Cantieri della migrazione. Co-costruzione di un archivio digitale sulla migrazione edile ticinese XVI-XX secolo.

Migration is today a central, and particularly heartfelt, theme. Outside academic circles, the migratory experience that, from the 16th to the first thirty years of the 20th century, took Ticino construction workers from Switzerland to Italy and the rest of the world, is still little known. It is the story of artisans and artists who contributed to the design and construction of public and private buildings, sections of new cities and infrastructures. It is a story of migration that has had an impact on architecture, engineering, decoration, the dynamics of construction, communities, minorities, and unequal social contexts from Europe to the Americas; a story that has become part of a tradition of global human mobility, while at the same time involving the experiences of individual families, the descendants of those who took part directly in these events. The aim is to create a participatory digital archival platform to launch, through an ad hoc database, the co-construction of an open access digital archive (FAIR data principles) regarding the subject of the emigration of Ticino building workers. It will not only make use of institutional sources, but also crowdsourcing practices, generating content through public interaction (user generated content), in line with a content co-creation model that, from an intersectional point of view, and referencing Digital Public History methodologies, prioritises social inclusion, targeted audience development and people empowerment. A platform is thus created in which participants can become protagonists while also promoting, through a new narrative, a fresh look at contemporary reality and its contexts. In this perspective, themes such as techniques, materials, the diffusion and contamination of different models, traditions and multiple operational methods, discrimination, the implementation of diversity and, in contrast, inclusiveness in action, will be valorised by Applied History activities for citizens, with citizens developing a civil conscience and community memory, fundamental to the creation of an inclusive society. Through the creation of a database, at the end of the project, with the reorganization and inventorying of all the data, the platform itself will become an “archive” that will continue over time. The database will be structured as a true multimedia archive, dialoguing with digital reality and the metaverse. The idea is to pursue a vision of heritage that, alongside the objective dimension, also brings out the intangible component of cultural heritage, the intention being to valorise user initiative as the first act of protection of the documentary heritage acquired and to tell a transnational Swiss story involving migration, inclusion and cultural hybridization, where individuals find their place in history. The project is directed at a local and national non-specialist public, at Swiss communities around the world and at secondary school teachers and students, particularly in Ticino. It is also aimed at a more specific audience of architects, engineers, construction technicians, designers, artists, students at architecture faculties and professional schools of construction and the fine arts, as well as professionals in the fields of cultural heritage, the tourism industry and cultural volunteering. The platform will guarantee the collection and organization of documentary testimonies “from below” and promote the creation of storytelling through individual insights from both citizens and academics. This story can encourage the current dialogue on migratory movements, promote a broader awareness of Ticino’s contribution to this historic event and contribute to the nation branding of Switzerland and the strengthening of a professional culture that is still important for the Confederation. The project refers to the Principles set out by ECSA European Citizen Science and the International Federation for Public History and will make the results available in open access to the public and the academic community. A multi-stakeholder networking approach will be used based on the involvement of various stakeholders, who will, in turn, become active parts of, and ambassadors for, the platform. The project will take place within the context of the Archivio del Moderno of the USI Academy of Architecture, an institute that boasts thirty years of activity dedicated to the study of artistic emigration from Ticino.