Design and interpret the place of present

Abstract

The contemporary landscape expresses in itself all the contradictions of present time, marked by the lack of a coherent thought about the transformation of places and of a clear aesthetic elaboration. So, the project must reflect not only on the relationship between man and landscape but above on the need to return to a way of dwelling that respects the places. Architecture plays a fundamental role in the reconstruction of coherence of places and reveals their beauty: through its forms, it can set up unprecedented stories of space in places in constant evolution. The thought from which the design process originates must involve the reading and interpretation of the existing places, and proceeds towards an attribution of meaning to them, in the search for memory and in a new narration of space. This modus operandi and this consciousness constitute a path to achieve the aesthetic and ethical quality of the project which, starting from architecture, contributes to the coherent construction of the landscape. During a long project experience, some built works in the Sicilian context allow to outline a possible way of making architecture and verify this method in the concreteness of the construction.