"ReverseLab. Pilot space for contemporary art between the prison and the city" aims to activate a space for artistic production and exhibition, open to the public, through the reuse of the semi-basement section of the first wing of San Vittore prison.

The proposal fits within a perspective of strengthening exchanges and projects between the prison environment and external society.

The participatory process aims to experiment with the 'zero edition' of a long-term journey that will materialize in a creative experience led by an artist working on social themes, involving the participation of inmates and supported by the dialogue between State, Prison, City and University.

The project is part of the activities of Off Campus San Vittore and is realised with the contribution of Fondazione di Comunità Milano, which supports socially useful interventions for more than 2 million citizens of Milan and is part of the network of 16 territorial foundations established by Fondazione Cariplo.

The project is part of a decade-long process of exchange and research between the regional penitentiary administrative system, detention institutions and the Politecnico di Milano, through the Laboratorio Carcere research group of the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies and the Department of Design. The PAC Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea is involved for artistic direction.

The basement of the first ray of the prison will be modified to create working spaces and to guarantee the necessary security for the opening to the public. It will house the temporary exhibition foreseen by the project and will become a permanent exhibition area dedicated to a "space of memory" that tells the story and the role of San Vittore prison in the heart of Milan. A bridge between the past and the present to better understand the context and historical importance of this place. Art thus becomes the medium through which people can express themselves and share their stories, in connection and mutual understanding, between 'inside' and 'outside'.

Tackling the evident degradation condition of the San Vittore basement requires the activation of a long-term transformation path supported by the dialogue between State, Prison, City and University. These are the four poles on which the research undertaken so far is based and through which the specific Reverse Lab project aims to verify the possibility of a modifying intervention, by parts, of a participatory type with institutions, operators, businesses and inhabitants, based on the activation of exogenous and endogenous relations and projects, even in the complex reality of the Milanese prison. The objective is to improve the internal habitability conditions and to make this place a social resource for the city, as well as an open, connected and dialoguing portion of it.

After the renovation of the space, 2024 has been dedicated to the pilot project, a workshop with Maurice Pefura, an architect and artist committed to social work. Maurice Pefura led the creative experience involving inmates of San Vittore prison, prison officers, prison educators and students from the School of Architecture, all of whom are direct protagonists and beneficiaries, and all of whom were involved in the creation of a participatory artwork. Together they explored a wide range of artistic techniques, from visual art to performance, and created fragmented works of art, later assembled by the artist into a final work.

This art workshop represents, on the one hand, a multidisciplinary learning pathway: the open and inclusive approach promotes personal growth and the acquisition of skills useful for reintegration into society; on the other hand, it has experimental value, as a pilot experience of the subsequent openings, planned every six months. Moreover, by opening a new exhibition and art-use space to the outside world, a concrete experience of the prison as a place of social and cultural life is offered to the city.