Ricostruire la realtà

Rebuilding reality - Case study: an inland area of Abruzzo, devastated by the earthquake of April 6th, 2009, has remained suspended in time, waiting for its destiny. This area is one of the richest in historic inheritance of central Italy, it has been made so by a healthy economy revolving around the many activities related to big scale sheep breeding and the chain of migration of the herds, the transhumance, an activity that has survived for centuries to political divisions, wars, occupations, and then abruptly disappeared with the rise of modernity. Scattered traces can be found, the remains of an ancient civilization, the tracks, the pastures, places of refuge, the farms and above all a territory populated by extraordinary cities: small towns, generally of medieval origin, located on the edge of the highlands, on the sides or on top of the hills and more rarely in the plains, inscribed in a complex defensive system developed over time. Those are remnants of urban plants and ancient forts, pieces of a lost civilization, fragments of a territorial unitary construction which for centuries has granted the living of entire communities. The devastating earthquake of April 2009 has affected one area among the most at risk in Italy, the epicenter was located in the area of L'Aquila at a very short distance from the city. The destructive force of the earthquake and the actions taken in the immediate post- earthquake period have profoundly transformed the territory, especially around the capital. It is essential to remember how the city of L'Aquila is deeply rooted in its territory, and that its very foundation was serving an anti-feudal purpose: castles and counties across the area, according to the tradition in the number of 99, are celebrated by the recurrent number of items in the city. The monumental fountain, the number of churches and squares correspond to the number of castles that have contributed to the foundation of the city, dating back to the thirteenth century. This is a unique case in Italy of a city foundation in the early Middle Ages; as unique as its plant that copies that of the city of Jerusalem, which is divided into four parts and in a number of "spots" corresponding to the number of original inhabitants of the castles that have contributed to the building. Beyond any rhetorical or nostalgic attitude there is the need to rebuild these places because they embody the city of the future, the response to the urban sprawl, to the "non- places" of the contemporary city. Those small towns organized in network are, in fact, one extraordinary polycentric city, full of places for tourism, for economic and cultural activities, for high quality agriculture, for knowledge, for leisure. The policentric city may be capable of becoming the city of the future, by being capable to rebuild the necessary relationships between indoor and outdoor spaces, between the private and the collective, between the individuals in the end: that would be an ancient solution to the city of the future.