Imperia, like all Ligurian coastal cities,

is a city of opportunities but also of critical issues.

Families are shrinking, the population is aging.

It is, undoubtedly, a lonely population

that is in need of socialising.

That's why we chose to work on the building in Via Pirinoli 47.

The idea was to redevelop

and rearrange the common spaces of this building

mainly in favour of the elderly.

Being together and helping each other

could be the solution to ensure that

this age can be lived in another way.

At the beginning,

everything was a little abandoned.

And now, we have a place to meet more often.

For instance, if someone is there,

we can spend time and have fun together.

I feel at home.

While young people party, we play cards.

I didn’t have company before.

It was like: “Hi, hi, bye”.

But with time, we have become friends

At the end of the day, we all are alone.

So we help each other out.

I water the plants.

I feel sorry for them because it doesn't rain enough.

So I try to take care of them as best as I can.

It is a hobby, a pastime.

We are suffering from climate change.

That’s why we need new interventions

that aim at nature-based solutions.

BE-WoodEN has contributed to the decarbonization

through the use of the bio-based material

that best stores carbon dioxide, which is wood.

For the project in Via Pirinoli,

we chose to use Larch wood

because it has intrinsic properties

resistant to atmospheric agents.

Through a self-building workshop,

participants helped the project team to renovate

the building in Via Pirinoli.

We designed modular tables and chairs

so that they could be moved around the rooms

according to the residents’ needs and different activities.

We strongly believe in integration and diversity.

We must integrate social housing into the urban fabric

so that it can become just like any other house,

for a new way of living.