Making Place: A Joint Summer Workshop

The Making Place workshop, hosted by the University of Naples Federico II, explored how temporary architectural interventions can reconnect people with urban public spaces. Set within the baroque church of Santi Demetrio e Bonifacio, now a cultural hub, the program provided an inspiring setting that mirrored its core theme: revitalizing places while respecting their layered heritage. Bringing together students from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and Federico II’s Department of Architecture (DIARC), the workshop encouraged collaboration across disciplines. Over ten intensive days, teams worked on six different sites in Naples — from historic cloisters to city squares — engaging with local residents and analyzing social, cultural, and spatial dynamics. This immersive process helped identify community needs and shaped creative proposals for temporary installations aimed at reactivating underused spaces. The design phase translated field research into tangible concepts through model-making, group discussions, and iterative feedback. Treating the city as a living laboratory, students tested how small-scale, time-bound interventions can foster inclusivity and collective ownership of public areas. Central to the workshop was a participatory design ethos: rather than imposing top-down solutions, projects were developed in dialogue with neighborhoods and civic groups, embracing adaptability and co-creation. The workshop culminated in a series of design proposals for six key sites — Monteoliveto Cloister, Santa Chiara Complex, Santa Maria la Nova and Ecce Homo Squares, Banchi Nuovi and Monticelli Squares, Salvatore Cloister, and Maria Giuseppina Castellano Lanzara Square. These projects, along with models and drawings, formed a public exhibition designed by students using a modular plywood system assembled on site. Through this hands-on experience, participants bridged theory and construction, discovering the value of design as an active, civic practice. More than an academic exercise, Making Place became a collective experiment in urban empathy, showing how architecture — even when temporary — can build enduring relationships between people, community, and city.