Porta Palazzo: Turin's Diverse Cultural Hub

1. Raising a neighborhood

2. The starting point We’ve been asked by the Turin Municipality to work on the perception of one of its most characteristics neighborhoods:

3. Porta Palazzo

4. A bit of background

5. Different souls

6. Excellent. A picture that tells a story. Isthe very heart of Turin, in the area called “the roman quadrangle” because of the roman ruins still characterizing the landscape

7. In the morning - Monday to Saturday - hosts the biggest open air markets of Europe

8. Lots of pictures that tell stories. V. good. Every Saturday there is also one of the most famous flea markets in Italy, called the Balôn (pronounce Baloon)

9. How is it • Made predominantly by baroque and 1900 buildings, the area shows the sign of time and the degradation it went through during these years • Today a lot of buildings are going under massive renovations because of the forthcomings Winter Olympics

10. Who’s there • Is the neighborhood in Turin with the highest immigration density • Communities from Central Africa, Maghreb, Romania, Russia, Bulgaria, former Jugoslavia and China live side by side with long-time italian residents

11. Very evocative - but could you have done it in two or three telling phrases? Porta Palazzo means Smell of kebab coming out from arab delis, a real neapolitan “pizzeria”, four or five high class wineries, a few restaurants - piedmont cuisine, france, sardinia - specialized shops and one of the oldest pharmacies in Italy. Chinese tchotchkes, sake and uncomprehensible packages in the oriental markets, phone centers packed with africans offering fruits. Anthony Bourdain could have made his “Life of a chef” TV show all here, instead of cruising the whole world. Two mosques, a greek orthodox church, three catholic churches, “smoke”, “hash”, “weed” catcalls on the corners (mostly in the afternoon and Saturday) And of course, some risks of being pickpocketed while shopping.

12. …a sort of italian greenwich village/camden/kreutzberg/ latin quarter

13. “The trendiest bars and clubs in a city that has one of the most flourishing club and music scenes in Italy” (People from 20-35/40) “A small crime area packed with dope smugglers, pickpocketers and various small time crooks” (People 40+) This is a great page. This seems like it communicates a lot - the heart of the whole issue/relationship. You could have probably done away with a lot of the other stuff and just done this. But it really is

14. The city and its people

15. a very culturally mixed city • The traditionally closed people from Turin experienced a first wave of immigration between the 50’s and the 60’s, when people from southern Italy came up to benefit from the FIAT expansion • A second wave started at the beginning of the 80’s with foreign immigrants • The “turinites” are kind of closed, friendly in a slightly detached manner, very committed to their purposes but often understating their talents and capabilities, suffering from a long-time inferiority complex caused by the proximity of Milan

16. They are pretty tolerant but with a certain… i wouldn’t call it racism… maybe more of a “raised eyebrow” attitude towards what comes from “outside” (maybe because of the natural borders the city has…) • There are though a lot of social and art activities, underground movements, museums and art institutions (the Modern Art Gallery, the Museo di Rivoli, Fondazione Re Rebaudengo are some of the best in Italy) • Some of the most famous bands in Italy are from Torino • The nightclub life is one of the best in Italy • A tradition of being a “left wing city”

17. Porta Palazzo and the “Turinites”

18. A bit of confrontational relationship… • It’s considered too dangerous (a recurring thought is “oh, is some kind of Bronx”)

19. This is all fine - but there’s too much of it. The “middle/low class people” and PP I basically go there for shopping… I mean, you can find great bargains you on everything, from food to clothes I lived there for a while because housing was affordable… but as soon as I earned a bit more money, I moved out I don’t like it though, there’s too many immigrants (this is a recurring thought no matter where the speaker comes from)

20. The “middle/high class people” and PP There are some amazing corners… you can buy some real delicacies you can’t find anywhere else… oh, I know even a wonderful brasserie… no, I wouldn’t park my car in that street, there’s the underground parkings, they’re expensive but no risk to find a broken glass… Well, I’ve found this wonderful armchair from 1700 at the Balôn… Via Borgo Dora, the street of the …oh you really think you’d move there? Among the mau mau?

21. The “young people” and Porta Palazzo Hey, it’s a bit risky to walk there at night, but I go anyway because there’s the best clubs. Period. It’s so easy to buy hash… usually we go there Saturday afternoon during the Balôn, have a kebab and smoke a couple of Js… It’s cool, you can find cheap vintage clothes and hang out a whole afternoon just watching all the freaks passing by…

22. The “alternative people” and Porta Palazzo I go there to buy hash and chill at the Balôn, but now with the olympics, there’s too many cops… man, is such a drag, after San Salvario* they’re trying to gentrify also Porta Palazzo *another central neighborhood with high immigration that’s become a very expensive real estate area

23. The “mainstream people” and Porta Palazzo Oh, the Balôn is beautiful but all those people… really, I don’t know why the municipality can’t clean it up… hopefully with the Olympics

24. But what about those who actually live there?

25. “I used to live in a much more residential neighborhood and I choose to move there one and a half year ago. Honestly? With all the problems and everything I wouldn’t go back. There’s so much more umanity, so much more social contact and interaction. When I met people on the street if I smile at them they actually smile back without looking at me like I was some kind of weirdo”

26. This neighborhood? Is not that bad. I just wish there was more police control… there’s too many drug addicts and too many dope pushers on the street.

27. Hey, I know, sometimes it’s rough, sometimes the streets are dirty sometimes you catch a wiff in the stairways of some random food cooked by the chineses that smells awful. I don’t know why, but in the end I feel allright, here.

28. So what can we do?

29. What I’ve perceived talking to people extensively is that almost every resident is aware of the human glow that radiates from the area, almost every person has one nice story of coexistence to tell

30. What should be done is find the best ways to communicate this. • I’m thinking of some kind of joint communication by the municipality and the residents • A sort of “invitation” for people to experience the warmth of Porta Palazzo

31. The important thing is showing how the residents and the municipality are • aware of the problems of the neighborhood, but these problems are normal problems in a big town • are working sincerely togheter to better the situation

32. Communication ideas will start from here: • House parties hosted by PP residents, • a “positive” blog called “Porta Palazzo, in the end is not so bad” • …

33. There’s lots of great thinking in here - but I think you should have worked harder on summarising - and finding the really telling quotes, images and phrases that sum the whole problem up. The essence of strategy is sacrifice - knowing what not to say and do. … that’s it. All the pictures (except the aerial view of the market) have been expressely made for this work. Hope this is a step forward. Thank you again tons, Russell. Luca