Design against cancer. Topics and projects for a new culture of prevention.

The contribution reports the theoretical framework, experiments and results of the “Design for AIRC” research conducted in partnership between the Department of Architecture of the University of Naples “Federico II” (DiArc) and the Italian Foundation for Cancer Research (AIRC). Specifically, the research analyzes the evolution of the role and the social responsibility of design culture in relation to medical research in the oncology field. In relation to this macro-theme, the research develops specific projects capable of disseminating and activating young users by exploiting, in a broad way, the fascination of science, research, health and well-being. The challenge we shared with the Foundation was, ultimately, to create products, services, actions and nudges designed by young designers for their peers, to disseminate and stimulate a possible debate about the importance of adopting lifestyles useful for maintaining health. Specifically, the research operates on three thematic pillars: not smoking, eating in a healthy and balanced manner, adopting an active and non-sedentary lifestyle. The role of Design was to “stitch” necessary external interdisciplinary contributions and to experiment, through new artefacts and related services, viable and synthetic solutions capable of producing and testing new possible semantics of prevention, based on a shared language, friendly, pleasant, engaging, serene, scientifically correct; that is, capable of replacing the concepts of “fear”, “death”, “doubt”, “solitude”, “passivity” and “illness” with those of “reassurance”, “life”, “knowledge”, “sharing”, “ proactivity”, “wellbeing”. New objects, new relationships, new words for a new culture of prevention.