Is it possible to think about a new challenging and revitalising future for the EUR area located ... more Is it possible to think about a new challenging and revitalising future for the EUR area located in Viale Europa 242 ( so called EUR 242)? The area hosts the historical Cesare Ligini towers which were redesigned for the 1960 Olympic games. "The towers represent the refined, civilised and international imaginary of the Roman architecture and make the entrance from the south one of the beach reaching points into town" ( A. Greco, G. Remiddi, 2006). The removal of the facades brought to the loss of their main character whose restoring could compensate only the external aspect but not the real historical meaning. For this reason the aim of the project is to give new birth to the functions of the buildings and their facades in a sustainable way. The urban project underlines the innovation of connections considering the surrounding areas. [...]
"What kind of relationship is it possible to establish between applied researchers in architectur... more "What kind of relationship is it possible to establish between applied researchers in architectural and urban design and professionals?
The paper envisions research as a neutral, abstract and public activity performed by universities with the aim of allowing public actors and professionals to discover the different implications arising from their operational choices. A new informal process of relational building among institutions can enable the expansion of the existing networks as well as nurture a reciprocal process of rethinking and innovation."
The present doctoral dissertation introduces a less auto-centred approach in the recovery of brow... more The present doctoral dissertation introduces a less auto-centred approach in the recovery of brownfield sites in the medium-Adriatic area which is rooted in a reading of contextual peculiarities and a taxonomic analysis of their main features. The analytical step is given by the epistemological assessment of the Italian expression ‘dismissione’ firstly as anomaly and, secondly, as a rule (i.e. measure) for leading transformative processes of the Adriatic City. In this line, a double taxonomy has been developed: the first one identifies the main features of the Medium-Adriatic territory and classifies it according to five categories; the second taxonomy focuses on the relationships connecting brownfield sites and the specific territories in which they are embedded. The reading of the local and contextual data has lead to the identification of new possible roles, synergies and strategies for the territory. In contrast to those projects in which the recovery of brownfield sites has been very often limited to a ‘formalistic exercise’, where architecture was simply aiming at reshaping the form of the space, this doctoral dissertation shows that architecture can be a ‘generator of meaning’ for a context. Brownfield sites can be interpreted as the primary fixed capital of those territories in which they are embedded: one of the main determinant keys for defining new lines of development. Within this framework, the mechanism through which a urban narrative is constructed is presented as a powerful tool for rethinking cities’ histories; at the same time, the adaptive design process is introduced as a sustainable approach in the recovery of brownfield sites in the medium-Adriatic region. In order to stress the potentialities of this approach, the adaptive design process is analysed by decomposing it into its main phases of elaboration. In this respect, the charrette is presented as a particular codified case of adaptive design process. The use of this approach for brownfield sites is discussed drawing from an operative experience of the author in the Westerholt charette directed by landscape architect Prof. Peter Latz (Technische Universität München).
Josè de Sousa Saramago suggests how we live in many places but, in fact, we inhabit the memory. I... more Josè de Sousa Saramago suggests how we live in many places but, in fact, we inhabit the memory. In the German culture, the idea of ‘inhabiting the memory’ is captured by the expression: Heimat. This word refers to the meaning that we assign to a place perceived as owned and formative. Heim (home) and Heimat (fatherland) have the same root. The former defines the domesticity, the latter the known places, those in which we are safe. However, the dimension of these certain places, namely our ‘Heimat’, is today, de facto, only one part of our living spaces. For many generations we have been living in many places, very often ‘undifferentiated’ places, ‘meaningless’ for negligence and ‘forgettable’ for urgencies and immediacies. As a result, the urban spaces we live in appear to us either astounding or banal. Very often they remind us ‘other scenarios’ we have actually lived in or we have seen as ‘transmitted images’. Perhaps only a ‘strong’ memory and, thus, a grounded culture, allows us to recognize them and to express a balanced judgment, meaning neither dazed nor annoyed. For how long have cities lost their being a ‘collective home’? The ‘villages’ we come from (also, old quarters?) can generate the intimate sense of the Heimat; however, have urban peripheries ever generated memories? In fact, it is difficult to believe so! For relational spaces, that is, for spaces of active social interactions, being able to generate memories, it is necessary that they enable a collective ‘transformation’ together with allowing for the flourishing of singularities and exceptions, provided also that the precariousness and individualism of social and economic expectations are reduced. Do multiple collectivities and, thus, multiple ‘memories’, prevent the construction of urban spaces which can be knowable/recognizable by all people who live them? Perhaps overcoming such apparent impossibility might result from taking inspiration from consolidated experiences in other disciplines. Let us think of International Orchestras such as the Baremboim’s West Eastern Divan or Dance Companies such as the one led by Pina Bausch. An Arabic-Israeli orchestra operates as a unit because it needs to construct a structure, a symphony for example, through a musical form which derives from a precise discipline: they represent where a discipline can and must lead us. As stressed by Baremboim, together with the discipline there is the ‘passion’ through which the Director extracts the ‘domesticity’ embedded in the musicians, all different in culture and ‘memories’. The Tanztheater Wuppertal builds a representation in slow motion, by adding the different origins and experiences of dancers coming from all around the world and by sharing the common end, as Pina Bausch clarifies, of making people able to ‘grasp by intuition something that has been living within us all along’. This existence ‘within us all along’ may restore trust in the possibility of building the city of the future, going back to a measure of the city articulated as recognizable parts and not by functional hierarchies, in other words to ‘dis-measured’ cities.
Is it possible to think about a new challenging and revitalising future for the EUR area located ... more Is it possible to think about a new challenging and revitalising future for the EUR area located in Viale Europa 242 ( so called EUR 242)? The area hosts the historical Cesare Ligini towers which were redesigned for the 1960 Olympic games. "The towers represent the refined, civilised and international imaginary of the Roman architecture and make the entrance from the south one of the beach reaching points into town" ( A. Greco, G. Remiddi, 2006). The removal of the facades brought to the loss of their main character whose restoring could compensate only the external aspect but not the real historical meaning. For this reason the aim of the project is to give new birth to the functions of the buildings and their facades in a sustainable way. The urban project underlines the innovation of connections considering the surrounding areas. [...]
"What kind of relationship is it possible to establish between applied researchers in architectur... more "What kind of relationship is it possible to establish between applied researchers in architectural and urban design and professionals?
The paper envisions research as a neutral, abstract and public activity performed by universities with the aim of allowing public actors and professionals to discover the different implications arising from their operational choices. A new informal process of relational building among institutions can enable the expansion of the existing networks as well as nurture a reciprocal process of rethinking and innovation."
The present doctoral dissertation introduces a less auto-centred approach in the recovery of brow... more The present doctoral dissertation introduces a less auto-centred approach in the recovery of brownfield sites in the medium-Adriatic area which is rooted in a reading of contextual peculiarities and a taxonomic analysis of their main features. The analytical step is given by the epistemological assessment of the Italian expression ‘dismissione’ firstly as anomaly and, secondly, as a rule (i.e. measure) for leading transformative processes of the Adriatic City. In this line, a double taxonomy has been developed: the first one identifies the main features of the Medium-Adriatic territory and classifies it according to five categories; the second taxonomy focuses on the relationships connecting brownfield sites and the specific territories in which they are embedded. The reading of the local and contextual data has lead to the identification of new possible roles, synergies and strategies for the territory. In contrast to those projects in which the recovery of brownfield sites has been very often limited to a ‘formalistic exercise’, where architecture was simply aiming at reshaping the form of the space, this doctoral dissertation shows that architecture can be a ‘generator of meaning’ for a context. Brownfield sites can be interpreted as the primary fixed capital of those territories in which they are embedded: one of the main determinant keys for defining new lines of development. Within this framework, the mechanism through which a urban narrative is constructed is presented as a powerful tool for rethinking cities’ histories; at the same time, the adaptive design process is introduced as a sustainable approach in the recovery of brownfield sites in the medium-Adriatic region. In order to stress the potentialities of this approach, the adaptive design process is analysed by decomposing it into its main phases of elaboration. In this respect, the charrette is presented as a particular codified case of adaptive design process. The use of this approach for brownfield sites is discussed drawing from an operative experience of the author in the Westerholt charette directed by landscape architect Prof. Peter Latz (Technische Universität München).
Josè de Sousa Saramago suggests how we live in many places but, in fact, we inhabit the memory. I... more Josè de Sousa Saramago suggests how we live in many places but, in fact, we inhabit the memory. In the German culture, the idea of ‘inhabiting the memory’ is captured by the expression: Heimat. This word refers to the meaning that we assign to a place perceived as owned and formative. Heim (home) and Heimat (fatherland) have the same root. The former defines the domesticity, the latter the known places, those in which we are safe. However, the dimension of these certain places, namely our ‘Heimat’, is today, de facto, only one part of our living spaces. For many generations we have been living in many places, very often ‘undifferentiated’ places, ‘meaningless’ for negligence and ‘forgettable’ for urgencies and immediacies. As a result, the urban spaces we live in appear to us either astounding or banal. Very often they remind us ‘other scenarios’ we have actually lived in or we have seen as ‘transmitted images’. Perhaps only a ‘strong’ memory and, thus, a grounded culture, allows us to recognize them and to express a balanced judgment, meaning neither dazed nor annoyed. For how long have cities lost their being a ‘collective home’? The ‘villages’ we come from (also, old quarters?) can generate the intimate sense of the Heimat; however, have urban peripheries ever generated memories? In fact, it is difficult to believe so! For relational spaces, that is, for spaces of active social interactions, being able to generate memories, it is necessary that they enable a collective ‘transformation’ together with allowing for the flourishing of singularities and exceptions, provided also that the precariousness and individualism of social and economic expectations are reduced. Do multiple collectivities and, thus, multiple ‘memories’, prevent the construction of urban spaces which can be knowable/recognizable by all people who live them? Perhaps overcoming such apparent impossibility might result from taking inspiration from consolidated experiences in other disciplines. Let us think of International Orchestras such as the Baremboim’s West Eastern Divan or Dance Companies such as the one led by Pina Bausch. An Arabic-Israeli orchestra operates as a unit because it needs to construct a structure, a symphony for example, through a musical form which derives from a precise discipline: they represent where a discipline can and must lead us. As stressed by Baremboim, together with the discipline there is the ‘passion’ through which the Director extracts the ‘domesticity’ embedded in the musicians, all different in culture and ‘memories’. The Tanztheater Wuppertal builds a representation in slow motion, by adding the different origins and experiences of dancers coming from all around the world and by sharing the common end, as Pina Bausch clarifies, of making people able to ‘grasp by intuition something that has been living within us all along’. This existence ‘within us all along’ may restore trust in the possibility of building the city of the future, going back to a measure of the city articulated as recognizable parts and not by functional hierarchies, in other words to ‘dis-measured’ cities.
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Papers by Emilio Corsaro
The area hosts the historical Cesare Ligini towers which were redesigned for the 1960 Olympic games. "The towers represent the refined, civilised and international imaginary of the Roman architecture and make the entrance from the south one of the beach reaching points into town" ( A. Greco, G. Remiddi, 2006). The removal of the facades brought to the loss of their main character whose restoring could compensate only the external aspect but not the real historical meaning. For this reason the aim of the project is to give new birth to the functions of the buildings and their facades in a sustainable way. The urban project underlines the innovation of connections considering the surrounding areas. [...]
The paper envisions research as a neutral, abstract and public activity performed by universities with the aim of allowing public actors and professionals to discover the different implications arising from their operational choices. A new informal process of relational building among institutions can enable the expansion of the existing networks as well as nurture a reciprocal process of rethinking and innovation."
For many generations we have been living in many places, very often ‘undifferentiated’ places, ‘meaningless’ for negligence and ‘forgettable’ for urgencies and immediacies. As a result, the urban spaces we live in appear to us either astounding or banal. Very often they remind us ‘other scenarios’ we have actually lived in or we have seen as ‘transmitted images’.
Perhaps only a ‘strong’ memory and, thus, a grounded culture, allows us to recognize them and to express a balanced judgment, meaning neither dazed nor annoyed.
For how long have cities lost their being a ‘collective home’?
The ‘villages’ we come from (also, old quarters?) can generate the intimate sense of the Heimat; however, have urban peripheries ever generated memories? In fact, it is difficult to believe so! For relational spaces, that is, for spaces of active social interactions, being able to generate memories, it is necessary that they enable a collective ‘transformation’ together with allowing for the flourishing of singularities and exceptions, provided also that the precariousness and individualism of social and economic expectations are reduced.
Do multiple collectivities and, thus, multiple ‘memories’, prevent the construction of urban spaces which can be knowable/recognizable by all people who live them?
Perhaps overcoming such apparent impossibility might result from taking inspiration from consolidated experiences in other disciplines. Let us think of International Orchestras such as the Baremboim’s West Eastern Divan or Dance Companies such as the one led by Pina Bausch.
An Arabic-Israeli orchestra operates as a unit because it needs to construct a structure, a symphony for example, through a musical form which derives from a precise discipline: they represent where a discipline can and must lead us. As stressed by Baremboim, together with the discipline there is the ‘passion’ through which the Director extracts the ‘domesticity’ embedded in the musicians, all different in culture and ‘memories’.
The Tanztheater Wuppertal builds a representation in slow motion, by adding the different origins and experiences of dancers coming from all around the world and by sharing the common end, as Pina Bausch clarifies, of making people able to ‘grasp by intuition something that has been living within us all along’.
This existence ‘within us all along’ may restore trust in the possibility of building the city of the future, going back to a measure of the city articulated as recognizable parts and not by functional hierarchies, in other words to ‘dis-measured’ cities.
The area hosts the historical Cesare Ligini towers which were redesigned for the 1960 Olympic games. "The towers represent the refined, civilised and international imaginary of the Roman architecture and make the entrance from the south one of the beach reaching points into town" ( A. Greco, G. Remiddi, 2006). The removal of the facades brought to the loss of their main character whose restoring could compensate only the external aspect but not the real historical meaning. For this reason the aim of the project is to give new birth to the functions of the buildings and their facades in a sustainable way. The urban project underlines the innovation of connections considering the surrounding areas. [...]
The paper envisions research as a neutral, abstract and public activity performed by universities with the aim of allowing public actors and professionals to discover the different implications arising from their operational choices. A new informal process of relational building among institutions can enable the expansion of the existing networks as well as nurture a reciprocal process of rethinking and innovation."
For many generations we have been living in many places, very often ‘undifferentiated’ places, ‘meaningless’ for negligence and ‘forgettable’ for urgencies and immediacies. As a result, the urban spaces we live in appear to us either astounding or banal. Very often they remind us ‘other scenarios’ we have actually lived in or we have seen as ‘transmitted images’.
Perhaps only a ‘strong’ memory and, thus, a grounded culture, allows us to recognize them and to express a balanced judgment, meaning neither dazed nor annoyed.
For how long have cities lost their being a ‘collective home’?
The ‘villages’ we come from (also, old quarters?) can generate the intimate sense of the Heimat; however, have urban peripheries ever generated memories? In fact, it is difficult to believe so! For relational spaces, that is, for spaces of active social interactions, being able to generate memories, it is necessary that they enable a collective ‘transformation’ together with allowing for the flourishing of singularities and exceptions, provided also that the precariousness and individualism of social and economic expectations are reduced.
Do multiple collectivities and, thus, multiple ‘memories’, prevent the construction of urban spaces which can be knowable/recognizable by all people who live them?
Perhaps overcoming such apparent impossibility might result from taking inspiration from consolidated experiences in other disciplines. Let us think of International Orchestras such as the Baremboim’s West Eastern Divan or Dance Companies such as the one led by Pina Bausch.
An Arabic-Israeli orchestra operates as a unit because it needs to construct a structure, a symphony for example, through a musical form which derives from a precise discipline: they represent where a discipline can and must lead us. As stressed by Baremboim, together with the discipline there is the ‘passion’ through which the Director extracts the ‘domesticity’ embedded in the musicians, all different in culture and ‘memories’.
The Tanztheater Wuppertal builds a representation in slow motion, by adding the different origins and experiences of dancers coming from all around the world and by sharing the common end, as Pina Bausch clarifies, of making people able to ‘grasp by intuition something that has been living within us all along’.
This existence ‘within us all along’ may restore trust in the possibility of building the city of the future, going back to a measure of the city articulated as recognizable parts and not by functional hierarchies, in other words to ‘dis-measured’ cities.