Quindici anni di WISH

How can we avoid the creation of new ghettos or the proliferation of dormitory neighbourhoods? How does architectural action encourage ties between individual and family life and the social and collective dimensions? The special character of social housing lies in this twofold specificity: it responds to primary needs and offers scenarios of life capable of accommodating the complexity of public space. In doing so, the design of social housing is closely bound up with the urban fact and its deep social, cultural and temporal stratification. The design of important sections of the city constitutes the underlying motif of all 15 editions of WISH (Workshop on International Social Housing), a formative project launched in 2003 by the Mendrisio Academy of Architecture and recounted in this volume.