Cool City Design Lab (June 23-July 4 2024) lan headquarter — curated by Kyong Park
This lab will explore ways to reactivate Naples’ ancient aqueducts, cisterns, and fountains with international architects and students to counteract urban heat islands created by global warming. The lab will design how to bring up cool water and air from underground ancient infrastructure and create new communal spaces and public life. We will begin with the tours of the Complex of Santa Caterina a Formiello and the surrounding area of Porta Capuana, the Centro Direzionale Business Centre; the Casa dell’Acqua in Volla; the Source of Acqua Ferrata at Chiatamone, to inspect ancient and modern water systems, including underground aqueducts and cisterns. The lab will connect with other parallel programs of Preennale, such as lectures, roundtable discussions, and music, with a unique integration with participatory art projects by Commoning Lab with communities in Naples. The principle of water as a subject and not an object and the personhood of natural resources will be paramount to the lab activities and central to the discourse that situates water as a resource of the Commons. In addition, there will be a special one-day workshop by Marjetica Potrč on “The Personhood of Nature ” and a series of lectures by Kyong Park on The idea of Progress. Ancient cooling systems, and “What is water?” The manifesto of this work is that nature is not a natural resource, and water is the origin of the first ‘community’ and first ‘state’ of human civilization, all under the questioning of The Idea of Progress. There will be an exhibition of works from this workshop with Common Lab (July 4), and the workshop will meet on June 25, 27 + July 1, 2. During the remaining time, participants can enjoy other Preennale programs, the wonderful city of Naples, and its surrounding attractions.