Translator: Denise RQ Reviewer: Camille Martínez
Good afternoon, everybody.
The image behind me is a rendering
of my and my boyfriend Daniel's apartment.
We bought it a few months ago in downtown Trento,
and we thought about renovating it, and wondered how to remodel it.
We wanted to do something different, unique;
something that connected with our lives,
with how we live, how we think, but how could we make this happen?
We found an Italian company that specializes in interior design.
Actually, I work in copyright,
intellectual property, and access to knowledge,
and it was through those channels that we were introduced to the company,
and we established a rapport with them.
Through that relationship, we decided to launch a project together,
which I'm going to talk about today,
starring Daniel and me as the people,
and our apartment as the conduit for sharing and culture.
Indeed, we wanted our apartment to become
not just a place of private living, but also an open space--
open to other people, people from the outside;
we wanted to break away from the traditional setup
that we were used to dealing with.
We wanted to be able to organize events in our apartment,
to be able to turn our home into an art gallery,
to host a young artist wanting to make a name for himself or herself;
or convert it into a venue
where a young musician could perform,
or even into--why not?--a pop-up shop.
It might seem a bit crazy or utopian, maybe.
But really, it's not so crazy or utopian.
These types of projects have already materialized successfully
in places very close to us, such as Bolzano and Milan.
Daniel and I have seen these examples and we are convinced more than ever
that this is the right path to take.
Naturally, at the heart of the idea is a modular design
that allows us to transform the house as if it were a toy,
from an intimate space, devoted to the family
to an open space instead; open to the public, open to the community.
We think that this project is also a life project;
a project where our small contribution can bring about social change.
It can improve our quality of life,
and the quality of life of the people close to us;
of our families, of our friends, and also of our community.
Because we allow people to come, to live life,
to conduct a life of relationships in our apartment,
to participate in events;
it would be almost a return to something that was once normal and commonplace.
You may not remember it, but it happened in our grandparents' homes.
Today we've lost this aspect of sharing;
of relationships, of appreciating and being with one another,
We're all somewhat individualists now.
Our view is that the apartment as shared space is just a small step
on the larger path we're trying to pursue.
I'd like to finish my testimony today
--because it is, in fact, a testimony in support of change,
taking up the challenge that all the speakers
have put before us here today.
So I'd like to end my brief testimony
with an idea that Steve Jobs proposed
to young Stanford graduates during his commencement address,
inviting them to be crazy, to follow their dreams,
no matter how unrealistic or utopian they may seem,
because this alone is what allows us to move forward;
it is an engine for improvement.
So I will close with Steve Jobs's words:
"Your time is limited,
so don't waste it living someone else's life.
Stay hungry.
Stay foolish."
Thank you.
(Applause)