Urban and Architectural Identity, the Meaning of the Architectural Vocabulary

Abstract

Both XX and XXI centuries follow a common path of dis-identity, a path straying from the contents that the historic city has bequeathed us. Starting from the reading of the urban phenomena emerging from the territorial anthropization, i.e. the formation of minor towns in the area between the Apuan Alps and the Appennino Tosco Emiliano, the study highlights the current critical depopulation and dis-identity situation of several small towns. Rich in history and stories, despite their great potential and marked architectural, typological and anthropological characters these towns, are often in a severe state of neglect and sometimes their conditions have almost reached beyond the point of no return. Starting from a critical identity reading, we have built an architectural vocabulary of great expressive and constructive value that revealed local typological material building traditions to be handed down.