Designing in the landscapes of archeology
Margagliotta, Luigi Savio
University of Palermo, Italy.
Abstract:
Architecture is in archaeological landscapes the means by which we can reappropriate the historical, social and natural values of a given place, experimenting specific responses that take into account today's needs and ancient traces.
An architectural project has the task of emphasizing the character of a place, of revealing its qualities and guaranteeing its use; and, through a modern sign, it has the capacity to restore identity to pre-existences and to reinstate the spatial and conceptual unity sometimes lost. Therefore, in addition to the recovery of physical characters, it is able and has the duty to redeem the intrinsic characteristics of each work or context, sometimes proposing a possible refunctionalization, other times a walk through the ruins, or simply the possibility to reacquire a determined perspective (or to generate new ones).
Particularly in archaeological contexts, the project becomes the instrument that brings together history and present, contemplation, function and fruition, building relationships with the surroundings and the elements that surround it, in order to regain physical and cultural values of the context in which an artifact is inserted.
Keywords: Architecture; archeology; landscape; identity; project.