D+Design: a strategic design program contrast to urban poverty

Millions of differently resident citizens live in poverty in Euromediterranean urban areas and cope daily with living conditions that are even more devastating - if possible - than they were in the past. The new poverty experienced by migrants, refugees , asylum seekers and needy people - crammed in metropolitan suburbs - reveals the outrageous and growing design deficit in our efforts to contrast old- standing as well as present-day urban poverty.

The project, as its title “D+Design to contrast urban poverty” announces, takes a pragmatic approach and outlines what we must do to effectively contrast the destruction of millions of people because of indigence, an archaic term evoking marginalization, ghettoization, persecution, racism; we need to imagine, conceive, experiment, design and make much more.

A collaboration agreement between France and Italy , a network of designers, artists, scientists, communication and technology experts and labs willing to share innovative projects, an International Contest of Ideas: this is the programme that D+D is launching for the next 2 years, aiming to reduce the design deficit and more effectively contrast poverty in our cities.

The press conference of D+D Project and the launching of the International Contest of Ideas linked to it will be held on Wednesday 13 April 2016 within the framework of Brera Design District at Mediateca Santa Teresa.