Designing the Experience. Among the contemporary phygital multiplicity of bodies and space

This paper aims to examine the multi-layered nature of space-user in- teraction, integrated or generated by digital technologies whose expe- riential dimension is activated by the user through the body as interfa- ce. The increasingly pervasive use of new technologies defines a state of seamless interaction between user and inhabited medium, imposing the definition of new scenarios concerning new sensibilities and new proxemics where people, both in the individual and social dimension, are extended physically, mentally and emotionally. Contemporary life is increasingly characterized by dematerialization and digitization of products, processes, and services and, therefore, there is an urgent need for a critical discussion on the experiential value of spaces inte- grated by digital technologies and the consequent limits and design possibilities that they can offer. The relevant literature – starting from the critical analysis of Maldonado’s writings to the considerations of Caronia (1996), Benyon (2014), Morganti, Riva (2006) – focuses on the importance of designing the experiential dimension of the interaction between body and space. Based on these observations, the present study contextualizes the subject matter, starting from Tomás Maldonado’s critique to more recent interpretations that find continuity or discontinuity with the author’s thought. Next, reflections that have emerged around the rele- vant literature are presented, focusing on current practices that testify to the evolution of the space-body relationship – in the examples, in particular, of the “transparent body” (Maldonado, 1997; Floridi, 2017), the “shared body” (Floridi, 2017), and the “digital self” (Granelli, 2006; Floridi, 2017) – towards an increasing digitization of the body. The analysis is therefore focused on identifying the multiplicity of bodies and spaces that the co-presence of the physical and virtual di- mensions entails, investigating whether and what kind of experience can be designed and whether this can constitute a cognitive enrich- ment or impoverishment for the user.