The theoretical constructs developed by Gianugo Polesello in the field of urban studies, which have characterized the research activity of the Gruppo Architettura since the second half of the 20th century, provide a methodological reflection aimed at defining tools and operational categories for urban and territorial planning sub specie architecturæ conceived not as an ideological reconciliation of contradictions, but rather as a unifying logic capable of sustaining conflicts within a unitary construction that assumes the “dialectic of the distinct” as the only possible relationship between irreducible specificities. To revisit these researches also entails questioning, today as then, the “legacy of the Modern” and its reflection in contemporary experience, with intentions that aim not so much at “orthodox” reformist agendas or ideological totalitarianisms, but rather at a “heterodoxy” very attentive to the thought and figures that represent an alternative vision of Modernity. An “other Modernity”, indeed, which, in our view, has its roots in the full acceptance of “partiality” and “conflict” as indispensable conditions of a “design thinking” that does not seek to dissolve multiplicities to overcome contradictions, but rather, to embrace their components as a constitutive principle of a new “idea of space” for the city and its territory.

n ancient Rome, the use of vaulted structures built by using Roman concrete allowed for the construction of high-rise buildings. This architectural influence can be evident in Ostia, the Roman port city. During the first half of the 2nd century C.E., clusters of buildings in Ostia were constructed with barrel vaults and cross vaults, reaching two or more storeys in height. Unlike the residential complexes in Pompeii and Herculaneum, some of the insulae in Ostia could have been reconstructed to have been as high as four storeys. However, these vaulted structures in residential buildings are often overlooked in mainstream research on Roman architectural vaults due to their perceived lack of architectural finesse. This study focuses specifically on the surviving cross vaults within Ostia, aiming to uncover the practical aspects of constructing high-rise buildings in the city. By carefully examining the form of these cross vaults, the study seeks to understand the reality of vaulted structures in the clusters of residential buildings. Extensive three-dimensional data measured by laser scanner of the city block units is utilized to analyze how these cross vaults interacted as a cluster.

The condition of atopy that characterizes the underground strata of the contemporary city is an interesting starting point for exploring the potential of architecture to dig into the past to reappropriate the archaeological spaces by weaving new relationships vertically and horizontally. The excavation is interpreted as a cognitive device for investigating primitive spaces, but also as a design tool for reconnecting them back to the city above, emphasizing the continuity between layers. These issues are investigated with a theoretical-experimental approach, making use of three areas of the city of Naples, the hill of Poggioreale, the Materdei-Sanità districts, and Mount Echia, as demonstrative cases to derive a design methodology for those places where the presence of an archaeological underground, disconnected from the above, constitutes the potential trigger point for an urban overturning. Excavation is interpreted in the three cases as an incision, that is cutting into the ground to give new centrality to the excavated space, as an intercommunicable labyrinth to experiment with hybrid archaeological plots, and as an archaeological introspection, to emphasize the intracorporeal travel into the earth that opens new archaeological narratives, reanimating the dialogue between the two worlds of above and below, which have never been divided.

This article is based on concepts that belong to theoretical speculation in the discipline of architecture with a focus on the elements and instruments of architectural composition during the contemporary period. The main purpose is to study the architectural elements of the façade in history and its influence on contemporary architecture. The objective is to focus the attention of architects and academics on the importance of the façade. The preliminary hypothesis is that nowadays the “façade” in architecture is dead. The façade as a compositive element of the architecture is closely related to the periods from the Renaissance to the early 20th century. With modern architecture, the concept of the “façade” begins to “crumble” and after that, it is “eliminated” during postmodern architecture through the process of “Museification”. This period also coincides with the drawing of the façade as “elevation” with the principle of central perspective, emphasizing that the facade in architecture is a consequence, dominated by the concept of the central perspective. The following methodology is based on the analysis of some architectural works, in specific moments. These works will be analyzed on iconographic, orthographic, and scenographic levels to emphasize the structural relationship that stands between the interior and the façade. The façade itself will be analyzed in order to define the relationship that lies between the perspective and the composition of the exterior. The conclusions drawn from this section will be used as the methodology to analyze the architectural works of Kristo Sotiri, as a local example to prove the above hypothesis.

The strength of fragile grounds lies in their unfinished features, their ‘ruined’ patina and thus in their being weak, porous and in continuous deformation; but they are also open and complex landscapes, available to change repeatedly. The physical and cultural vulnerability of fragile grounds makes it difficult for society to imagine a coexistence with it. However, the accidental component, meant as an occasional but at the same time creative relationship with the landscape, is both the intrinsic dynamism of fragile grounds and the different possibilities of using the ordinary space of everyday life. This contribution investigates the issue from a qualitative and no longer just quantitative point of view, through the discipline of architecture. Referring to the methodological aspect, new variables are identified, as well as some interpretative and operative devices, which flow into the project in specific actions for the valorization and enhancement of fragile grounds in stratified contexts of historical-archaeological and landscape relevance. This approach makes it possible to deepen the concept of inter-spaces, which, starting from an intrinsic condition of vulnerability of a ‘middle ground’, creates the conditions for a project of interrelation and contributes to the development of a significant role of architecture in contexts exposed to risks.

This paper provides an in-depth typo-morphological analysis of Dharavi’s 13th Compound to expose the spatial specificity through which this socio-spatial ecology of living, working, and recycling is supported. It maps the process of recycling and patterns of inhabitation graphically, and analyses how the permeability of the urban tissue and the flexible definable thresholds between the inside and the outside engender and support the coexistence of living and production. The research has identified several typological and morphological concepts, such as a porous ground level, facilitating exchange and interaction; active roofs, which create social and workspace; a sectional stratification that allows both inhabitation but also material and production flows and progressive construction using recycled and scrap materials. The paper argues that these spatial concepts perform as a productive multi-scalar ecology of living and working from which lessons can be learned. These lessons can be adapted in the design to propose reuse, recycling, and live work as sustainable way forward in construction and architecture.

We could say that Amarna (Egypt, 1.346 B.C) was the first urban design in history, because the city was created with a specific and ordered design and plan. The first urban settlements were transition from nomadic to sedentary society. A group of houses, next to a fertile area, created villages or towns, but not in orderly way. Amarna or Tell el Amarna "The Horizon of the Aten" was the first city designed and planned according to certain uses, sized according to the population and located in a special place. During the 18th Dynasty (New Kingdom), Egypt experienced the greatest period of splendor. The highest levels were reached in science and culture. Amenhotep IV, was the 10th pharaoh, who promoted radical transformations in society, making the god Aten the only deity of the official cult, the first historically documented religious reformer to impose monotheism on polytheism. His period involved changes in religious sphere, also philosophical, political and artistic reforms. Was a cultural and ideological change that shook the Egyptian society. In year 5 of his reign, Akhenaten began the construction of a city in a desert area, organized with a reticular pattern, according to the uses of buildings and neighborhoods. Was a pioneer urban planning, which lays the foundations for later urban developments in history. It was built in record time, 4 years. The module and standardized housing were also innovative, creating a model that was repeated, to form collective housing areas. It was the first documented housing study in history. Upon the death of the king, the city was deserted.

The accelerated transformation of the urban landscape of Sarajevo Canton increasingly becomes a space of contention among various interest groups - citizens, planners, investors, heritage disciplines, and local authorities. Establishing a model that involves respecting the interests of each of these groups or increasing the level of inclusivity in the decision-making process will lead to humane and sustainable solutions for the future use and visual shaping of public spaces. Unlike other design disciplines, the specificity of designing public spaces lies in the imperative of participation, mediation, and balancing the interests of multiple actors, ranging from the public and private sectors to planners, designers, researchers, and citizens. Local governments in the municipalities of Sarajevo Canton and other Bosnian Herzegovinian (B&H) cities have still not adopted participatory approach to urban planning. This paper explains research project that tests but also proposes a methodological approach in the public space planning strategy (with emphasis on integrating culture and shift of educational approach) as a critical response to the mismatch between the existing institutional approach of "top-down" planning with the technological and social dynamics of the digital age, as well as the real needs of the local community. This approach promises a more inclusive, sustainable, and community-driven future for public space planning. Case study: Cultural district Sarajevo (the space between the future Ars Aevi Museum, the Historical Museum of B&H, and the National Museum of B&H) and "urban voids" of Grbavica1.

A research project focused on some historic buildings in the port area of Genoa tried to answer the following questions: Is it possible to preserve historic buildings, hand down their memory, make their history understood and at the same time give them new functions? How far can new living and working requirements be reconciled with the preservation of historical structures. The project is part of a broader research plan that has already been underway for some years at the Department of Architecture and Design (University of Genoa) on the subject of warehouses serving the port; medieval warehouses that have been transformed several times in different periods. The article will illustrate the methodology applied for the virtual reconstruction of the Molo district, its warehouses and in particular the Magazzino del Sale (Salt Warehouse) located in vico Malatti 13r, with detailed historical analyses in the archives, accurate surveys and complex archaeological analyses. The research work began from the only certain evidence of the presence of the Magazzino del Sale, a document in “Fondo Tipi” kept at the Genoa State Archives. From this single documentary trace, the research proceeded backwards, analyzing existing documents on the “Molo” Genoa’s district, namely the “cabella embulorum” and the “embulorum figuratis”, year 1544; the traces of all other warehouses in the neighbourhood were also reconstructed. The novelty of this intervention is that, unlike previous examples which had involved universities, control institutions and public bodies, this time the main stakeholder is the building ownership. This represents a major novelty: there are multiple constraints on utilization, but the owner has proved to be attentive and cooperative, aware of the importance of the building for understanding a part of the city’s history. This Awareness was present since the beginning, but it consolidated in the course of this research. From this understanding a whole series of other possibilities for study and research have arisen. The reflection we want to bring here is on the need to induce this awareness in private citizens as well: only in this way will they be open to real collaboration with the institutions responsible for research and protection. And this not only for protected assets but also for the non-protected ones as they constitute a widespread, diffused, sometimes little-known but very characteristic heritage of most sites around the Mediterranean. This could be the turning point for their survival.