Urban heritage of grammichele and lessons for modern cities

Abstract

The paper discusses the morphology of a Sicilian town that was devastated by the earthquake of 1693 and rebuilt as idealized geometrical layout in accordance with Renaissance theories of the Ideal City. It briefl y investigates Ideal City planning theories, social, economic conditions of Sicily underlying the reconstruction of the town, and analyzes the planning decisions that differentiated in their execution from the Ideal City principles, entailing questions of urban density, the visual power of building form, and futuristic planning, that could serve as a lesson of a well-designed model community for the Modern Age.