Open Society Architectures (OSA) is a Research and Learning Center that focuses on exploring contemporary life and its future through the lens of visual research, while challenging the traditional program-oriented structures of public buildings. Society is intended to become an indispensable activator of space rather than a spectator, and the research carried in OSA is open sourced to the visitors of the place, that inform it in an infinite loop. Formally, the project explores the possibilities that space itself has to offer, with a focus on the surface, the carcass, through a series of "Perimetral Operations". The aim is to reinforce the presence of the vault as an archetypical element that makes this urban artifact so unique and potentiate the evolution of this place as a site of social and cultural significance. The project is divided into two complementary programmatic experiences: programs taking place in the perimeters, and programs occupying the void (shapes). The perimeter hosts the permanent activities related to the Research and Learning Center, including research laboratories, libraries, archives, data visualization labs, virtual reality labs, administrative offices, and storage and technical areas. The void accommodates temporary activities such as audiovisual rooms, lecture halls, collaborative spaces, exhibition spaces, and performance installations. The research units are connected by a garden, a landscape that articulates the system and expands to the interior of the tunnels. The project seeks to activate the exterior of the Magazzini, connecting the street to the garden and interior space. Cork sheets and wood are the main construction materials used. OSA is a research center that potentiates the possibilities of Dropcity by offering actual tools and knowledge about our ever-changing reality, and it does so by offering equal possibilities to society and to the city of Milan. The Magazzini is set to become a unique global think tank, looking at the future… by the people.
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