrative in the area and propose a thematic system of elements that can host events for citizens, thereby encouraging a more active and participatory use of the outdoor spaces.

Prototypes:

Cavalletto e cornice by Elisa Poma is a set of elements that come together to form a defined, protected space for hosting a variety of educational activities for families, while promoting the services offered by PARIPASSO hubs through communication tools located throughout the city. The project investigates the possibilities offered by combining two single set-up elements, 'Easel and Frame', which are available in two different sizes and can be arranged in various ways.

La Piccola e Grande Bari by Catharina Dias, Martina Manfè, Francesca Porcile and Sara Vasco aims to provide a space for children aged 0–3 and their carers to explore and discover together, strengthening their bond through educational and playful experiences. Designed for Bari, it enhances the urban and cultural context by proposing a route to discover local architectural icons. An interactive layout and visual communication stimulate children's curiosity and growth through play and interaction with the city environment.

Welcoming educational spaces as a pedagogical approach to support families. The Desio workshop

Students Alice Abela, Martina Crivellaro, Anna Meregalli, Giulia Mastrantonio and Giulia Tassoni, guided by professors Barbara Camocini and Elena Giunta, conducted a documentation and design activity in April 2025, which led to the realisation of prototypes in the field at the Hub in Desio at the end of May 2025. These proposals, for communication campaigns and punctual set-ups, were designed to promote the Hub's activities in the urban context, also involving the Villa Tittoni park, adjacent to the structure.

Integrating space design, product and graphic design skills, the workshop made it possible to develop, with the contribution of the Stripes pedagogical staff, prototypes of educational micro-installations subsequently presented to the families attending the Hub, as well as to the citizens of Desio.
The projects offer insights into the relationship between adult and child, both in the indoor and outdoor spaces of all the hubs involved in the PARIPASSO project.

Prototypes:

Forma Fiabe by Alice Abela is an interactive theatre in which children can unleash their imagination and immerse themselves in a world made of shapes that come to life creating ever-changing adventures. By applying the shapes to the structure, children create different scenarios, characters and environments each time, into which they can immerse themselves, becoming the real protagonists of the story. Telling stories becomes a shared educational experience that encourages exchange, listening, empathy and the construction of a common imagination.

Grow Slow - Seeds of Patience by Martina Crivellaro was created with the aim of devising an educational activity aimed at children from 0 to 3 years old. Inspired by the park of Villa Tittoni in Desio, the project enhances the open-air space and its natural elements, creating a system composed of four modules designed to set up areas dedicated to gardening. Through a concrete and immersive experience, Grow Slow offers children the possibility of coming into contact with the slow but constant rhythm of nature, promoting sensorial learning based on patience, observation and care.

Piccoli Mondi by Anna Meregalli was born within the framework of threshold projects designed to create meaningful connections between indoors and outdoors. It is a temporary micro-installation system, consisting of mobile but durable furniture elements that extend the functions and activities of the indoor service to the outdoors. A canvas, made of plastic material resistant to outdoor use, serves as a narrative base: through abstract shapes and simple colors it recalls imaginary landscapes, stimulating free play and individual interpretation.

Enigma in Color by Giulia Mastrantonio is designed to attract and engage families in Desio, making Villa Tittoni an interesting and accessible destination for young and old alike. At the heart of the initiative is the focus on the relationship between parent and child: the path to the Villa becomes a moment of sharing and dialogue, in which imagination is stimulated thanks to a series of colored silhouettes installed along the way, designed to intrigue and stimulate stories.

Facciamo che... by Giulia Tassoni aims to tell the pedagogical approach of the Hub PARIPASSO in Desio by evoking an idea of childhood based on imagination, relationship and freedom of interpretation. Through light, modular and accessible installation elements, it invites to play in the present, co-imagine and be in public space as an open educational place. The pedagogical goal is to stimulate autonomy and creative thinking: each panel is a suggestion, not a rule; it can become anything. Play is exploratory and sensory: children can touch, look, move around and through the panels, activating different languages and creating narratives that become opportunities for dialogue with adults.

(Barbara Camocini, project coordinator for the Department of Design)

Photo credits: Elisa Ercolani and Anna Morali for Mission Bambini