Keywords
Psychiatric Heritage
Collective Memory
Pionta Park (Arezzo)
Spatial Mediation
How to Cite
Abstract
Italy witnessed the gradual closure of its psychiatric hospitals following the Basaglia Law of 1978, leaving behind a legacy that is simultaneously a repository of collective memory and a source of social stigma. Pionta Park in Arezzo, a former psychiatric hospital, constitutes an emblematic case of this transition. Beyond mere spatial conversion, its requalification raises questions about the role of design in generating new cultural and social experiences. This article examines how experience design can transform a former psychiatric space into a place of memory, encounter, and culture. The methodology is based on a cross-analysis of archival sources (medical records, historical floor plans, and behavioral charts) and in situ observations. The findings demonstrate that the material and intangible traces of the past can be mobilized as foundations for sensory and immersive design interventions. The requalification of the park thus operates within a dual dynamic: the valorization of the psychiatric past as shared heritage and the reactivation of the site as a living public space. By placing human experience at the heart of the approach, experience design emerges as an essential lever for articulating memory, space, and society.
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