FLAGSHIP PROGRAMMES
National Network
Italy
Address
Via Darsena, 57Country
City
FerraraProvince
FerraraMobile Phone
+393406872944Telephone
+393406872944E-Mail (2)
info@bassoprofilo.orgE-Mail (3)
amministrazione@bassoprofilo.orgWebsite
Click HereYear of Establishment
2008Contact Person1
Basso Profilo aps, Leonardo DelmonteJob Title 1
Urban and civic designer, curator and cultural project manager; president and co-founder of Basso Profilo social enterprise; director and co-founder of Wunderkammer consortium; board member of the italian network Lo Stato dei Luoghi; coordinator of the Network of Environmental & Social Transition of Trans Europe Halles.Contact Person 2
Ilaria CesariJob Title 2
Landscape architectOrganisation Type
Non-Governmental OrganizationFields of Activity
Arts, Democracy and community development, Environment/Sustainable development, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, International/Cultural relations, Research, Youth and educationGeneral Information
Basso Profilo is a cross-disciplinary collective founded in Ferrara in 2007, formalised as an association in 2008 and established as a social enterprise in 2024. Working as a bridge between disciplines, it develops participatory projects across urban regeneration, environmental culture, pedagogy, performative practices and social design, and co-founded the Wunderkammer Consortium as a community hub in Ferrara's docks. Its track record includes the reuse of Ferrara's former river warehouses (awarded at the 2nd Biennale dello Spazio Pubblico, 2013), Incredibol! Bologna (2012), Creative Living Lab support from the Italian Ministry of Culture for Darsena Elettronica (2023), selection for the Italian Pavilion of the 19th Architecture Biennale with MAREA, and partnership in Creative Europe's SUNPLUGGED.
Mission and Objectives
Basso Profilo’s mission is to activate cultural processes that connect artistic research, social engagement, and territorial transformation, with a focus on participatory, site-specific, and interdisciplinary practices. Operating across Mediterranean and translocal contexts, the organization promotes culture as a tool for dialogue, inclusion, and collective imagination.
Its objectives are to foster intercultural exchange through collaborative artistic and social practices; to support emerging and cross-disciplinary practitioners through educational formats, residencies, and experimental learning environments; and to contribute to the regeneration of public space as a shared and accessible commons, particularly in marginal or transitional areas.
Basso Profilo also works to strengthen networks at local, national, and international levels, encouraging cooperation, mobility, and shared governance models, while promoting environmentally and socially sustainable approaches to cultural production.
Main Projects / Activities
Basso Profilo operates through a coherent set of long-term projects and programs that integrate artistic research, pedagogy, urban regeneration, and participatory design, with a strong emphasis on environmental awareness, tactical urbanism, and community engagement.
A key axis of activity is education and knowledge production, developed through The School of Un-Design, an experimental pedagogical platform that brings together artists, designers, and participants in collective learning processes combining performative practices, spatial experimentation, and critical design. This dimension is further expanded through Support Structures, a multi-year project conceived as a festival and research platform for site-specific performative practices, exploring temporary architectures, collective rituals, and new forms of inhabiting space.
Another core axis is the exploration of the relationship between technology, ecology, and art through Darsena Elettronica, a multi-year initiative focused on electronic culture, artificial intelligence, and visual and performative arts. Supported by the Italian Ministry of Culture (Creative Living Lab), it combines residencies, public programs, and research into emerging forms of ecological and technological coexistence.
Tactical urbanism represents a central methodological approach in Basso Profilo’s work, enabling temporary, low-threshold, and reversible transformations of public space. This is evident in projects such as Smart Dock, the long-term regeneration of Ferrara’s waterfront, and Percorso Primaro and Giardino Primaro, which reinterpret infrastructure as community space, reconnecting urban environments with their ecological and historical layers. Within this framework, MAREA, a tactical urbanism project developed in Bari with archistart_studio, biro_studio, and lacapagrossacoworking, exemplifies this approach and was presented at the Italian Pavilion of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia (2025).
At the European level, Basso Profilo is partner in SUNPLUGGED (Creative Europe), promoting sustainable artistic practices linked to solar culture across Italy, Portugal, and Sweden. Within the INTERREG project PopUpUrbanSpaces, it developed a prototype for temporary public space activation, including a participatory pavilion built with traditional reed techniques (canniccio), temporarily replacing parking areas. This intervention was part of The Garden of Earthly Delights, a broader framework of actions addressing landscape, citizenship, and environmental awareness.
The organization is also involved in projects addressing landscape heritage and community governance, such as Partecipanza Sonora, aimed at creating an ecomuseum through sound and performative practices, and Campotto, a participatory process for defining community agreements within the Po Delta ecosystem.
Recent collaborations include partnership in the architecture festival Vivere A-Metropolitano (2025), supported by the Italian Ministry of Culture, and PALUDICOLA, an ongoing project focused on the memorial stratigraphy of the Po Valley wetland landscape.
Earlier and foundational projects such as PRATUM, Il Fiume Racconta, banCO, Piazze d’Orti, and Giardino Bene Comune highlight a consistent commitment to civic engagement, co-design, and the reactivation of public space through cultural practices.
Overall, Basso Profilo’s activities articulate a hybrid model that combines artistic production, pedagogy, tactical urbanism, and social innovation, contributing to the development of inclusive, resilient, and environmentally aware cultural infrastructures.
How can you contribute to the Network in your country?
Basso Profilo can contribute to the Anna Lindh Foundation Network in Italy as a practice-based cultural organization working at the intersection of art, design, ecology, and civic engagement. Through participatory and site-specific projects, it can foster intercultural dialogue by activating public spaces as platforms for exchange, co-creation, and collective learning. Its methodologies rooted in co-design, Un-Design, and transdisciplinary practices enable inclusive processes that engage local communities while connecting them to broader Mediterranean contexts. Through ongoing initiatives such as Support Structures and the School of Un-Design, Basso Profilo can develop residencies, workshops, and experimental learning environments that support capacity building, knowledge circulation, and collaborative production. As a member of national networks such as Lo Stato dei Luoghi and Cresco, and active within cultural hubs like Wunderkammer, which is part of international networks such as Trans Europe Halles, Basso Profilo operates within an articulated ecosystem that strengthens its capacity to connect local practices with transnational frameworks. In this context, it aims to act as a cultural intermediary and local node, bridging grassroots experiences with international networks and contributing to innovative, sustainable, and socially engaged approaches to intercultural cooperation.
Why do you want to join the ALF Network?
Basso Profilo seeks to join the Anna Lindh Foundation Network as a strategic step to position its work within a wider Mediterranean framework of intercultural dialogue and cooperation. At this stage, connecting its situated research and practice with transnational dynamics is essential to address shared social, cultural, and environmental challenges. In particular, joining ALF would allow Basso Profilo to expand collaborations, exchange methodologies, and strengthen its capacity through mobility, peer learning, and joint initiatives. The Network represents a key platform to engage with diverse contexts across the region, while contributing a strong ecological perspective focused on climate change, landscape transformation, and their social and political implications. Through this mutual exchange, Basso Profilo aims to both benefit from and actively contribute to ALF’s mission, fostering inclusive, practice-oriented approaches to intercultural dialogue across the Mediterranean.