Open MaLL
Petralia Sottana
INTRO
Open Madonie Living Lab took place in Petralia Sottana, a village immersed in the beautiful mountain territory of the Madonie: a place marked by nature and history. In recent years, part of a former convent around a historic cloister, once home to a school central to the town's story, was transformed into a lab designed to spark collaboration and new possibilities. Inside: a photo/video studio, audio room, food lab, fablab, and virtual lab. With all this potential, the question became: how could this space truly come alive?
STEP 0
Setting the scope
The Open Madonie Living Lab wasn't just a space; it was an invitation. We wanted to create a space where people – both from and out of the Madonie context - could meet, make things together, and care for their territory through creativity, design, art, and a bit of tech magic. We opened the doors wide: kids, artisans, researchers, artists, students, locals. Young and old. Curious minds and skilled hands. The goal? Make participation feel easy and welcoming, not exclusive or complicated. Everyone should feel they belong. Life in the Madonie is beautiful, but not always easy. Towns feel isolated from each other. Traditional skills risk being forgotten. Public spaces sit empty or closed.
And people, especially young people, often don't see a clear way to get involved or make their voices heard. The journey was hands-on and human. We used tools and methods to help the group align ideas, navigate disagreements, and build momentum as a team. It wasn't always smooth: there were moments of tension, confusion, even frustration. But that's part of the magic. We mixed in-person sessions in Petralia Sottana with remote collaboration. Through workshops, public events, and prototyping sessions in Madonie Living Lab participants discovered causes they cared about, tested their ideas, and grew their confidence, together.
photo_camera INSTAGRAMLooping animation presenting Open MaLL and introducing the Open Madonie Living Lab.
STEP 1
Theme Choice
Picking what matters most
We kicked things off by exploring the space itself walking through the fablab, food lab, and media lab to see what was possible. Then we turned to each other. Who are we? What do we bring? Introductions became conversations, and conversations became connections. We invited three guests to shake things up. We went through digital fabrication and how machines can become creative tools, photography that tells social stories and spark change, and experiences of designing in places often left on the margins.
An expert mentor then guided us through "unlearning by doing": a method that challenges assumptions and opens space for new ways of thinking, especially around inclusivity. We played with role-playing exercises to loosen up, trust each other, and understand group dynamics. Then came the messy, exciting part: ideation. Each person worked solo first, using a simple matrix - cause, strategy, tool - to map out what they cared about, how they might act on it and what equipment or space to use.
We voted, compared notes, and started to see patterns. Aspirations met skills. Individuals became groups. Four teams emerged. Metamadonie wanted to use photography and storytelling to build a shared memory archive. Civico Museo brought heritage to life for kids through storytelling, creative labs and 3D printing. Madonie Maker Week connected traditional crafts with digital tools. Mad Chef collected and cooked local recipes. Each group shaped their vision through brainstorming, storyboards and feedback.
Step 2 Exploration
Discovering places, stories, and challenges
Once the groups formed, it was time to step outside and dig in. Exploration meant getting close to the people, places, and stories that make the Madonie what they are and understanding the challenges hidden beneath the surface.
Metamadonie invited residents from different towns across the Madonie to bring photos from their personal archives. With the support of an expert, they explored in a deeply intimate way concepts like identity, memory, and territory. It wasn't just about collecting images; it was about understanding what those images hold and what they mean to the people who keep them.
Civico Museo brought a group of children to the local museum with a very special guide: the mayor. They focused on the story of a warrior figurine, then moved to the Living Lab where the kids explored the space with wide-eyed curiosity: machines, tools, possibilities. Using colors, materials, and creative techniques, they rewrote and reimagined the warrior's story in their own way.
Madonie Maker Week visited two workshops. The first belonged to a young luthier, carrying on a family tradition of woodworking, carving, and tailoring. The second specialized in making the famous Sicilian flat cap, the coppola. Both artisans were then invited to visit the fablab, where they began imagining new experiments—bridges between hand and machine.
Mad Chef interviewed locals, asking them to share their heart recipes—dishes tied to emotion, memory, and place. It wasn't just about ingredients; it was about the feelings those recipes carry and the traditions they keep alive.
STEP 3
Experimentation and Co-Creation
Trying things out and testing ideas built together with local communities
This is where ideas left the page and entered the world. Experimentation meant trying, failing, adjusting—and doing it all together with the people who would actually use what we were making.
Metamadonie prototyped a digital archive interface, giving shape to how the community's memories might live online. They worked with the owners of the photos in a collective curation process to create a fanzine—deciding together what stories to tell and how to tell them. The result was intimate, messy, and deeply theirs. Then came the exhibition: they selected photos from the collection, printed them in large formats using the lab's machines, and staged a public showcase.
Civico Museo brought the warrior to life. Using a 3D printer, they recreated the figurine, then fed the children's drawings and stories into an AI tool to generate an animated video. The ancient artifact became a character in a story written by kids—heritage reimagined through their eyes and voices.
Madonie Maker Week tested a new kind of meeting: traditional artisans and digital makers, in the same room, at the same machines. The luthier and the coppola maker experimented with laser cutting and 3D printing, exploring what these tools could do—and couldn't do. It wasn't about replacing handcraft; it was about expanding what's possible and understanding the limits, too.
Mad Chef invited a local cook to share a recipe in the food lab. First, they foraged ingredients—walking through fields, visiting local suppliers. Then they cooked together, turning tradition into a shared meal and a living memory.
STEP 4
Urban Showcase
Bringing it all to the city
On May 11th, the historic cloister opened its doors wide. The "Open MaLL Open Day" turned the space into something alive: an exhibition, a meeting point, a celebration of everything the groups had been building together. Four stands, four stories. Visitors moved between them, watching videos, flipping through the fanzine, examining digitally fabricated objects made in collaboration with local artisans, and pausing in front of the photographic exhibition. Each piece was a conversation starter, people asked questions, shared reactions, and began imagining what could come next.
More than 50 people showed up: policymakers, neighbors, young people, students, researchers. Some came out of curiosity, others because they'd heard whispers about what was happening at the Lab. The groups were there too, ready to talk, explain, and listen. Feedback flowed naturally, not in formal presentations, but through informal chats, guided tours, and spontaneous exchanges.
In the end, a tasting of traditional local sweets brought everyone together in a moment of shared pleasure and conviviality. The event wasn't just about showing results. It was about making the work visible and accessible, proving the Lab belongs to the community, and planting seeds for what comes next.
Vignettes from Sf:ius
Early mornings in Petralia Sottana bring a calm that settles over its steep cobblestone streets and the surrounding Madonie landscape. Even on busy days, the town moves with a kind of measured ease. Inside the former school—now a shared civic and creative space—the quiet starts to shift. Children are already upstairs for weekend activities, while young participants in the MaLL prepare the courtyard and adjacent rooms for the day.
Tables are set with crayons, watercolours, and plasteline; in the FabLab, 3D scanners and printers hum; a nearby room becomes an improvised interview studio with chairs and a wall divided into sections for notes and images. As visitors arrive – local artisans, elders, youth, and families – the building fills with greetings and invitations. One young participant reassures an artisan, “We’ll do it together.” Another responds to a guest who worries he has too many photos and too many stories: “We’ve printed them all – we want to hear everything you have to say.” Children run into the courtyard and are welcomed with a bright “Good morning!”
Throughout the day the school becomes a lively hub of shared knowledge. Children reinvent the prehistoric museum figurine Il Guerriero as “Giacomino,” a sci-fi hero saving the world. In another room, youths conduct oral-history interviews, documenting residents’ favourite spots and lesser-known stories of their communities. In the FabLab, a local artisan explains how traditional caps are made and how he tries to modernise them, while the youth demonstrate how 3D scanning and printing can support this craft.
By afternoon, the work takes shape: a storyboard and plasteline models for a short animation about Giacomino, a template for engaging children in the city museum; a wall filled with photographs and transcripts ready for bottom-up mapping the community’s heritage; and, a 3D scan and 3D-printed model of a cap that the artisan can use to promote his work online. The cloister, resists stillness, in an eager review of the day’s work, alive in discussing how to support the community, how to give back.
STEP 5
Evaluation
Looking back to move forward
Throughout the journey, we kept asking: What's working? What's changing? How are we feeling? We started before anything began, with an online form asking participants why they wanted to join and what they hoped to bring. During the activities, we moved from post-its walls to capture quick reflections through open and intimate discussions: what are you really doing here? What Madonie Living Lab is doing for you? People spoke up, honestly and openly.
A final anonymous more structured survey helped us to do further considerations. Participants felt the experience was immersive, collaborative, and real. They appreciated the chance to prototype tangible things, not just talk about ideas. They picked up hard skills like 3D printing and design tools, but also soft ones: listening, teamwork, mediation, and the ability to stay present in disagreement.
Their understanding of participation shifted. It went from an idealized concept to something messier and more alive: something you have to practice, negotiate, and sometimes fight for. They learned about local customs, advanced methodologies, and nuanced ideas of inclusion that hold complexity and care.
The Living Lab became a transformative space. People left feeling more prepared and motivated to promote collaborative work, believing deeply that participation can generate real change. The next challenge? Involving more and more people, giving continuity to these processes, and making the space truly open to the entire community.
Psugo Petralia Credits
Core organising team
Emilia Pardi
Associate Director at PUSH.
Alessandro Riva
Designer at PUSH.
Roberto Filippi
Art Director and Director at PUSH.
Marco Cuerq
Designer at MUV.
Francesco Massa
Financial manager, PUSH
Activities design Collaborators
Letizia Rosaria Cardinali
PUSH intern
Simone Ferlisi
PUSH intern
Roberta Moschiera
PUSH intern
Scientific supervisors
Mauro Filippi
Phd, University of Palermo
Salvatore Di Dio
Associate Professor, University of Palermo
Visiting lecturers
Iolanda Carollo
Photographer and co-founder, Église
Guido Di Bella
Associate Professors, University of Messinat
Francesca Gattello
Designer and Independent Researcher, co-founder of LOTS
Mauro Filippi
Phd, University of Palermo
Activities Participants (Students)
Samuele Buglino
Alessandra Cipolla
Massimo Cocco
Silvia Concone
Alessandra Di Luca
Giuseppe Ferro
Giuseppe Fiducia
Gabriele Lentini
Claudio Nigrelli
Emma Pasetto
Giuseppe Tomasello
Pietro Viola
Activities Participants (Researcher/ Professionals)
Lorenza Bencivinni
Leonardo Bruno
Giacomo Cammarata
Concetta Chillemi
Concetta Conoscenti
Antonina Inchiappa
Luisa Lombardo
Giacomo Molè
Samuele Morvillo
Daniele Palmeri
Roberta Pandolfino
Morena Rizzo
Francesca Sacco
Collaborators - Stakeholders
Mirko Inguaggiato
Local Artisan
Antonio Cassarà
Local Artisan
Antonio Farinella
Local Chef
Municipality of Petralia Sottana
ISIS "G.Salerno", Gangi
Église
Civic Museum of Petralia Sottana
Unione dei comuni delle Madonie