RICERCA ITALIANA     

Mediterranean sites: signs, codes, ordering elements, indicators and models for a multiscale and multidimension representation of mediterranean architectures, urban environments and landscapes

Università degli Studi "Mediterranea" di Reggio Calabria

Abstract

The research project aims to face the theme of ‘lanscape’ under the point of view of representation sciences, a multiscale approach ranging from architecture to urban environment to territory. It’s quite a topical theme, but still it is an idea that is quite difficult to catch, since the synthetic perception of interaction between ‘man’ and ‘nature’ can be considered an ever changing matter, not only under the influence of mutations of physical reality, but also of the one of accumulation of historical events, of different displacement and concentration of economical and social interests and different stakeholders, witch, by the way, also influence the scale of environmental perception and the possibility itself of defining ‘places’.

The research group is made by four local units with a long term tradition of common work, that can guarantee a completely interdisciplinary approach trough the jointed work of different specialists in diverse disciplines. Single contributes are though characterized by a strong co-participation, leading to a 360 degrees analysis and converging toward the reaching of solid and sharable results through:

- an historical study on stratifications reviewed through a signs system capable to translate into graphic elements the description essentials, toward the building of models for a comparative framework aimed to describe an identity map of places;
- the cataloguing of different Italian landscapes to point out >>>

Principal Investigator

Massimo Giovannini Università degli Studi "Mediterranea" di REGGIO CALABRIA

Research Objectives

The aims of the Research Program will be pursued through the joint action of each Research Unit. The aims are:

1. Research Unit of Politecnico di Milano – Prof. E. Bistagnino.
1.1 to understand if the present conformation of our landscapes, in continuous transformation, is suitably described in newest and contemporary images incisive for learning, valorization and communication;
1.2 to make a reconnaissance of the many italian landscapes to get to the description of different kind of categories, and to the shaping of images refering the many souls of the mediterranean identity;
1.3 to test hypothesis to reconfigurate, improve and communicate the mediterranean contemporary landscapes

2. Research Unit of Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II" - Prof. M. Dell’Aquila.
2.1 to develop the analysis of Mediterranean identity, deepening the study on possible connectors of relations and on existing reciprocities.
2.2 to identify the historical legacies of Mediterranean and the the indelible traces that the Greek and Roman civilizations left on the territories;
2.3 to identify descriptors input of places, going back to the Roman common matrix, finding out homogeneous elements, specificity and plural identities, namely those intrinsic values that characterize individual territories, but also are significant for a comprehensive knowledge on the Mediterranean landscape;
2.4 to analyze the >>>

First Results

This project aims to develop a direct contribution from representation disciplines in the current debate about the general idea of “Lanscape”, meant as the synthesis, at different scales, of architecture, urban environments and territories that become recognizable through a complex system of signs and codes of perception and communication able to promote identification processes.

It’s meant to update the disciplinary approach and bring concrete contribution to the progressive focalization of the same idea of “Landscape”, concerned with the increasing importance that these problems are gaining for the definition of local communities and environment knowledge, protection and management policies.

The theme of ‘landscape’ has become somehow central in modern thought about territory management. Although it’s deeply rooted in common sense, still it is an idea that is quite difficult to catch, since the synthetic perception of interaction between ‘man’ and ‘nature’ can be considered an ever changing matter, not only under the influence of mutations of physical reality, but also of the one of accumulation of historical events, of different displacement and concentration of economical and social interests and different stakeholders, witch, by the way, also influence the scale of environmental perception and the possibility itself of defining ‘places’


The fundamental expected results upcoming from the research project will be >>>

Timescale

24 months

National and international background

Each member of the Research Units has a long experience in the field of survey, analysis and evaluations in order to recovery programs about architectures and environment. They belongs to the UID (Drawers Italian Union), an association internationally appreciated, that operates since more than twenty-five years. The UID organize an yearly convention to compare research and didactics systems in the schools of Architecture, Engineering and Industrial Design.
The research group wants to face the complex theme of the "Mediterranean area" through the reading of Architectures and specific, peculiar places, in order to:
- compare its common invariants determining its “diffused” qualities;
- assess its state of the art;
- foresee its transformations and projects.
Therefore, the research will aim at promoting an activity of analysis for the control of a sustainable development of the territory, that is at discretizing and measuring its material and immaterial values through a multicriteria analysis of the natural and built environment.
The research will focus on South Italy and Maghreb – areas being rich in history, culture and local traditions – in order to contribute to provide new economic stimulations through the proposal of a cultural and environmental model encouraging the development of the whole studied area. Such a specific work is based on information coming from a continuous monitoring providing elements for the >>>