L’Asilo

L’Asilo is an independent centre for artistic, social and cultural production, run by an informal community of artists, activists, researchers and inhabitants of Naples, Italy, who take care of both the facilities and the cultural and artistic programming. It is also a political and juridical laboratory, experimenting with inclusive community-making and the creation of new institutions recognising and supporting the residents’ self-government.

The cooperative model developed by L’Asilo is commoning, by means of open use and management. Everything is decided in public assemblies that take place every Monday. To make Assemblies’ decisions concrete and operational, activities are organised in public thematic groups of permanent discussion that favour the encounter, exchange and cooperation of those using and taking care of the spaces.

Activities take place every day simultaneously in different parts of the building (theatre, library, refectory, gallery, armoury, crypt, garden, chapel) that have been equipped with technology by the community to make means of production available to a wide number of workers and inhabitants.

What makes your organisation unique?

Horizontality, community engagement and self-governance.