Identity and Safety. Post-seismic reconstruction of the Appennine settlements

The project concerns the reconstruction of Arquata del Tronto, destroyed by an earthquake in 2016. The project is a study of the methodology for the reconstruction, respecting characters and vocation of the place, without forgetting to make that area safe for those who live there and recognize that territory as home

The project wants to rebuild the destroyed city of Arquata del Tronto and repair the weakness linked to the foundation of the city itself, through the study and the knowledge of the territory and the design of the new architecture. To respect the identity of the places, we try to understand the relationship between the form of the territory and the form of the architecture, and how the architecture modifies itself when the ground changes. The first step in the reconstruction plan is the redesign of the connection with the territory. Our plan considers the construction of different bases, in relationship to different heights, to anchor the new construction to the ground. These bases respect the deformity of the territory and the design rationalizes the different heights. Every base represents a space of the ancient city that we have recognize before. The buildings, organized on it, fence the space in and locate it. In a second phase we have design the buildings, through the identification of a form of settlement and the study of several traditional residential typology. The solution is a union of architectonic and structural studies. The urban part is made up of isolated concrete towers, joined by a lightweight slab. Every tower represents a specific part of the habitation and it represents a part of the structural scheme. Every tower is anti-seismic and the collaboration among them makes the whole safe. This solution allows to remember the ancient image of the city, makes up groups of tower-buildings, and preserves the life of the inhabitants. In the plan we recognize three important cornerstones the city: the church, that dominates the highest part, the city hall, that dominates the main square with the reconstruction of the ancient civil tower, and the museum, in the lowest part of the plan that opens to the landscape. These three elements close the composition of the city, to restore the image of the city like a unique piece of stone that emerges from the ground