Reading Street Space: notes on Via Tribunali and St John Street

Via Tribunali and St John Street — two streets from distant cities but with unexpectedly common features — synthesize the physical, social, and cultural transformations of the urban fragments they belong to, which are only apparently very different: the ancient centre of Napoli and the Clerkenwell area in London. The urban analysis starts from the description — a practice necessary to understand the singular elements of the system — which, through an empirical and experiential approach, illustrates the consistencies of the spaces. This proposed methodology of reading is structured in seven themes to investigate different levels of architectural intensity: from objective and easily comparable data describing historical evolution, typological modifications, geometries, and proportions, to more interpretive aspects, regarding the inhabitants, uses and atmospheric conditions. The analysis, supported by drawings and photographs, becomes a useful interpretive tool to capture the coexistence of material and immaterial qualities, inherent to the urban environment.