The Systemic Approach Applied In/Outside the One's Own Context

Abstract

The research investigates the village of Yubune in Japan and the municipality of Cella Monte in Italy. Both sites are included in two popular territorial development programmes, Japan Heritage's 'A Walk through the 800-year history of Japanese Tea' and UNESCO's 'Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero e Monferrato'. The main supply chains, Japanese green tea and wine in Piedmont, identify the cultural landscapes of the areas analysed, from the production, social and cultural points of view.

Under the title IN/OUTSIDE, the research identifies and emphasises the differences and similarities arising from the application of Systemic Design within and outside the context of origin: in Japan, as outsider and foreign designer, in Italy, as insider and native designer. The resulting analysis is enhanced by a five-month exchange programme at Nagoya City University in Japan. The result is a design strategy that is adaptable and scalable to different cultural landscapes, branched into three objectives: restructuring the production chain, communicating the cultural landscape, and promoting the systemic approach