As paradoxical as it may seem, the informal can be understood as an alternative paradigm capable of impacting and revolutionizing the growth and development of contemporary society. It represents a concrete strategy for organizing the city, communities, production and exchange dynamics, culture, and civil identity itself, subject to alternative rules and procedures that are just as influential as formal ones. This system is driven by actors opposed to the dominant classes that hold hegemony over political-economic development. Informality cannot be reduced to mere illegal urban practices, a lack of planning, or an economic model. It is,first and foremost, a mindset and a tactic - a way of positioning oneself at the margins of existence, transcending the rigid frameworks of the dominant culture. While formal systems are ordered by specific norms designed to regulate social life and foresee its developments, informality introduces chaos into order, adopting an adaptive approach that embraces surprise and unpredictability as inevitable aspects of life. These issues suggest the urgency for a unified theoretical definition rather than "a theory based on dichotomies such as formal/informal and North/South" (Rao, V ., (2010), Slum as Theory , in Lotus international , n. 143, p. 12). Rao proposes "design itself as a research method, to probe the transitional and discern and postulate emerging states and forms of normativity in the contradiction between living beings and their environment" ( Ivi , p. 13). Extending the focus from urban planning to architecture, design, and fashion, the paradigm of the informal takes on a broad, complex, and elusive dimension, while at the sametime proving strategic for comprehensively understanding the dynamics of contemporaneity. It presents itself as an open challenge to conventions and predefined models, pushing designers to explore new creative solutions. Aim of this issue of OFFICINA* is to investigate international research and design practice experiences that lie on the boundary between planned and unplanned, between legality and illegality, between formal and informal space, outlining a range of actions that structure new scenarios for the future of contemporary society.
OFFICINA* n.50 Informale
ALESSANDRO TESSARI
2026
Abstract
As paradoxical as it may seem, the informal can be understood as an alternative paradigm capable of impacting and revolutionizing the growth and development of contemporary society. It represents a concrete strategy for organizing the city, communities, production and exchange dynamics, culture, and civil identity itself, subject to alternative rules and procedures that are just as influential as formal ones. This system is driven by actors opposed to the dominant classes that hold hegemony over political-economic development. Informality cannot be reduced to mere illegal urban practices, a lack of planning, or an economic model. It is,first and foremost, a mindset and a tactic - a way of positioning oneself at the margins of existence, transcending the rigid frameworks of the dominant culture. While formal systems are ordered by specific norms designed to regulate social life and foresee its developments, informality introduces chaos into order, adopting an adaptive approach that embraces surprise and unpredictability as inevitable aspects of life. These issues suggest the urgency for a unified theoretical definition rather than "a theory based on dichotomies such as formal/informal and North/South" (Rao, V ., (2010), Slum as Theory , in Lotus international , n. 143, p. 12). Rao proposes "design itself as a research method, to probe the transitional and discern and postulate emerging states and forms of normativity in the contradiction between living beings and their environment" ( Ivi , p. 13). Extending the focus from urban planning to architecture, design, and fashion, the paradigm of the informal takes on a broad, complex, and elusive dimension, while at the sametime proving strategic for comprehensively understanding the dynamics of contemporaneity. It presents itself as an open challenge to conventions and predefined models, pushing designers to explore new creative solutions. Aim of this issue of OFFICINA* is to investigate international research and design practice experiences that lie on the boundary between planned and unplanned, between legality and illegality, between formal and informal space, outlining a range of actions that structure new scenarios for the future of contemporary society. I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
