Thesis title: L’Environmental Graphic Design come infrastruttura relazionale. Paradigmi interpretativi, sistemi classificatori e strategie progettuali per la rigenerazione – sociale, culturale ed economica – dello spazio urbano.
In recent years, the concepts of reactivation and urban regeneration have gained a central role in debates on public space, often reduced to rhetorical formulas serving processes of consumption and the spectacularization of places. Yet, in several emerging experiences, these practices have shown the potential to generate more authentic forms of inhabitation, relationality, and shared meaning. Within this framework, the research investigates the role of Environmental Graphic Design (EGD) understood as a relational infrastructure of urban space, assuming that the graphic sign can act as a device of social, cultural, and economic regeneration, mediating between the material, symbolic, and collective dimensions of the context. Grounded in a systemic and situated perspective, the dissertation develops a tripartite theoretical–interpretive model of the urban graphic sign – articulated along physical, social, and symbolic dimensions – which serves as the conceptual matrix for two complementary tools: a relational taxonomy of EGD practices and a methodological framework for situated analysis and design. Through the integration of theoretical inquiry, case study observation, and design reflection, the research constructs a coherent system of interpretive paradigms, classificatory systems, and design strategies aimed at fostering the regeneration of the urban communicative landscape. Its main contribution lies in the epistemological redefinition of EGD, no longer conceived as an informational or decorative language, but as a cultural and relational practice capable of activating processes of meaning, participation, and awareness within contemporary public space.