The identities and differences of the walled historic cities of the Euro-Mediterranean basin have suffered a single destiny with the urban transformations of the 19th and 20th centuries and the expansions of modernity. The local settlement models, strongly linked to environmental and cultural variables break with the introduction of some repeatable and homologated rationalizing layouts. Linear extra moenia expansions, geometric regularity of the blocks and constant width of the driveway sections are the recurring elements of this phase of city development. This model can be found in the small and large cities of Europe, but is also exported to colonial areas. The buildings of the historical areas have become the main objects of restorative intervention; at the same time, a design vision on the most pervasive system of open air spaces was almost absent. On the contrary, the non-built space between the buildings has often been subjected to interventions aimed at encouraging an ever greater access of tourists, an increasingly broader capacity to accommodate equipment and furnishings for recreational uses to the detriment of the few residual users. In this direction, a reflection on two case studies located in the Euro-Mediterranean area makes it possible to identify some recurrences and evidences within which the loss of meaning and functionality of the non-built space as a technological-environmental interface system is often accomplished. The two case studies analyzed to conduct this reflection are Lanciano in Italy, a candidate for the city of culture 2020 and Ghadames in Libya, whose historic centre has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. In both case studies, the historical core is the result of the slow growth processes that have occurred over time from the Roman period to modernity. The expansions of Modern period, generally structured along one or more lines, are organized according to very precise rules of allotment that underline the contrast between two ideas of different cities and, at the same time, developed with organic and spatial continuity without particular elements of break with the historic intra moenia core. Within the built space of the consolidated historical centre, we can find some relevant systems that have had a pedestrian function and that characterize the network of voids in the urban scene. In these spaces, it is possible to reconfigure the relational and connective aspects of the built components. This positioning vision intends to proceed toward a regeneration of the urban non-built pedestrian spaces as a system of privileged interfacing places of everything that is built. It is possible to identify within this system six distinct recurring pedestrian sub-systems that have defined the relationships of buildings with the vital flows of mobility, sociality and interactions with naturalness throughout the history. The six recurring sub-systems are: paths, passages, shelters, borders, islands and oases.

Re-connective Interfaces in the Historical Urban Open Spaces

Filippo ANGELUCCI
;
2020-01-01

Abstract

The identities and differences of the walled historic cities of the Euro-Mediterranean basin have suffered a single destiny with the urban transformations of the 19th and 20th centuries and the expansions of modernity. The local settlement models, strongly linked to environmental and cultural variables break with the introduction of some repeatable and homologated rationalizing layouts. Linear extra moenia expansions, geometric regularity of the blocks and constant width of the driveway sections are the recurring elements of this phase of city development. This model can be found in the small and large cities of Europe, but is also exported to colonial areas. The buildings of the historical areas have become the main objects of restorative intervention; at the same time, a design vision on the most pervasive system of open air spaces was almost absent. On the contrary, the non-built space between the buildings has often been subjected to interventions aimed at encouraging an ever greater access of tourists, an increasingly broader capacity to accommodate equipment and furnishings for recreational uses to the detriment of the few residual users. In this direction, a reflection on two case studies located in the Euro-Mediterranean area makes it possible to identify some recurrences and evidences within which the loss of meaning and functionality of the non-built space as a technological-environmental interface system is often accomplished. The two case studies analyzed to conduct this reflection are Lanciano in Italy, a candidate for the city of culture 2020 and Ghadames in Libya, whose historic centre has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. In both case studies, the historical core is the result of the slow growth processes that have occurred over time from the Roman period to modernity. The expansions of Modern period, generally structured along one or more lines, are organized according to very precise rules of allotment that underline the contrast between two ideas of different cities and, at the same time, developed with organic and spatial continuity without particular elements of break with the historic intra moenia core. Within the built space of the consolidated historical centre, we can find some relevant systems that have had a pedestrian function and that characterize the network of voids in the urban scene. In these spaces, it is possible to reconfigure the relational and connective aspects of the built components. This positioning vision intends to proceed toward a regeneration of the urban non-built pedestrian spaces as a system of privileged interfacing places of everything that is built. It is possible to identify within this system six distinct recurring pedestrian sub-systems that have defined the relationships of buildings with the vital flows of mobility, sociality and interactions with naturalness throughout the history. The six recurring sub-systems are: paths, passages, shelters, borders, islands and oases.
2020
9788849238983
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11564/732562
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