Open Bricolage was the second public act of the KIUI project, and consisted in an instantaneous transformation (it was accomplished in just one day!) of a residual space of Via Fortebraccio’s Pigneto, in a temporary public place. The project was carried out by Orizzontale in collaboration with Studio Superfluo and Lab Falegnameria, three groups that employ techniques based on recycling waste materials produced by the city in order to implement micro-urban transformation initiatives. The transformation consists in creating a blank wall facing the space like a home environment, with the idea of suggesting the intimacy of a house to the common space. The creation of different seating spaces was instrumental to underline the importance of social relations for the vitality of neighborhoods. Through these instantaneous and low cost transformations, the residual space of Via Fortebraccio was reactivated, allowing for unedited uses, encouraging casual meetings, and celebrating the value of shared leisure time.
The project was part of a larger initiative called KIUI Kit di Interazione Urbana Istantanea [Instantaneous Urban Interaction Kit]: a research and action project by the Orizzontale group about the very shortterm reactivation of residual public spaces carried out employing waste materials, financed by the European Commission through the Youth in Action program and implemented over a period of about six months, from autumn 2011 to spring 2012. The KIUI project included several urban sub-projects, defined “public acts”: Eco|Agro|Cult Urbano (the self-construction of an urban vegetable patch and a shared garden, both self-managed, in the Pigneto area); Libero Mercato (the temporary occupation and reactivation of the disused building which used to host the Torpignattara Market); S.O.S. Spazio Open Source (a semi-permanent site-specific installation for the reactivation of an abandoned urban space located within the park of the Centocelle area). 33