Writing the city in the ‘Meanwhile’. Three memos for our millennium

The economic crisis that has affected our society since 2008 is forcing us to think over the principles on which our community is founded; this reality of mass consumption is dismissing residues in the city, showing city its weakness. The urban shrinkage is still strengthening itself, producing new kinds of vacancy. Nowadays the public administration lacks the necessary resources to complete huge master plan, furthermore their incapability to adapt to the swift change of external condition, determines a “city in stand-by”. To overcome this condition and prevent a further degradation process is necessary to introduce new paradigms in the design of cities. Rather than a long-term planning, it is necessary to act promptly by focusing on the everyday life; this assumption highlights the need to revise traditional architectural instruments based on long term options. Looking at the city through its use rather than its function, it is possible to identify an additional layer overlappin