GROUND(S) Mapping, Designing and Caring: Towards a Convivial Society

The international conference Ground(s): Mapping, designing and caring: Towards a convivial society, held in December 2021 at the Department of Architecture of the University of Bologna, represents an intellectual activity, that transcends traditional academic boundaries. Emerging from the idea of the candidates of the PhD 35th cycle in Architecture and Design Cultures - Unibo: Hanna Elisabet Åberg, Irene Cazzaro, Carlo Costantino, Federico Diodato, Javier Pérez Puchalt, Laura Rivaroli, Ludovica Rosato, Giulia Turci, and Yunyu Ouyan, this conference is one of the annual appointments, developed by PhD candidates to open a discussion on topics of interdisciplinary nature, useful for expanding knowledge and research goals, carried out within doctoral research and within the Department of Architecture of Unibo. The aim of these conferences is to highlight that contemporary challenges require a fundamentally integrated approach, fundamental paradigms of spatial understanding, moving far beyond conventional disciplinary constraints, showing a growing understanding that the complex problems of our era, as environmental degradation, social fragmentation, and technological disruption, cannot be addressed through narrow, specialized perspectives. In this light, the concept of Ground(s) emerged as a rich, multidimensional metaphor that simultaneously encompasses physical, social, ecological, and philosophical terrains. It represents more than a mere physical surface; instead, it becomes a dynamic interface where human activities, technological innovations, ecological systems, and cultural practices continuously intersect and negotiate their relationships. This conceptualization challenges traditional notions of space as a static, passive background and instead proposes an active, and responsive understanding of spatial interaction. This publication thus becomes more than a mere collection of academic papers. It represents the research for a new approach to understanding our environment, that recognizes the profound interconnectedness of human and non-human systems, that embraces complexity and uncertainty, and that proposes creative, adaptive strategies for addressing global challenges. The contents emerging from this conference suggests that the most innovative solutions will arise not from disciplinary expertise, but from the fertile ground between disciplines, where different ways of knowing and seeing can dialogue, conflict, and ultimately generate new insights. The University of Bologna’s PhD program in Architecture and Design Cultures has always pursued and promoted, while recognizing the identity of the specific disciplines, a model of interdisciplinary education, demonstrating how academic institutions can serve as laboratories for social and intellectual innovation. By creating spaces where architectural composition, urban studies, historical research, aesthetic theory, design practices, cultural heritage studies, and technological innovation can intersect, the program challenges traditional academic boundaries combining fundamentals and applied research in an interdisciplinary perspective. The research activity is therefore developed according to thematic areas that, given the nature of the PhD program, aim to develop studies in the field of architecture and design cultures as wide as possible.