Matera and design have gone hand in hand for a very long time now, its roots set in a relationship between the area and its craftsmen that was already evident in the 1800s: the upholstered furniture industry, now renown the world over.   

As product design turned into project design, it was important not to lose contact with the past and ensure that the new generation of designers would work for society at large, applying technological innovation to the major contemporary social and cultural transformations taking place.  

It was for this reason that the Open Design School Matera was chosen, a main feature of Matera’s winning bid to become 2019’s European Culture Capital.

The school will bring together authors, bloggers, designers, craftsmen, hackers, students, professionals and scholars to breathe life into the first design school in Europe to be based on the principles of Open Culture, one which will continue far beyond 2019.

The Open Design School was conceived as a living lab for interdisciplinary experimentation and is located in the heart of Sasso Barisano. It was founded to be a main feature of Matera’s cultural capital events in close collaboration with the project’s other main cornerstone, the Istituto Demo-Etno Antropologico, known as I-DEA.

The first intensive workshop at the Open Design School was held in Matera from 1 September to 21 October 2016. It brought together 15 participants from a variety of professions, some of whom were from Matera, while others came from other parts of the country and even the world.

Working together with many partners and experts from all over Italy and abroad, the six weeks of work focused on developing the concept of a new performance space to be built within the XVII century Cava del Sole, as well as helping to come up with ideas on the architectural and management model of the Open Design School.

The programme of events to be inaugurated on Saturday, 10 December, at 11 am will be about the experience and is divided into three main areas, taking the visitor from San Nicola dei Greci all the way into the heart of the old underground church (the Cava del Sole), passing through the Piccianello district.

It’s a tour that will spur the visitor’s interest in the processes that enlivened the workshop and then to live through the experience of the self-construction that took place in keeping with the principles of open structure, and, finally, enter the Cava del Sole to trace the route that will lead to – and go beyond – the ambitious 2019 goals.  

OPEN DESIGN SCHOOL
ATTRAVERSO LA CITTA’
(THROUGH THE CITY)
LA VIA DEL SOLE

SAN NICOLA DEI GRECI

Opening hours
The exhibit will be open every day from 10:00 to 13:30

Special opening hours
On 8, 9, 10, 11, 17, 18, 23, 27, 29 and 30 December
and on 2, 4, 5 and 8 January
from 10:00 to 18:00

ACTIVITIES

Saturday 10 December
at 11:00 / the rock church of San Nicola dei Greci
Inauguration of the event: “Open Design School attraverso la città - la Via del Sole” (Open Design School through the city – the Via del Sole)

Sunday, 11 December
from 10:00 – 13:00 / San Nicola dei Greci
“Open Design School attraverso la città - la Via del Sole” (Open Design School through the city – the Via del Sole): from the Sassi to the Cava del Sole in the footsteps of the men who dug it

Sunday, 18 December
from 10:00 – 13:00 / San Nicola dei Greci
“Open Design School attraversa la città - la Via del Sole” (Open Design School through the city – the Via del Sole): from the Sassi to the Cava del Sole in the footsteps of the men who dug it

WORKSHOPS

From 13 to 17 December
from 9:00 – 18:00 / Le Botteghe – Via Marconi
A participatory self-construction workshop curated by the Open Design School

Saturday, 21 January
From 10:00 – 18.00 / Open Design School – Casale complex – Sasso Barisano
Workshop: “Responsive space, applicazione di sistemi Arduino ed installazioni interattive” (Responsive space, the application of Arduino systems and interactive installations)

Sunday, 22 January
From 9:00 – 13:00 / Le Botteghe - Via Marconi
Workshop: “Mental mapping”

Saturday, 28 January
From 10:00 – 18:00 / Open Design School – Casale complex  – Sasso Barisano
Workshop: “Wooden Open Structures”

Saturday, 4 February
From 10:00 – 18:00 / Open Design School – Casale complex – Sasso Barisano
Workshop: “Reciprocal Lamps, recupero e trasformazione” (Reciprocal Lamps, recovery and transformation)

Saturday, 11 February
From 9:00 – 13:00 / Liceo Artistico C. Levi – Via Cappuccini
Workshop on the processes of self-construction

*Workshops can host a maximum of 15 participants.
You can reserve a space at a workshop by writing to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. specifying which workshop interests you.

SHOWS AND EXHIBITIONS

Saturday, 17 December
Starting at 20:00 / Church of Maria SS. Annunziata (Piccianello district)
“Piccianello, crocevie” theatre by Emilio Andrisani of the Hermes Teatro Laboratorio, text by Costantino Dilillo, in collaboration with the Associazione Festa della Madonna della Bruna

Starting at 21:00 / Le Botteghe - Via Marconi
Neighborhood party 

SYMPOSIUM

Friday, 10 February
From 12:00 / Palazzo Lanfranchi
Open Design School, Open Culture, Open Future
Organised by Joseph Grima

*Shows and symposia are free of charge, entrance restricted to seating availability.