Background: Imagine a city rich in history, economically dynamic, nestled between the hills of the Val di Noto and the Mediterranean Sea, flattered by tourism and art, yet lacking cultural venues for its citizens. In the south of Sicily, Ragusa is a city of 73,000 inhabitants lacking a real beating heart. In January 2023, with this urgency, a group of young entrepreneurs decided to take over and regenerate a municipal area of about 3,000 m² in the city centre that was left behind in decay for years.
In this way, they are giving back to the city a ‘container’ capable of bringing together people, ideas and projects; a public square where people can meet, identify and grow together, a place of inclusion and revolution. A place where to simply stop for a break from everyday life.
Today, a bistro and cultural centre – a stage for musicians and emerging artists. Tomorrow, a market for local artisans and producers, an outdoor gym, or a place for workshops, c-oworking and obviously a dancefloor.

Naming & Multi-payoff
For such an ambitious project, a name was needed that could convey the strength of the mission and its impact on the urban environment and citizenship, and that could also be immediate, dynamic, simple. This is how the acronym B.A.M. was born, and from where the main payoff derives: Break nell’Abitato Moderno (trad. A Break in the Modern City). A fluid acronym that adapts to the pace of life. Fluid because the proposed services embrace different markets and targets, fluid because it shapes according to the objectives and the messages to be conveyed in communication, such as – among many others:
Bistrot, Aperto, Musicato
Benvenuto Al Mondo
Buongiorno Amore Mio
Bisogna Amare Molto
Brillare Anziché Morire

But BAM, above all, is the onomatopoeia of an explosion, of a break from the ordinary, and from the past. It expresses astonishment at the unpredictability of an abandoned area flourishing again, and astonishment at the beauty.

Logo
What happened to the acronym dots? They have been transformed, multiplied, animated. They have become the pictogram: 13 dots extending in a radial pattern as a graphic synthesis of an explosion, a flower, a star, the hands of a clock. Metaphorically, it represents a group of people or ideas coming together, moving from different and opposite points towards a single still point: the centre. BAM is not just a place, it is contamination, social – economic and cultural networking.

Conclusion
The project has caught the attention and ignited the enthusiasm of citizens, institutions and stakeholders, helping to animate a space that seemed destined to become one of the many, too many, non-places in the city and which instead – BAM! – proudly claims its mission: to return the city to its inhabitants.