Strategie architettoniche di "contrazione controllata" per comunità delle aree interne in via di spopolamento

Pier Francesco Cherchi;Maria Corsini

2022-01-01

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Abstract

Faced with the demographic, economic and social contraction of communities in inland areas, this study investigates issues of depopulation by outlining new architectural design strategies inspired by smart shrinkage policies. Depopulation requires new ways of thinking local development that reconsiders the unexpected and different conditions of non-development not as a burden, rather as a potential opportunity. Accepting implications of a reduced and contracted economy, might reorient rural policies and investment decisions to rebalance growth in a more sustainable and measured way through more holistic, proactive and consistent strategies with the specificities of a territory. The architectural design reflection that characterizes this paper and that attempts to give answers to some preliminary questions fits into this perspective. What should we do with the abandoned housing fabric of depopulated minor centers? How to imagine a plausible scenario of balance between inhabited architectures and disused spaces? Is it possible to hypothesize a designed arrangement of inversion of the construction processes? The studio explores these issues by applying smart shrinkage architectural strategies in Fluminimaggiore, a town in the south-western area of Sardinia. The work is part of the Un.building master's thesis laboratory and the Sustainable Architectural Design laboratory of the master's degree course in Architecture at the University of Cagliari.