Identity in the façade aims to investigate the possible construction of the identity of the place using media façades as a medium, and as means storytelling and participation. It was decided to start with the definition of the city according to a humanist and systemic approach. This was able to highlight new problems and potentials, such as globalization and decentralization urban. These phenomena have indeed led to increasing attention on the sense of place, understood as all those issues that have to deal with the space and the human being who uses it and live there. Starting from the close relationship between ethos of the place, and social and personal memoirs, I proceeded to the investigation of the theme of narrative, not only as a technique for the creation of stories but also as a cognitive process. The latter is able to influence the perception of the world which surrounds the person, and affects the image that this has of himself or herself. To make a communication path made of memories and stories on the place, it was decided to work on participation, so that the result can be considered as inclusive as possible. Participation is not seen here only as the ability to allow users of a medium to create their own content, but permeates the project idea itself, in order to involve more possible entities in the organization and the definition of contents. I have chosen to work on media façades because it is considered a medium which is for its nature public and designed to be installed in an urban place. This choice, dictated by the experience that I made at BRENNEREI,
led to a further reflection of what could be the role of a screen in a public and urban place.
The project that is hypothesized in this thesis, ID: BVS, stands as a flexible,
public, and participated path, that may lead users of the site to reflect on what is the
place where they are. Changing the perception of an external element could lead people to
change the way in which they act in the real world, thus giving shape to what we are used
to experience with the senses. The educational institutions and associations present in the
chosen neighborhood have shown surprising interest in the project. This confirmed the need
for a work on the identity of the place that goes beyond the branding and urban planning.
