Mientras que mi web professional muestra las obras de mi despacho como arquitecto, este blog recopila documentación sobre una serie de actividades que desarrollo en paralelo a él. El ejercicio internacional de la profesión, las entidades entorno a las que se organizan los arquitectos o la reflexión sobre los modos de intervención en la ciudad constituyen los principales puntos de atención, al tiempo que se facilita el acceso a una serie de enlaces relacionados.

l’aquila, a ghost town



















One year after the earthquake, L’Aquila, 120 km out of Rome, is a ghost town. With over 15.000 people still leaving in hotels and the army patrolling the streets, this beautiful historical city in central Italy strives to recover from the disaster.

While some new anti-seismic neighbourhoods have been created in the surrounding hills, the central part of the city –its huge historical core- is still “red zone”, where visitors are not allowed and big efforts are deployed to stabilize the centuries old buildings. A meeting of the International Union of Architects has given to some of us the opportunity to visit the “forbidden area” and get first hand information on the works that currently take place.

Securing structures is a priority and most efforts are devoted to that. Technologies used depend on the damage suffered and the characteristics of the building. Adding a temporary roof to the affected churches and “palazzi” becomes a must in order to avoid further damages by rain. As the area keeps experiencing minor seismic movements while works take place, it is important to ensure that any solution adopted is flexible enough to absorb these movements.

Meanwhile, a team of volunteer architects document the buildings in order that, at a later stage, they can either be rebuilt to their original shape or, at least, keep the memory of how they were.

Nobody knows how long all this will take. Nobody knows either what the total cost will be. Italy has been often affected by earthquakes. Some of the Italian cities, as we know them now, are, in fact, the result of a reconstruction after a previous disaster. But the magnitude of this operation in L’Aquila is probably bigger than any previous one. And what is more important, nowadays, in Europe, the idea of simply demolishing what was left and build a new town (as it was often the case one or two centuries ago) is not acceptable anymore.

The issue becomes of the highest relevance for all those of us who are interested in urban problems, as it confronts us with the need to deploy new tools and strategies to face big scale interventions in historical contexts. The impact of these interventions goes beyond the buildings themselves and forces us to reflect on the kind of city that will come out the day works will reach substantial progress.



10 comentarios:

  1. You might be interested in this:
    Inaugurato all’Aquila il “Laboratorio Urbanistico AQuila”, nato da un’iniziativa congiunta dell’Istituto Nazionale di Urbanistica e dell’Associazione Nazionale Centri Storici Artistici.
    Documents in English (cooperation agreement, workshop plan) can be downloaded here:
    http://www.inu.it/attivita_inu/download/terremoto_AB/LAURAq/
    I would be interested if there are some public events as well - any idea how to find out?

    Posted by Maria Bostenaru

    ResponderEliminar
  2. interesting article.
    I was also there, on the 9th of May, but could not get on the other side of the fences. However, I saw the new antiseismic houses. They are quite pretty, especially regarding the landscape they are in, but no infrastructure such as shops or public transport. A luck that the inhabitants have their own cars.
    Interesting what you are saying about the ruins as well.
    I did not know about the UIA visit.
    When was it?
    Where can I find more about it?

    thanks
    Maria

    ResponderEliminar
  3. Hi, Maria.
    Thanks a lot for the link to the workshop in May.
    There is a publication that includes information on a workshop on L’Aquila that took place at the ocassion of the COP-15 Summit in Copenhaguen last December (go to page 96). You can download it at http://www.uia-architectes.org/image/PDF/COP15/UIA_COP15_Homepage.pdf
    The UIA newsletter is intending to publish some more information in the coming issue. You can ask for it at http://www.uia-architectes.org/texte/england/Menu-2/5-abonnement.html
    You are right when saying that the new neighborhoods are nice but lacking of facilities. Regards.
    Jordi

    ResponderEliminar
  4. Hi Jordi,

    thank you very very much for the information. I subscribed the newsletter and looking forward for more information.

    The coordinator for the "progetto C.A.S.E." (the new neighbourhoods) is the director of the institution where I was with my Marie Curie Fellowship 2002-2003 and 2005-2007. So I was quite interested to see them, and as such, it was more interesting to get there 1 year after the earthquake than immediately after. It was very interesting to see that the reality is very different from what you get from journals, eg. Progettazione Sismica (where the director is also director). Or the "progetto C.A.S.E." has just been submitted for social housing awards at a trade fair.

    On the other hand, we at the "Ion Mincu" University of Architecture and Urbanism are interested in architecture and urbanism strategies in disaster risk management. We have a course on this for the "Urban design" master. So what you wrote is very interesting.

    On the other hand, I just have a book proposal in review (submitted one revised version) for the Springer series on "Environmental Hazards". The book title would be "Earthquake impact on urban areas". I wanted to write something about l'Aquila, and the reviewers are very happy about, so if you think that there is material to be published there (but it should not be called "student workshop", as they've just rejected such a proposal from us). I am editing the book with a professor of geography and with a friend from the Italian Civil Protection, who works a lot on the evaluation, reconstruction etc in l'Aquila. Actually they have architects also at the Civil Protection, they started this research about "struttura urbana minima" in earthquakes, which I saw that now it is in legislation in Umbria, it has to be included in Master Plans. Please let me know if you are interested.

    I forgot to write that I saw in l'Aquila also a wall (in fact, one of these fences), on which the inhabitants wrote down their protests, including "why there is no participation". I try to addapt now my older research on participatory issues on disaster management.

    kind regards
    Maria

    Posted by Maria Bostenaru

    ResponderEliminar
  5. Hi,

    the book I was telling about just got approved yesterday, I am waiting for the publishing agreement.

    In the meantime I found out about some more initiatives, like there was a workshop on ecology and the reconstruction in l'Aquila at the IUAV Venice.

    I've just received the newsletter as well.

    kind regards
    Maria

    Posted by Maria Bostenaru

    ResponderEliminar
  6. Dear Maria,

    What you mention in your last two messages is most interesting. I am glad that the book has got the approval. If there is any further information about it, let me know. And if you have relevant links to the workshops you mention, I would also be glad to know.

    Kind regards.

    Jordi

    ResponderEliminar
  7. I do agree. I was there in February 2010. Could wandered in the city.

    Here is the link to my 2 posts on L'Aquila.

    http://gosia339.blogspot.com/search/label/L%27Aquila

    Posted by Gosia Gora

    ResponderEliminar
  8. Reminds me of the film "Stalker" and the whole philosophy about historic accident and rediscovered space.

    thank you
    Maria

    Posted by Maria Bostenaru

    ResponderEliminar
  9. Nice (sad) pictures, Gosia. They do capture the pathos of the place.
    Jordi

    ResponderEliminar
  10. Did you know about the Barnaby innitiative to rebuild the city in google earth? Search for "come facciamo". I've made some models for it myself as well.

    Maria Bostenaru

    ResponderEliminar