Exploring Inner Landscapes Through Material

Abstract: Today’s youth are confronted with a complex and ever-changing reality, filled with stimuli and contradictions that challenge their inner world and render them more vulnerable to the demands of daily life. Their “interior landscapes,” shaped by the digital age, are increasingly heterogeneous and contradictory, highlighting fragilities and insecurities that can hinder their educational journey. However, verbal expression and the sharing of emotions, whether positive or negative, is a complex and sometimes painful process, often leading to the internalisation of their discomfort.This paper presents the outcomes of a workshop conducted within the framework of the three-year orientation project POT Design NEED, funded by the MUR (Italian Ministry of University and Research). The workshop took place at the Department of Architecture of the University of Chieti-Pescara, with the participation of students from the Design bachelor degree program and students from the MiBe (Art High School) in Pescara.The workshop aimed to guide students on a journey of self-discovery without their awareness of being subjects in a personal exploratory study, to avoid influencing the final results. This “journey” was valuable for exploring the students’ emotional states, in order to understand their latent needs (emotional, psychological, etc.). The goal was to contribute to overcoming the difficulties and discomforts they encounter in the university environment, thus aiding them in their educational journey.The workshop employed a non-invasive approach to explore the emotional universe of the students. Through a creative process that led them to express their emotions by creating tactile, material-based tablets, it was possible to conduct a needs and difficulties analysis in an environment of mutual listening and dialogue. To achieve this, they were invited to manipulate a synthetic, moldable paste in a synesthetic process, adding or removing material, “imprinting textures,” or treating the surface with various tools, all while listening to music that best represented their current emotional state.By selecting a keyword, the students were able to imbue the material with emotional and symbolic significance, tangibly expressing the nuances of their inner world. The resulting tiles were then presented in a video and discussed in groups, offering students a unique opportunity to reflect on their experiences and connect with the emotions of others.This experience lays the foundation for the construction, over the next three years, of an “emotional atlas” of students, identifying areas of greatest vulnerability. This atlas will serve as a valuable compass for guiding support interventions in education, with the aim of promoting a “personal” educational journey that allows students to face and overcome obstacles with the utmost serenity.

Keywords: inner landscapes, latent needs, emotional materials, psychological discomfort, emotional atlas

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1005858

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