The workshop “Beyond the edges! Milan–Mexico City” is a very good example of Craft’s approach to reimagining how knowledge is produced and shared—not only within academic walls, but especially in direct relation with territories and communities. That’s why we support learning experiences that move beyond the classroom, encouraging students, researchers, and professionals to immerse themselves in real contexts and co-design knowledge through action.

During the workshop a group of students from the School of Architecture of the Milan Polytechnic had the opportunity to leave the university and spending ten days (28 March–6 April 2025) in the life of the neighborhood, drawing and discussing project hypotheses.

The activities opened with a first day at Politecnico of Milan, where students had the occasion to attend a lecture by Rozana Montiel on the topic ‘Something from nothing. Act-interact-connect’ and getting to know different project designed by the architect in Mexico and after that, a full immersion in the context of Quarto Oggiaro, with a round table  which involved a number of organizations active in the area and some inhabitants, to get a better knowledge and a first experience of interaction with the context.

From Sunday 29th the activities took place in Quarto Oggiaro, in the Santa Lucia Parrish.

In those days the students had the chance to:

·  deal with a project in which they were involved from the very beginning, from the conception of the space (and its various changes during the weeks due to the continuous confrontation with the local community), to its practical and manual realization (dealing with unforeseen events, adjustments during the course of the project), to its communication, and finally, to its implementation and inauguration

·  have a constant interaction with inhabitants of all ages, from children to elderly, both in structural moment (with children, adolescences, elderly) and some informal one (the doors of the construction site were always open).

· work in group between them but also with the local know-how:  they interact with person of different ages that supported us helped us painting, working with wood, dismantling and reassembling the framework, and arranging the lights