Drawing for the Future: The Old Towns of Calascio and Rocca Calascio in Abruzzo

For decades in Abruzzo we have been witnessing impotently to the phenomenon of depopulation, seeing disappearing, piece by piece, some of the most beautiful villages scattered in a fragile and beautiful land. This research arises from the need to monitor, through an ongoing atlas, what today remains of historical and anthropic memory of places now fading away. Representation, with its tools and methods, can here be helpful to activate processes of documentation and to try to make known this rich historical/architectural heritage to a wider and wider audience. Many studies have taken place on that subject but, today, there is a particular urgency to make a snapshot of the state of affairs because of the speed with which this process acts moved by endogenous and exogenous forces. In addition, the current era requires us to reconsider the meaning of the places and the belonging to them, visions where different sides oppose as those who defend their living spaces and those who pursue new opportunities. This essay is part of a research that involves more teachers in the area of Representation of the Department of Architecture in Pescara engaged in research paths parallel but mutually synergistic. Here, the case study of Calascio and Rocca Calascio is reported aiming to highlight the methodology and representation tools we are adopting.