Beyond the Ephemeral. The Metaproject as a Translation Device for Exhibition Sustainability

This paper explores the role of the metaproject as a tool for translating sustainability into the design of temporary installations. Starting from the recognition of the sector’s inherently ephemeral nature - which generates high resource consumption and waste production - the essay proposes the metaproject not only as a strategic phase of the design process, but as a mechanism capable of making regulatory principles - which are otherwise difficult to apply in practice - accessible and communicable. To this end, the paper introduces the photographic metaphor as an interpretive code: the five pillars of future CAM Allestimenti are translated into photographic principles - framing the subject, balancing exposure, choosing the lens, synchronizing the shot, processing the print - generating metaproject indicators with dual technical and communicative implications. The resulting charts of photographic and exhibition-related critical issues serve as operational tools for identifying and correcting unsustainable practices, transforming sustainability from an external constraint into a structural component of design thinking.