C'è ancora un ruolo per l'architetto-urbanista nella società italiana del futuro?

The text focuses on the uncertainties arising from poor performance in Copenaghen and the most frequent doubts and questions within the disciplines which relate to the control of physical space, social and economic development. Filed the opposition planning/architecture, which was in the foreground in the field debates in the last decades of the 20th century, along with the too simplistic slogan ”from spoon to city” (it mortified the contents of the discipline as a whole or diluted them in an indistinct mixture), the author considers that useful contributions, both in terms of analysis and operational potentials, can result from a critical reading of Aldo Rossi’s theory on contemporary city, in many ways still relevant. Still valid is Ignazio Gardella’s city outlook, with particular reference to the historic centres (often tackled in a sectoral and involuted way) and the effectiveness of intermediate instruments, such as the “P.R.G.” (today “P.U.C.”) in the light of his experiences for the city of Genoa. Pending “ public dominion ” or equalizing mythic alchemy, the actions on the city should be organized in “programs”, which are essentially political acts, as clear and flexible as possible, and “projects”, aimed at defining architectural choices: familiar instruments, but never implemented, outdated before being seriously tested. In fact, there has been not only a failure in the attempt to control the city from above, with rigid constraints and formal requirements, but also a free diffusion of new speculative models: the building block on a single lot, mass ambition towards comfortable petty-bourgeois life, was the picklock which shredded the fabric of the consolidated city, as it is shown in any historical series of cadastral plans or land use. To understand these mechanisms the “lesson “ of Carlo Doglio, too quickly forgotten, would be very useful. The architect-planner must strive to drive up, with constant intellectual effort, the educational level of society, especially the most vulnerable, and, through his technical and scientific expertise, he has to interpret and select the push from below, which he himself, among others, has helped to advance. In this respect, architecture must pursue an ethic of responsible sustainability without sacrificing quality space, combining ancient principles and advanced technology, as in the best contemporary production: from Piano to Herzog, from Foster to Dreisetl, from Reimberg to Samyn ( see the recent project for the Vesuvio Est Station high speed line Torino-Salerno): this implies the need to rethink timing, manner and content of teaching at the Faculty of Architecture. The conclusions are not encouraging: the deafening absence of the architects in the contemporary political-cultural debate does not seem to justify proud claims of role.