Walking and Talking (In) the Space. An approach to urban practices

[Abstract] Yuri Lotman (1987) ascribes to the city the characteristics of a «polylogue»: a configuration which is more complex than a dialogue, since different discourses, semiotic conflicts and relations weave together, escaping a unique or even a biunique logic. Analysing the city as a site of negotiation, a relational space, means to look at how it is continuously remade, reinterpreted and transformed by its inhabitants’ practices, through interactions with the built environment. Studying the city means, as a consequence, to deal with a very heterogeneous corpus of analysis, that has to be confronted integrating different methodologies (ethno-semiotic observation, analysis of the architectural space, textual analysis). This paper aims at exploring these methodological issues, focusing on the investigation of the processes of change and resignification in urban centres with a high presence of immigrants, through the study of the inhabitants’ practices: which conflicts or practices of spatial negotiation arise from alternative or concurrent uses of space? How is space re-written by the intertwining of old and new practices? How are borders constructed or negotiated, crossed or reinforced? Bibliography CAVICCHIOLI, S., 2002, I sensi, lo spazio, gli umori, Milano: Bompiani. HAMMAD, M., 2006, Lire l’espace, comprendre l’architecture. Essais sémiotiques, Limoges: Pulim. LOTMAN, J.M., 1987, «Architektura v kontekste kul’tury/Architecture in the Context of Culture», Architecture and Society/Architektura i obscestvo, n. 6. MONDADA, L., 2000, Decrire la ville : la construction des savoirs urbains dans l’interaction et dans le texte, Paris: Anthropos