The Ritual Generator. Strutturare riti ibridi per pratiche plurali

In an era where conviviality time has reduced by almost 70% (Kannan et al, 2023), it appears essential to rethink collective dialogue modalities to reestablish meaningful connections between individuals. The sense of displacement and loss of common references, caused by the progressive disappearance of rituals (Han, 2021), make social connection practices capable of responding to present transformations urgent. The research explores ritual potential as an integration tool through design, capable of shaping relationships and valorising plurality within a community (Bell, 2009). Design has already experimented with toolkits that investigate the role of rituals in creating experiences supporting sociality. The Ritual Generator adds the will to valorise encounters between people of different cultures, generating a hybrid ritual from a dataset composed of participants’ individual backgrounds. The objective is to highlight contact points to contrast discriminatory drifts, educate toward overcoming cultural hierarchies, and apply an intersectional approach (Crenshaw, 1989) ensuring that relationships model the ritual’s distinctive traits. The project is divided into three phases: context discovery; human geography mapping; hybrid ritual codification. In the context, which is variable, participant numbers, space, ritual repetition frequency, accessibility, available materials and objects are considered. Human geography mapping highlights participants’ identity peculiarities considering demographic, territorial, spiritual, cultural, and community factors, interweaving personal and collective stories. The intersection between the first two phases, supported by a user journey map, serves as prompts to generate ritual codification structured according to four dimensions: narrative (stories, symbols); spatial (place configuration), objectual (role of artifacts and materials) and behavioral (actions, gestures). Temporally, it is marked by three topical moments: opening, manifestation, and closure that brings with it memory development and emotional experience sedimentation. The resulting ritual becomes an intentional, situated, repeated, formalised act conveyed by material and symbolic elements that reinforce its continuity over time (Pils, Trocchianesi, 2017). In this scenario, design becomes a relationship mediator and transforms ritual into a social integration laboratory capable of generating belonging and active participation. Through the project idea, we aspire to create a dynamic repertoire of shared practices that can adapt to different contexts (school, corporate, or more generally, group facilitation) favoring an “intercultural and relational” design vision oriented toward building a plural future.