G.Strappa SUBSTRATA – Morphology of the Ancient City, beyond its Ruins
Substrata. Morphology of the Ancient City, beyond its Ruins
by Giuseppe Strappa, in U+D 9/10, 2018
click here : Substrata 2 articolo
Abstract
Studies concerning existing city layouts have
shown how an analysis of the historic layers
proves to be an important resource for morphological
studies.
Taking the ancient Rome as an example, the essay
tries to give contribution to a scientific understanding
of the way in which the layered forms
of history have been transmitted to modern cities.
It is proposed to substitute the term ‘ruin’, as
romantic as overused to the point where it has
exhausted the possibility of proposing definitions
useful to morphological studies, with the most
appropriate term of ‘substratum’ as the living basis
from which new organisms can spring.
The substratum is proposed as powerful legacy
of guidelines, not oriented towards imitating the
past, which could support the work of contemporary
architects transmitting a set of multiple,
shared meanings (as in every phase of the great
civil crisis) in contrast to the individualistic trend
of nowadays architectural design.
As in every phase of the great civil crisis.
City as organism new visions for urban life . 22nd ISUF International Conference – 2015 Rome
Introduction Giuseppe Strappa
Conference Chair
“Sapienza” University of Rome
aprire qui per leggere il Volume ATTI ISUF Rome 2015 (1)
First of all let me say how happy and glad I am to host an Isuf Conference in Rome, in our Faculty of Architecture of “Sapienza” University. Since our early Isuf meetings in the Nineties, I always thought that, sooner or later, we had to organize a conference in Rome on Urban Morphology. We were a few people at that time but since then many years have passed and the number of Isuf members is much increased. Even the fields of interest and scientific methods have proliferated and the meaning of the term “urban morphology” now applies to many schools of thought, sometimes quite dissimilar from those of the founders, but certainly useful to the progress of “discipline.” To our field of interest it was actually recognized the status of discipline, whose roots do not belong only to the schools of cultural geography and building typology, but also acknowledged the different influences of scholars of the city form such as Christofer Alexander, Colin Rowe, Kevin Lynch. For our conference we had about 700 submissions by Urban Morphology scholars belonging to different schools from all over the world. It is noteworthy that most of submissions came from countries rapidly changing, a sign that Isuf has become an association of actual reference in studies on urban transformation. Each Isuf Conference had its peculiar character linked to the specificities of the place that hosts it. I think that an Isuf Conference in Rome has two special reasons. The first is that Rome is a true text of Urban Morphology, not only for its monumental and archaeological part, but mainly for its urban fabric that have been transformed over centuries. This also explains the presence here of numerous colleagues interested to heritage and interventions inside the historical fabrics. Not by chance, is involved in this conference Daniela Esposito, the Director of the School of Restoration in Rome, one of the most prestigious institutions in the field in Europe. Moreover, as Jeremy Whithand has written in the last edition of our Journal, the matter merit high priority on the Isuf agenda, as the contribution of UM studies in the various Heritage Organizations has been meager in recent years. The second reason is that this school of Valle Giulia hosted the birth of one of the schools of thought on which (along with the conzenian one) was founded Isuf. A school with a long tradition, born in the ‘30s with scholars such as Giovannoni and Milani, and continued by Calandra, Muratori, Caniggia and many others. A tradition which we try to continue with an open mind and by experimenting in new ways. A last point. In organizing the structure of this conference we faced the problem of collecting many different contributions within, as far as possible, homogeneous sessions. As for any conference proposing an “oriented” theme, we had to deal with the answers of ap13 city as organism|new visions for urban lifeplicants and often with some very specific papers that it was not always possible to place in entirely consistent sessions. We preferred to anyway accept these contributions, giving up, in some cases, an ideal coherence of the sessions and preferring, instead, to include the most valuable materials proposed for the Urban Morphology disciplinary debate. In opening this Conference I feel obliged to thank the Vicar Rector of Sapienza, Renato Masiani, The Dean of the Faculty Annamaria Giovenale, the Director of the Department of Architectural Design Piero Ostilio Rossi. All of them have strongly encouraged this project. A special thanks is due to professors and students of our Draco PhD School. They have actually coordinated, helped, and concretely supported the initiative.
aprire qui Volume ATTI ISUF Rome 2015 (1)
Leggere la periferia con occhi nuovi
LEGGERE LA PERIFERIA CON OCCHI NUOVI
Giuseppe Strappa
presentazione a: Edilizia privata a Roma. Quale idea di città?
Anna Irene Del Monaco, Maria Rosaria Guarini, Manuela Raitano, Nuova Cultura, Roma 2016
leggi l’articolo al link: periferia
Il problema dello studio della nostra periferia, di una città moderna che si è sviluppata in modo contraddittorio nel territorio di confine tra tessuti consolidati e campagna, è quello di leggere un’edilizia nuova sulla quale, al confronto con la bellezza e l’autorità riconosciuta al centro antico, si è consolidato un giudizio sbrigativo di città instabile e vaga, non legittimata dalla storia: senza struttura.
Le tante letture che si sono succedute, dal neorealismo in poi, nella letteratura, nel cinema, nell’architettura, non hanno fatto che rafforzare l’immagine di un indefinito mondo di confine, a volte estremo, trasformando la realtà di quartieri, insediamenti abusivi, intensivi abitativi pubblici o di speculazione, in luoghi della mente tanto verosimili e consolidati da essere accettati come verità: dalla disperazione delle case popolari di Val Melaina in Ladri di biciclette, alla speranza delusa delle abitazioni del Quadraro di Mamma Roma, ai fondali urbani dei drammi di Rossellini, De Sica, Antonioni, Monicelli, Zampa, Pasolini. L’ultimo brandello di ordine cui aggrapparsi prima del naufragio nei casermoni disordinati, sembrava costituito, curiosamente, dalla rigidità del Quartiere Don Bosco, nella versione metafisica che ne ha dato di Fellini o in quella ironica e malinconica di Dino Risi. Oltre questa soglia, astratta e simbolica, si stendeva un territorio di conflitto senza monumenti e senza memoria, che si alimentava di infiniti segni e permetteva infiniti codici.
Una città strabica, peraltro, che ha sperimentato il mito populista della crescita per quartieri indipendenti proprio nel momento di transizione della città……… continua a leggere periferia
Daniela Poli- Patrimonio territoriale e bioregione urbana: la riscoperta delle morfologie del territorio
Daniela Poli Patrimonio territoriale e bioregione urbana: la riscoperta delle morfologie del territorio
U+D urbanform and design 20/2023
articolo completo al link: D Poli (1)
English abstract
The functionalist and modernizing vision of planning
has reduced the territory to a mere isomorphic
surface where activities and artefacts can
be allocated, separating the city from its reference
context. The rereading of the complexity
of the territory, the declination of the concept
of territorial heritage and the rediscovery of its
founding connection with proactive “patrimonial-
ization” practices have converged in the introduction
of the concept of urban bioregion which
reconstructs and gives value to long-term morphological
configurations, the so-called structural
invariants. The following article illustrates the
cornerstones of this path to the definition of the
city as a node of the eco-territorial network in
the urban bioregion.