What shapes intergenerational dialogue when words are not enough?

Di Mano in Mano - Bridging generations through visual dialogue

Alessia Piscioli
Anna Pitton
Alessia Anna Lore Zanotti

Two generations share the same place without ever meeting.
At the multipurpose center Premstallerhof in the Piani district of Bolzano, this quiet parallelism gives rise to a gentle dialogue: a shared puzzle becomes a bridge between children and elderly people with Alzheimer’s.

For seniors with Alzheimer’s, colouring becomes their most vital language: a quiet expression of memory and presence. Children pick up these traces, respond with imagination and assemble everything a mano (by hand). Together they shape an imagined place of coexistence.

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Over the course of the semester, this project created fertile ground for the development of intergenerational relationships through design. By fostering a dialogue between children and seniors with Alzheimer's, the project demonstrated how shared creative practices can support connection, care and mutual curiosity.

Its strength lies in a strong connection to context: every design decision emerged from direct observation and engagement with the participants, resulting in a solution closely attuned to their needs and environment. The project highlights design not only as a tool for creating artifacts, but as a process capable of facilitating relationships and meaningful exchange.

Looking ahead, the project opens up possibilities for further development, including new forms of visual and craft-based dialogue, shared activities and the activation of outdoor spaces.

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A project made in the course

Bolzano Open City Laboratory

“The question of what kind of city we want cannot be divorced from the question of what kind of people we want to be, what kind of social relations we seek, what relations to nature we cherish, what style of life we desire, what aesthetic values we hold” (Harvey, 2012). Staring from these considerations, the course took the form of an “Open City Laboratory”. In the first phase of the course, we listened to and oriented ourselves towards what Bolzano has to offer and what it might need. Critically reflecting on our encounters with the city and its actors, we detected possible spaces for intervention and developed situated proposals for eco-social transformations in Bolzano.
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