Producing in a different manner
The latest book curated by Aldo Bonomi outlines a new productive and territorial asset that defies current notions
Factories that are “no longer factories”, but production sites that seep into and pervade the territory, structuring its work and life. It is around this vision of reality that Oltre le mura dell’impresa. Vivere, abitare, lavorare nelle piattaforme territoriali (Beyond the company walls. Living, dwelling and working in territorial platforms) revolves, a book curated by Aldo Bonomi with the ambition to provide a much more accurate analysis of what is currently happening within industrialised societies.
The outcome of decades of research, analyses and considerations, this work is both a textbook and a collection of images that are actually more valuable than hundreds of pages full of figures.
It all begins with a hypothesis that is also a statement: factories have exploded on the territory, and the logic of industrialisation has spilled outside their walls. From here, a long journey to explore of the territory begins, undertaken by the Aaster Consortium (created and driven by Bonomi himself) – a journey reaching a kind of “deconstruction of Fordist work ethics” (i.e. those tied to traditional production organisations) and leading to the representation of new social configurations that make time for both work and life, positive spaces and different and new spheres of operation, as well as uncertainties and development opportunities.
The book centres on the analysis of what happened, and is still happening, in the north of Italy, taking into consideration not only decades of research but also a robust amount of data and studies – so much so that it could be taken as an “annual of territories”, those that in the north (and without forgetting about the south) constitute the strongest production hub in Italy.
After an extended chapter summarising the situation, written by Bonomi himself, readers can explore more in depth what is currently occurring in the “quattro lombardie” (four identified areas that make up the Lombardy region), in the north-east and its “molecular polycentrism”, in the Emilia-Romagna region with its digital platforms, and in Turin, a former “company town”, as well as in all the various other metropolitan hubs, digital platforms and the small scattered communities of the north more in general.
Bonomi collects, in about 200 pages, a number of analyses and ideas, the latter adding even more value to a book written in a straightforward language that succeeds in explaining technical complexities, and thus presents us with a lively narration of the events.
This work is a “radical and patient investigation on the ongoing evolution of territories”, writes Bonomi, who, further, asks himself many questions (such as what might happen to “community industriousness, which has become “intermediate capitalism”, in the future) yet does not claim to provide ready answers, only food for thought – such as, for instance, when discussing the implications of “urban industries” that “enhance four key spheres of social and human life: health, nature, living, knowing”.
Oltre le mura dell’impresa is not a book that should be read in a hurry (though it is very readable), but a work on which to slowly ponder – we might not agree with all it says, yet it is a must-read for all those who want to gain a better and deeper understanding of the evolution of the Italian social and productive system.
Oltre le mura dell’impresa. Vivere, abitare, lavorare nelle piattaforme territoriali (Beyond the company walls. Living, dwelling and working in territorial platforms)
Aldo Bonomi (curated by)
DeriveApprodi, 2021
The latest book curated by Aldo Bonomi outlines a new productive and territorial asset that defies current notions
Factories that are “no longer factories”, but production sites that seep into and pervade the territory, structuring its work and life. It is around this vision of reality that Oltre le mura dell’impresa. Vivere, abitare, lavorare nelle piattaforme territoriali (Beyond the company walls. Living, dwelling and working in territorial platforms) revolves, a book curated by Aldo Bonomi with the ambition to provide a much more accurate analysis of what is currently happening within industrialised societies.
The outcome of decades of research, analyses and considerations, this work is both a textbook and a collection of images that are actually more valuable than hundreds of pages full of figures.
It all begins with a hypothesis that is also a statement: factories have exploded on the territory, and the logic of industrialisation has spilled outside their walls. From here, a long journey to explore of the territory begins, undertaken by the Aaster Consortium (created and driven by Bonomi himself) – a journey reaching a kind of “deconstruction of Fordist work ethics” (i.e. those tied to traditional production organisations) and leading to the representation of new social configurations that make time for both work and life, positive spaces and different and new spheres of operation, as well as uncertainties and development opportunities.
The book centres on the analysis of what happened, and is still happening, in the north of Italy, taking into consideration not only decades of research but also a robust amount of data and studies – so much so that it could be taken as an “annual of territories”, those that in the north (and without forgetting about the south) constitute the strongest production hub in Italy.
After an extended chapter summarising the situation, written by Bonomi himself, readers can explore more in depth what is currently occurring in the “quattro lombardie” (four identified areas that make up the Lombardy region), in the north-east and its “molecular polycentrism”, in the Emilia-Romagna region with its digital platforms, and in Turin, a former “company town”, as well as in all the various other metropolitan hubs, digital platforms and the small scattered communities of the north more in general.
Bonomi collects, in about 200 pages, a number of analyses and ideas, the latter adding even more value to a book written in a straightforward language that succeeds in explaining technical complexities, and thus presents us with a lively narration of the events.
This work is a “radical and patient investigation on the ongoing evolution of territories”, writes Bonomi, who, further, asks himself many questions (such as what might happen to “community industriousness, which has become “intermediate capitalism”, in the future) yet does not claim to provide ready answers, only food for thought – such as, for instance, when discussing the implications of “urban industries” that “enhance four key spheres of social and human life: health, nature, living, knowing”.
Oltre le mura dell’impresa is not a book that should be read in a hurry (though it is very readable), but a work on which to slowly ponder – we might not agree with all it says, yet it is a must-read for all those who want to gain a better and deeper understanding of the evolution of the Italian social and productive system.
Oltre le mura dell’impresa. Vivere, abitare, lavorare nelle piattaforme territoriali (Beyond the company walls. Living, dwelling and working in territorial platforms)
Aldo Bonomi (curated by)
DeriveApprodi, 2021