Call N.20

Number TWENTY

Introduction to issue n.20: Social Perspective in Construction

The transformation of the environment has always had the main goal of adapting the environment to human needs, of reorganizing full and empty spaces so that users could best satisfy their needs, both in fairly static conditions, as in the case of civil construction and architecture, and in dynamic conditions, as in the case of roads, bridges, railways, airports, ports, etc. The construction of private buildings is certainly a condition that considers the permanence of users in a closed and protected place as primary, so as to be able to best carry out personal and family functions. However, the creation of so-called "public" buildings has since immemorial time establishing an essential part of the role of designers and has often expressed very relevant values and meanings for the community for which the works were intended, indeed public, that is, for anyone. Schools, hospitals, management and administration offices, etc., have always been a challenge for designers and builders, above all due to the fact that they do not have to satisfy the needs of just one family group, or a few, but of the entire community: in fact, even nowadays it is mandatory to follow very clear strict and restrictive regulations. Putting the user's needs and desires at the foreground, therefore, appears to be the result of a broader policy of construction and management of public works, and therefore requires great sensitivity, due indeed to the fact that during the conception, the design and implementation, this user is decidedly anonymous and his/her real expectations are not known. At this point a doubt arises, why is it that if the specific mission mission of a designer is to realize the dreams and needs of every type of user, some obvious ethical principles that clearly emerge from any kind of study and social in-depth analysis are often forgotten? When has the end user been set aside to satisfy different types of requirements? In fact, this now happens all over the world, especially when the weakest sections of the population, either because they are less well-off or because they are otherwise less fortunate, are not listened to and respected, and the social aspects have become an added value for each project, work and management, whereas they should have been considered included from the beginning in the procedure. At the beginning of the new century, movements arose that involved the concept of "Participation" in the processes of conception, design and construction of works for social purposes, houses for the public, schools, etc. In the field of architectural works, the most socially committed architects of South American countries confirm the importance of social objectives. Aravena underlines how “… it is not a bit unusual to take architecture as a sociopolitical subject: not many people see it this way. Nowadays an architect can choose to stay apart from this viewpoint. We have selected a different road.” It could therefore be stated that "... social programming requires more and more the construction of participated projects."[2] The new ethics therefore claims to dust off these initial and essential ideas on the transformation of the habitat on a human scale, as long as it is "for all living beings", and not just for the more fortunate: including in the category of the less fortunate, not only the weakest and most defenceless human beings (sick, poor, immigrants, distant from places of supply for water, food and energy, etc.) but also other living creatures present in terrestrial ecosystems. This is where terms such as solidarity, cooperation, social question arise, where the construction world has forgotten this primary task. “The status of the professional attitude has been made with consideration of the changing social dynamics and social movements, throughout the recent history of modernization. The common characteristics observed with the adoption of the professional solidarity approach are the dissolving of the duality and distinction between the professional and the community, the shift or enlargement of the target of the professional activity from the individual or people in need to a wider community, most of the time being the oppressed, less privileged, deprived and disadvantaged sections of the society.”[3] Well, taking also hints from the Sustainable Development Goals provided by the Europe, and about which this Journal had left wide space, this new issue is aimed at the arduous task of stimulating new authors towards the direction of the social perspective, in which both the interests of individuals and the designer's own egocentric interests can be limited, while the final target, the user of the common good, become primary and central.

Issue n. 20: Social Perspective in Construction, in particular declined according to the following sub-topics:

1. Architecture and Social Responsibility
2. STEM ^[4] and Social Science in co-creating processes
3. 3. Data Management and Inclusive Models in socio-cultural components of construction
4. Urban regeneration aimed at social impact
5. Social inclusion as urban vitality contribution
6. Construction and management of community housing
7. Customisation paths in the construction
8. International Cooperation projects and actions
9. European Design code for life spaces quality
10. Inclusive and sustainable planning
11. Universal access to safe and green public space
12. Holistic management of disaster risk at any level

Aravena Alejandro (2009) , Interview, in The Plan n. 33, page 109.
[2] De Ambrogio Ugo (2009), Come fare un buon progetto partecipato. Una proposta operativa in “Prospettive sociali e sanitarie” n° 4, Irs (Istituto per la ricerca sociale), Milano, page 1.
[3] Berk, M. G. and Akbulut, M. T. (2022). Solidarity Architecture: Socially Minded Approaches Emerging in the Professional Practice in Architecture, Kent Akademisi Dergisi, 15(4):1996-2009. https://doi.org/10.35674/kent1167138
[4] Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics

All submitted papers will be assessed by the Editorial Board and “double peer blindly” reviewed by an international panel of experts in the specific sectors.

The Journal is:

• Indexed in SCOPUS since the issue n. 9; SCOPUS a partire dal numero 9;
• Included in the Italian ANVUR Scientific Journals from October the 31st, 2018 (thus, the papers here published have also a recognition as VQR (the research assessment criteria) products; Riviste Scientifiche dal 31 ottobre del 2018 (gli articoli pubblicati hanno quindi valore anche quali prodotti della VQR biennale per la ricerca);
• Included in the Italian ANVUR classification of Journals as A Class, from April the 7th, 2020, with a retrospective recognition since 2016. Classe A dal 7 aprile 2020 con valore retroattivo fin dal 2016.

Magazine main subjects - Construction technology, Material science, Survey and representation, Construction procedures and security, Urban planning, Land transformation and perception, History of architecture, Landscape design, Hydraulics, Geological impacts, Architectural and Engineering design, Energy saving, Structural and Technical physics, Industrial design, Environment and land sociology and Legal studies - are all connected with the sustainable construction in the Mediterranean region.

The magazine will provide cultural and information exchange between researchers, professionals, scientists, technicians as far as the achievement in the field of their actions and studies are concerned. Joined with the acceptance of the paper, the specific template, according to which the final version of the paper should be edited, could be downloaded by the authors from the SMC platform.