MAKING SPACE FOR THE OTHER è un progetto di ricerca interdisciplinare che, in un orizzonte filosofico e architettonico, indaga la performatività dello spazio cimiteriale come mezzo incisivo nella costruzione di società multiculturali più inclusive. La filosofia ha spesso considerato la morte da una prospettiva temporale; l’approccio architettonico permette di intrecciare riflessioni filosofiche, estetiche, culturali e pratiche, leggendo gli spazi cimiteriali come luoghi tangibili che influenzano la dimensione temporale ed invitano a ripensare al tema della morte a partire da una dimensione radicalmente concreta.
MAKING SPACE FOR THE OTHER is an interdisciplinary research project that, within a philosophical and architectural framework, investigates the performativity of cemetery space as a significant means in the construction of more inclusive multicultural societies. Philosophy has often considered death from a temporal perspective; the architectural approach allows to intertwine philosophical, aesthetic, cultural, and practical reflections, interpreting cemetery spaces as tangible places that influence the temporal dimension and invite to rethink the death from a radically concrete perspective.
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Research
Making Space for the Other
The project explores the performative nature of space, viewing it as a fundamental prerequisite for building more inclusive and multicultural societies. Architectural space is seen as a powerful tool for promoting social equity and sustainability. Rather than focusing on museums, libraries or public squares, the research centres on specific sites—cemeteries—which have not yet been considered in relation to this theme.
Activities
Focus Groups: call for proposal
The research group is issuing an open call to institutional partners, local authorities, associations, third-sector organisations and citizen groups interested in co-organising thematic focus groups to foster an interdisciplinary debate on the perception, design and management of interfaith spaces in contemporary cemeteries, understood as spatial configurations capable of bridging cultural, ritual and symbolic differences.
Conferences
L’apprezzamento estetico dell’atmosfera dei cimiteri
Seminar by Professor Joulia Smrtchkova entitled “L’apprezzamento estetico dell’atmosfera dei cimiteri“.
Department of Humanities, University of Macerata, 23 April 2026.
Joulia Smrtchkova teaches at the University of Grenoble Alpes and is member of the ERC project “Mental Files: New Foundation”, a research initiative that analyses the representation of objects in language and thought with the aim of moving beyond descriptivism.
THE PROJECT PROMOTES SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON THE TOPIC OF INTO CEMETERIES REGARDING THEM AS A PREREQUISITE FOR BUILDING MORE INCLUSIVE AND MULTICULTURAL SOCIETIES
‘Making Space for the Other’ is a research project funded under the PRIN 2022 call for proposals PRIN 2022 promoted by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) which aims to promote the national research system, rafforzando le by strengthening collaboration between universities.
The research, which takes an interdisciplinary approach, examines cemeteries as performative spaces that can help build more inclusive, safe and resilient societies.
‘Making Space for the Other’ contributes to the achievement of the SDGs, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set out in the 2030 Agenda
Case Studies
Lampedusa allows to view the Mediterranean as a ‘widespread cemetery’, a space where death without a fixed location calls for new forms of representation, recognition and planning…
Focus Group
Dialogue with the local community has highlighted the difficulty of providing a ‘place’ and a memory for the nameless dead, by raising profound questions about the nature of space and collective care…
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Contact us for further information
Via Antonio Gramsci, 38
62100 Macerata
mail masoresearch@hotmail.com
