OVERVIEW

The course deals with the development of mapping and territorial analysis by understanding the urbanization of coastline and inland territories in Liguria, defined by cycles of abandonment, reuse and transformation. Questioning the nature of these Transitional Landscapes, places of cohabitation or separation of populations, activities, services and natural systems, will allow students to study real 'Territorial Portraits'. The course explores applied strategies for the implementation of regeneration practices and clusterization of services through the adoption of new technologies, whose transferability will be tested in other contexts of the region.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course investigates the relationships between territorial transformation phenomena and government tools (plans, projects), training students in quantum-qualitative methods for the elaboration of multi-dimensional mapping through the use of advanced cartographic tools (GIS, Corine, Copernicus). The final goal is to provide multi-dimensional analysis tools for evaluating strategic planning scenarios, fostering the effectiveness at a large scale of urban regeneration programmes, supporting territorial welfare networks and existing assets.

The qualifying learning outcomes are:

• identifying and describing structural invariants and dynamics of change in city-territory relationship in accordance to future challenges (positioning, needs, sustainability);
• acquiring knowledge of advanced cartographic tools (GIS, Corine, Copernicus) to study patterns and impacts between the built and the natural environments;
• acquiring graphic synthesis skills (diagrams, models, infographics) for multi-dimensional analysis of spatial, environmental and socio-economic phenomena;
• building alternative meta-design scenarios to extend the effectiveness of spatial government tools with respect to site-specific contextual conditions;
• identifying appropriate urban planning references, through a collection of significant best practices developed at a national and international level.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course is aimed at learning and experimenting methods of morphological-environmental analysis starting from composite parameters and indexes (e.g.: multi-deprivation index) and at deepening techniques for the graphic visualisation of data and advanced cartography, in order to evaluate alternative strategic design scenarios for supra-local scale regeneration. The course aims at training students through a multi-scalar methodology of critical reading and mapping of 'Territorial Portraits' to describe the dynamics of transformation and evolution for the urbanisation of coastal areas and inland territories in Liguria.

The learning outcomes to be achieved during the design studio are:

1. Interpretive reading and strategic concept: critical interpretative reading of design context (sense of places) and synoptic mapping of the main spatial components on which to define the meta-design scenarios’ logic; study and applicability of international reference projects, verifying the sustainability of the proposed interventions;
2. Scenarios of territorial innovation: analysis of the dynamics of change in city-territory relation in accordance to future challenges (positioning, needs, sustainability); definition of infrastructural programme and services on a territorial scale (components and systems); master planning of territorial nodes (focus areas) with a medium-long term perspective.

PREREQUISITES

Knowledge of urban planning formal languages and urban design techniques acquired through the course Fundamentals of Urban Planning and Urban Design Studio (or similar) are required. Proficiency in graphics and digital design skills, which can be acquired independently or through the Fundamentals of Computer Aided Design course, is required.

TEACHING METHODS

The semester-long course is organised according to an in-presence teaching format, by means of ex-cathedra lectures and groups desk reviews in which students are called upon to actively participate. In-depth seminars held by external experts may also be held online on Teams. Attendance at general reviews is considered mandatory.

The projects will be developed by the students in groups of 1/2 people. In parallel, students will have to carry out independently a collection of readings (one per student) as indicated in the course Syllabus. The teaching will be carried out with lectures by the mentors, and presentations of significant case studies (readings) by students, seminars by guests and visiting-experts, desk reviews on a weekly basis, organised according to 2 steps of elaboration (2 Panels DIN A1 Vertical - 84.1 x 59.4 cm).

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Liguria has always been a land of landings and movements along the force lines of coastal and counter-coast areas, which dig into the past of an impervious landscape, inevitably linked to maritime traffic. The construction impacts of the Rivieras Railways and then the Highway did not occur without difficulty, forcing the nature of the coastline, modifying the layout of cities, towns and agricultural systems; These still represent two strategic infrastructures for the dynamics of urban transformation to support port logistics and tourism in the Ligurian Riviera. After the discovery of free time for large segments of the population, the building boom of the 1960s/70s, and the mindless real estate development of marinas, yacht clubs, and second homes amid the ordinary flow of urban sprawl, what is the spatial geography of Liguria today?

The Ligurian hyper-city, in this framework, represents a laboratory for analysis and research characterized by trends typical of other European Urban-Maritime Regions (ESPON 2021). Dynamic territories in which land-sea interactions are multiplied, as characterized by a geography of exchanges, connections, and multi-level systems whose physical proximity is reduced. According to the European framework, urban maritime regions such as the Ligurian Arc exert territorial influence up to 50 km away from the sea. With a closer look, however, they are not only places of extreme density of activities, meanings and architectures, but also terrains vagues, latent or abandoned areas, places of extreme remoteness, inner peripheries, diffuse cities. They are destinations for occasional tourists, commuters, migrants, encompassing high social capital and spaces of traditions, but also new communities and ecological innovation.

Questioning the nature of these Transitional Landscapes, will thus allow students to study real 'Territorial Portraits' as case studies capable of describing the most evident spatial impacts of ongoing transformation dynamics. Emerging figures that offer an acceleration of process from the current planning framework, by opening new cross-cutting alliances towards recent societal challenges (demography, ecology, climate, digitization, inclusion). Finally, the course explores strategic scenarios for the regeneration and clustering of services through the adoption of new technologies, whose transferability will be tested in other contexts of the region.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Urban planning

• Lynch K. (1969) L’immagine della città. Marsilio, Venezia
• Gausa M. et al. (2003) The Metapolis Dictionary of Advanced Architecture. Actar, Barcelona.
• Wolfrum S., Nerdinger W. (2008) Multiple City. Urban Concepts 1908 | 2008. Jovis, Berlin
• Mostafavi M., Doherty G. (2010) Ecological Urbanism. Lars Müller, Zürich
• Ciorra P., Marini S. (2011) Recycle. Strategie per l’architettura, la città e il pianeta. Electa, Milano
• Ricci M. (2012) New Paradigms. List, Trento-Barcelona
• Sordi J. (2014) Beyond Urbanism, List, Trento-Barcelona
• Sommariva E., Avenoso J. (2015) PICITY Progettare 25 Km di costa ligure. 22 publishing, Milano
• Carta M. (2017) The Augmented City. A paradigm shift. List, Trento-Barcelona
• Schröder J., Sommariva E. (2018) Coast Portraits. Research in Territorial Architecture. LUH Press, Hannover

Infrastructures / Landscape

• Corboz A. (1983) ‘Le territoire comme palimpseste’ in Diogene, n. 121, pp. 14-35
• Allen S. (1999) ‘Infrastructural Urbanism’. In: Points and Lines: Diagrams and Projects for the City.
• Corner J., Balfour A. (1999) Recovering Landscape: Essays in Contemporary Landscape Architecture. Princeton Architectural Press, New York, pp. 48-57.
• Donadieu P. (2002) La società paysagiste. Actes Sud, Paris
• Hauck T., Keller R. (2011) Infrastructural Urbanism. Addressing the In-between. DOM Publishers, Berlin
• Reed C, Lister N.M. (2014) Projective Ecologies. Actar, New York.
• Belanger P. (2016) Landscape as Infrastructure. A Base Primer. Routledge, London
• Waldheim C. (2016) Landscape as Urbanism: a general theory, Princeton Uni Press, New Jersey

Urban Metabolism

• Gunderson L., Holling C. (2002) Panarchy: transformations in human and natural system. Island Press, NY
• Castells, M. (2004) The Network Society: A Cross-cultural Perspective. Edward Elgar, Northampton
• Heynen N., Swyngedouw E. (2005) In the Nature of Cities. Urban Metabolism. Routledge, London.
• Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2014) Towards the Circular Economy. WEF Report Economic Forum Report.
• Markoupoulou A., Farinea C. (2017) Active Public Space. implementing technology in public spaces. IAAC Press, Barcelona
• Lydon, M., Garcia A (2015) Tactical Urbanism: short-term actions for long-term change. Island Press, NY
• Dorato E. (2020) Preventive Urbanism. The Role of Health in Designing Active Cities. Quodlibet: Macerata
• Gausa M. (2020) Resili(g)ence – Intelligent Cities / Resilient Landscapes. Actar Publishers, Barcelona
• Moreno C. (2020) Droit de cité: De la "ville-monde" à la "ville du quart d'heure". Observatoire, Paris

New technologies

• Virilio P. (1994) The vision machine. British Film institute, Bloomington
• MVRDV (1999) Metacity / Datatown. nai010 Publishers, Rotterdam
• Ratti C. (2013) Smart city, Smart citizen. Meet the Media Guru. Egea, Milano
• Ratti C., Offenhuber D. (2014). Decoding the city. Urbanism in the Age of Big Data. Birkhauser, Basilea
• Bamberger M. (2016). Big Data. Into the monitoring and evaluation of programmes. UN Global Pulse.
• Claudel M., Nagel T.(2016). From Origins to Destinations: Visualizing Flow Maps. in Built Environment Vol. 42
• Ratti C., Claudel M. (2017). The city of tomorrow. Yale UniPress, London
• Ratti C., Picon A. (2023) Atlas of the Senseable City. Yale UniPress, London

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

EMANUELE SOMMARIVA (President)

GIORGIA TUCCI

NICOLA VALENTINO CANESSA (President Substitute)

GIAMPIERO LOMBARDINI (President Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Winter semester course

I semester _ September 18, 2023 - December 15, 2023

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

During the course, a quantum-qualitative mapping and analysis will be developed according to two steps of elaborations (graphic panels, layout DIN A1 portrait) and a research of best-practices (readings), that will constitute the final hand-in materials (DIN A5 vertical booklet).

The final mark will be established during a final presentation at the end of the winter term and will take into account the active participation of the students, the hand-in of all the required materials and the quality of the work produced as a whole. The evaluation of the analyses will take into account the clarity of exposition, the quality of the mapping developed and the graphical representation, the feasibility of the scenarios proposed, including their sustainability, as well as the student's learning process. The grade will be averaged with the module “Theory and Urban Innovation” (cod. 98946).

The final delivery of the course, in order to access the exam, is a mapping analysis presented through the following materials:

• 2 graphics panels DIN A1 portrait (84.1 x 59.4 cm);
• Territorial Portraits editable file .dwg/illustrator of the mappings
• booklet dei readings casi studio progettuali formato DIN A5 Verticale (21,0 x 14,8 cm).

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The development of analysis and mapping is based on a mixed quantum-qualitative methodology articulated in laboratory activities among the groups and moments of individual research by each student. The progress of the work and the assessment of students' knowledge is verified weekly. The elaboration of the graphic panels is defined as an open process that can be continuously implemented throughout the semester. The ability to effectively communicate the design proposal, to synthetically elaborate graphics, mappings and project diagrams will be tested through oral presentations and open questions in group reviews up to the exam session.

Exam schedule