Notes from a Ground that Refuses to Resolve: Ambivalences of Participatory Practice in Rione Scala.

This article reflects on five years of participatory architectural practice in Rione Scala, a peripheral neighbourhood in Pavia, Italy, through the lens of Architecture(s) of Care. Drawing on the concepts of terrain vague, situated knowledge, and ethics of care, it examines the emancipatory potential and inherent contradictions of participatory action research when conducted from within academic institutions. Rather than proposing architecture as a tool of resolution, the article argues for a reflexive, accountable, and structurally conscious practice based on sustained presence, critical engagement, and the recognition of peripheral territories as sites of knowledge production.