Urban stratifications

Preexistences and contemporary design between knowledge and use

Abstract

Numerous projects in the history of architecture have modified the uses of preexisting buildings in which a clear formal identity can be recognized: often in these cases the transformation intervention has contributed not only to keeping the building alive but also to strengthening its figurative unity and its role in the city. Confronted with a “modern tradition”, composed of buildings and projects, but also with a wide and varied horizon of texts, writings and articles that explored this line of architecture and which characterized an important phase of 20th century Italian architecture, contemporary design in historical pre-existences is increasingly clearly defined as a way for the architect to explore his relation to the present through some possible strategies.
Key-words: Urban stratification, knowledge design, use design.