Artigianato, comunità e territorio:un sistema complesso

Around the figure of the craftsman are springing up numerous debates and discussions. Indeed, in this period of crisis in which the current economic model is called into question, going back to look at the internal resources and the know-how of the people becomes a necessity. Many terms have been used to try to describe this time of transition and change, but the word that recurs often, and perhaps it is the most striking, is the term revolution: artisan revolution, the third-industrial revolution, the revolution of things, and so on. A very strong term that probably does not mean much a sudden upheaval, but rather a change course of action that identifies a different future in one of the more traditional cultures. Looking at the craftsmanship as a starting point to rebuild our social and economic fabric, that is currently disrupted, does not mean that we need to regret or look back into the past. This craftsman, in fact, represents a mixture of knowledge and experience that certainly draws from the local and rooted culture; but at the same time, this figure hold the potentiality to restore his social role into the the urban areas, defining an alternative economic and social model.No coincidence that knowing how-to-do-things and manual labor are becoming the contact point between two worlds in intense antithesis, one of the bits and that of atoms, digital and analog systems. Our products are, in fact, more and more the result of the flow and of the combination of two kinds of matter: the first one is easier to see the real one, the atoms and the other, more intangible and malleable, is made up of bits. The ones can easily give life to the others, calling a truce between the continuous rivalry between digital and analog systems. The bits can be easily transferred and shared on the internet, exploiting the potential of popular and participatory network, as well as the availability of many free design tools. The bits can be transformed into matter through desktop machines, such as 3D printers and laser cutters, easy to use and usable in our own garage. It is precisely this transformation that C. Anderson, and the movement of the makers in general, identifying the challenge for change, "In the next generation, atoms are the new bits." In this context, the concept of craftsmanship is covered with new meanings and connotations. The craftsman becomes digital and in command of movements and phenomena which claim strongly a new consumption model. In the craftsmanship values, there are the strength to restore a critical thinking model, making people aware of their potential and their belonging to a community, real or virtual as well. A new sense of belonging and sharing that goes beyond the concept of physical proximity and embraces the intellectual and cultural one. In a society so strongly connected, in which actually no place is far away, one is naturally led to wonder what role would play the territory and what sense could assume concepts as local or small. The aim of my research is therefore to investigate what kind of relationships are generated on the local territory by the craft activities, trying to delineate the social, environmental and economic dimensions. In fact, the current economic crisis has called into question the concept of growth and development to which we are accustomed, leading us to reassess our value system. As every moment of difficulty, it offers however, also a starting point for implementing a change, a chance to re-establish the balance between economic activities and their impacts on environment, society and culture.