'Landscapes of Production'

LANDSCAPES OF PRODUCTION

Steve Revill-Darton

UCL | The Bartlett School of Architecture | MArch UD 2

THESIS

Steve Revill-Darton

12017786

SOUTH TO SOUTH

STUDIO TUTORS Luca Garofalo - Davide Sacconi

UCL | The Bartlett School of Architecture | MArch Urban Design 2012/2013

LANDSCAPES OF PRODUCTION

Messina and Reggio CalabriaExcursions on the border of the Mediterranean

Portfolio 2012/2013 | Steve Revill-Darton 3

CONTENTS

5 INTRODUCTION

7 THE PRODUCTIVE TERRITORY OF THE MEDITERRANEAN

11 ITALY AND THE SOUTH12 Birth of the Southern Issue14 The Third Italy

17 THE CITIES AND THE STRAIT18 The Productive Landscape of the Strait21 Productive Landscape Determined by Infrastructure26 Messina: Between Landscape and Sea

31 THE SAN RANIERI PENINSULA32 The Post-Industrial Landscape of Neglect

41 DEALING WITH THE PRODUCTIVE LANDSCAPE42 Preserving Landscape Through a New Centrality48 Approaches To Integrating Landscape51 Lafayette Park - Mies Van Der Rohe53 Villaggio Matteotti - Giancarlo De Carlo

55 READING THE SAN RANIERI PENINSULA THROUGH THE CONTEXT: THE ROLE OF THE WALL57 La Real Cittadella61 Rail Infrastructure65 Industrial Production69 The Wall as a Territorial Structural Device

71 FOSTERING A NEW IDENTITY FOR THE SAN RANIERI72 The Wall as the Architectural Device74 Re-Use of Existing Structures76 Orchestration of Experiences78 Phasing80 Centre for Archaeological Education86 Parco De La Cittadella90 Re-Structuring the Productive Territory96 Connecting the San Ranieri Peninsula100 Public Space Interventions

107 APPENDICES108 Essay: Reimagining Messinas Archaeological Spaces of Industry

127 BIBLIOGRAPHY


introduction

Western cities have undergone tremendous social, cultural and political changes since the 1960s that have defined and shaped contemporary urban conditions. In the Fordist cities of Europe the Keynesian welfare state drove a modernist planning regime overseen by a state-led system of city governance. This created a space construction model of mass production and consumption for a relatively homogenous society. However, as a result of transient changes toward a flexible accumulation regime the Fordist growth model has become redundant as it failed in its ability to cater for the contradictions of capitalism. This has become increasingly evident particularly in relation to the fixing of capital to geographic locations through the built environment whilst capitalism continues to pursue a geographic locational advantage.1 Todays European cities are centres of heterogeneous lifestyles and spatial practices, the post-fordist city is a city brimming with contradictory and contested individualities and the subsequent tensions, oppositions and polarisations that manifest through various social, political and intellectual movements.2 As a consequence cities have been forced to adapt to these new challenges through increasingly flexible urban development and diverse approaches to urban governance, planning and design, allowing for multiple and varied uses and functions. This has resulted in the regeneration programmes of the late twentieth and early twenty-first century such as Hafencity in Hamburg. These tools form an additional weapon in the process of capitalist accumulation, functioning to serve a neoliberal economy in which, as stated by Knox, the interests of the public and civil society have been all but set aside.3 The production of controlled, commodified and aestheticised spaces replaced the mono-functional zoning of modernist planning.

However, there are noticeable trends that have emerged in the since the late 90s that have contested neoliberal patterns of regeneration in the cities of northern European countries. Firstly cities are gradually awakening to their intricacies and particularities which has in-turn given rise to increasingly pluralistic urban development especially in the realm of revitalisation driven by cultural infrastructure and the cultural and creative industries; cultural regeneration. Additionally the evolution of the post-fordist model is increasing presented in re-appropriation initiatives, reconfiguring residual urban space that has been neglected by market led development, frequently encountered in the post-industrial city in the form of abandoned industrial sites.4

This thesis therefore explores the possibilities of these new modes of production and consumption of the landscape and their application to the neglected productive landscapes of the European cities of the Mediterranean, in particular that of Messina. This is necessary in order to explore a means by which those cities suffering from the conditions of dependence and decline, that the Italian scholar Cassano describes as that of the South, can achieve a new autonomy.5 This will be accomplished by examining the possibilities of the creation of a new productive landscape, reimagining the deindustrialised areas of the city of Messina on the island of Sicily with particular reference to the impacts of the current global economic crisis and the subsequent declining role of both state and market-led regeneration.

FIGURE 1

Shipwreck on the industrial coast of Messina.

1. Harvey, D. (2001) Spaces of Capital: Towards a Critical Geography. New York: Routledge, pp. 247

2. Sassen, S. (2000) Analytic Borderlands: Economy and Culture in the Global City, in: Bridge, G. & Wat-son, S. (Eds.) A Companion to the City, Oxford: Blackwell. pp. 168-180

3. Knox, P. (2011) Cities and Design. Abingdon: Routledge

4. Groth, J. & Corijn, E. (2005) Reclaiming Urbanity: Indeterminate Spaces, Informal Actors and Urban Agenda Setting. Urban Studies. 42 (3) pp. 503-526

5. Cassano, F. (1996) Southern Thought & Other Es-says on the Mediterranean. New York: Fordham University Press


6.Leontidou, L. (1990) The Mediterranean City in Transition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 2-3

7.Braudel, F. (1966) The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Phillip II. Lon-don: Collins

tHE ProductiVE tErritorY oF tHE MEditErrAnEAn

The Mediterranean forms a liquid body that both unites and divides territories defining a network that transcends borders and becoming a place of trade and commerce. It serves as the unique interchange between the three worlds that make up the European geo-political condition, that of the capitalist core, periphery and socialist Europe.6 The Mediterranean represents a diverse and fragmented region in which the transition from feudalism to capitalism has not followed a single trajectory but rather a multiplicity of forms and rates. It is however possible to draw comparisons between the geo-political and socio-economic development of Southern European nations, those which fall below the line drawn by Braudel as the upper limit of the olive tree which forms a delineation by which the productive territory of the Mediterranean can be defined (See Fig. 2.4).7

The landscape of the Mediterranean is defined by a unique set of characteristics of the natural beauty of the physical geographical condition, which sits in juxtaposition with the coexistence of modernity and informality in urban development. The dialectic between the natural and human ecologies is one that has determined the region historically as a network of towns and cities both united and divided by the natural environment. The Mediterranean has risen and fallen as the centre of empires, a precarious history that has seen it dominated by the ancient powers emerging from Athens, Constantinople and Rome but also a region that has passed through disarray, segregation and constant power struggles.

Today the Mediterranean is a territory that is seen through many lenses to project an image of itself that can be read and interpreted, but when the lens is shifted the richly complex and diverse region begins to reveal itself. The apposition of the Mediterranean as the back drop for the hoards of tourists who seasonally descends to lap up the beauty and fortunate climate and those to whom life in the Mediterranean is a reality, whos roots descend into the dry and arid soils and deep into the blue of the sea.

FIGURE 2.1

The physical environment that encomepasses the

Mediterranean sea defines a region with deep and

hidden complexities that maniphests itself in a mu-

tiplicity of forms.


FIGURE 2.2

The Mediterranean region is characterised by

its relationship between the human and physical

landscapes, immediately recognisable and often

expressed through materiality and proximity to the

natural environment.


FIGURE 2.3

Rural agricultural production forms a basis upon

which the productive territory of the Meditarranean

was defined, it is however one of shrinking impor-

tance in contemporary society despite its ingrained

connotations and memory.

FIGURE 2.4

Mediterranean Europe as defined by the northern

extent of the Olive tree, adapted from Braudels in-

terpretation of the true Mediterranean.


itALY And tHE SoutH

In the geographic centre of the Mediterranean sits the nation of Italy, extending its reach from the Alps that rise as a crown that perches atop Italy but simultaneously divides the nation from its Northern European counterparts. From here Italy reaches south and towards the northern shores of Africa. A relatively young nation in contrast with many states of Northern Europe, its turbulent past and path to a capitalist nation should not be viewed as a cultural peculiarity in contrast to the regularities of Anglo-American states, but rather as one that exists within the Mediterranean context. This is not to say that its socio-economic and political climate is not independent from that of advanced capitalism, it is in fact inextricable connected to the global economy, however the forces that exert themselves upon its people and its landscape do so in a manor that renders it closely related to the other Mediterranean systems of production and reproduction that are deserved of their own interpretation.

Italy is however a nation that finds itself divided, a victim of its own circumstance and history. A polemic condition that has emerged from and been exaggerated by unification and patterns of development. The emergence of an industrialised north rising above an agriculturally dependent south at the beginning of the 20th Century has continued to excerpt its influence upon the Italian nation to the present day.

It is the inability of the south to catch up, in any way, with the economic productivity of the north that continues to plague its existence as a region dependent upon and undeveloped in comparison with the north; GDP per person remains 40% lower in the south than the centre and northern regions.8 However, the foci of this division remains strictly confined to within and economic framework, a capitalist reading of a complex issue that paints only a tainted picture of a southern existence.

8.Euro Stat (2010) Regional GDP per capita in the EU in 2010: eight capital regions in the ten first places. Euro Stat [Online] Available from: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/1-21032013-AP/EN/1-21032013-AP-EN.PDF


Throughout history Italy and the Mediterranean has had a constantly evolving relationship meandering between a realm of possibility and limitation. For four centuries the Mediterranean was the centre of the Roman Empire, a common market of trade, commerce and politics. The subdivision of the Mediterranean began with the division of the Roman Empire in the 4th Century prior to its eventual collapse in the 6th Century.

Following the Roman Empire Italy found itself divided into a number of smaller states and kingdoms ruled by different linear-ages. This led to the Guerre dItalia, a period of conflicts that defined the early Renaissance period. From this was born the ideology of a single Italian nation however this vision did not materialise until the eventual unification in 1861.

In juxtaposition to the Roman period whereby the sea was envisioned as a continuation of the land, uniting the territory, Italys period of division and conflict meant that the sea was seen as a barrier with negative connotations.

Following the unification of Italy it became immediately apparent that there were various inequalities that came to the fore that were largely determined by geographical location within the nation state. This became known as the Southern Question and was recognition of the disparities in the quality of living between the north, dominated by its strong industrial economy and that of the agricultural south. This division was given further credence by the ideological politics of the Italian right wing whose presence increased the repression endured by the South. Combined with the advent of fascism these policies in many ways led to the conflict between Italy and other nations in the Second World War.

Following the collapse of fascism and the birth of Italian democracy there was a sustained period whereby the welfare state was expanded to Italy as a whole under a programme known as Progressive Universalism. This soon became subject to increasing hostility as the south became increasing dependent on the north and organised crime came to the fore to play a central role. This in turn led to the promotion by northern regional parties of separation from the south.

The dominating paradigm that has emerged for the south is now one of autonomy whereby the south must emerge with its own identity through the mobilisation of local skill and resource.

BIRTH OF THE SOUTHERN ISSUE


FIGURE 3.1

The north of Italy developed around large scale in-

dustrial projects in the post-war period leading to

an economic boom.

(Image Source: http://www.eni.com/en_IT/com-

pany/history/photographs/photo-history-archive/

photo-history-archive.shtml)

FIGURE 3.2

The economy of the south failed to develop in

the same way. Despite numerous state attempts

to even the distribution of industry, the south re-

mained largely agricultural.

(Image Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wiki-

pedia/commons/8/8a/Agriculture_(Plowing)_CNE-

v1-p58-H.jpg)


If the internal division of Italy is defined as the large scale industries of the north and the agriculture based economies of the south then it is apparent that from the 1970s a third model was born which began to define new possibilities for the productive landscape and began to define a new model for productive development that can be seen as unique to the Italian situation.

This model became known as the Italian Industrial District, based upon the principles of a Marshallian Industrial District the Italian variant evolved as a distinctive spatial distribution of economic activities. In the Marshallian model it was not necessary for the actors to consciously cooperate in order for the district to develop and exist, what has been noted in the growth of these districts in the Italianate model is the merger of a population of firms with the residents of the territory who in turn contribute the human, social and cultural capital to initiate a bottom-up industrialization process.

The Italian industrial district relies upon the co-dependent small manufacturing firms alongside a suitable historic background that combines communitarian feelings of belonging with production activities. These conditions fostered regions that were not only conducive of achieving the economic aims of the district but often also with regard to the enhancement of the physical and civic environment of the district.

This production model continued to grow and prevail through till the late 1990s spurred on by the success of the Made in Italy label and the continual innovation that characterised the districts and their specialisation as agglomeration economies. However it is also widely accepted that the increasing specialisation of the districts is a major contributory factor in their continuing demise as the capitalist pursuit of geographic advantage in terms of labour and production costs continues to impact all but the luxury goods manufacturers. What is apparent though is that local employment is benefitted by a local production system of a network of diverse, flexible and small firms that are still able to benefit from and contribute to human and social capital.

THE THIRD ITALY

9.

Rabellotti, R., Carabelli, A. & Giovanna, H. (2009) Italian Industrial Districts on the Move: Where Are They Going? European Planning Studies. 17 (1) 19-41

FIGURE 3.3

The location of Italian Industrial Districts defined by

type still highlights the disparity between the north

and south but exposes an alternative narrative of

agglomoration economies and the productive land-

scape.


Food Industries

Paper

Plastics & Rubber

Mechanics

Jewelery

Leather & Shoes

Furniture

Textiles & Clothing


Sicily Calabria Provence of Messina Provence of Reggio Calabria Messina Reggio Calabria


tHE citiES And tHE StrAit

The cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria are situated on opposing sides of the Strait of Messina that divides the mainland of southern Italy from the island of Sicily. Both cities are provincial capitals and both function as the primary city of the province in which they are located. Messina is situated on the island of Sicily and Reggio Calabria is located on the western most tip of the southern mainland.

The geographical position of the cities of Reggio Calabria and Messina has meant that they have always played an important role in the Mediterranean. Any discussion on the cities, individually or together, cannot be undertaken with out the recognition of the strait that divides and unites the cities. This could be seen as recognition of the two cities as part of a singular metropolitan area; a border city.

The presence of different cultures, religions and ideologies is something that has characterised this city for centurys, this coexistence has been born from the complex issues of immigration, employment, resource management, hospitality, citizenship, tolerance that have manifested on a local, regional and international scale.

When examining the built form that constitutes Messina and Reggio Calabria it is impossible to escape the impact of natural disasters upon the cities. The location of the cities, straddling a fault line, has resulted in the regular destruction of large swathes of urban fabric by earthquakes. The most recent, occurring in 1908, led to the destruction of 90% of the city and the loss of 80,000 lives in Messina alone. Both cities were subject to large scale reconstruction plans; the Piano de Nava in Reggio Calabria and Piano Borz in Messina. Temporary housing was built on the periphery but there was a continuous failure to meet the demand for housing and the quality of building led to a quick decline into a state of decay.

This problem was worsened by the bombing that the cities faced from allied forces during World War Two during which time the city again faced large-scale destruction. Despite extensive urban expansion projects beginning in the 1950s the housing situation in Messina and Reggio Calabria is still in a state of flux, some families still inhabiting the temporary housing built over 80 years ago.

FIGURE 4.1

The location of Messina and Reggio Calabria as

opposing sides of the Strait of Messina.


The Strait of Messina is characterised by a prevalent linear development along the coast in as much as urbanisation is forced to exist in a narrow strip compressed between two different types of landscapes: the sea and the mountains.

These border conditions have historically defined two programmes of production; agriculture and industry. Despite the economic conditions that define the South as a region of underdevelopment both programmes have been subject to historic periods of relatively high production on a large scale. However the continuing decline of the South, enhanced by the recent global economic situation and its effect on the Italian nation, have resulted in the relocation of both large-scale industry and agriculture in the pursuit of geographic economical advantage. In the wake of this process are areas that have become archaeological relics of a past time of production.

The physical landscape of the strait characterized by the presence of different streams called fiumara that divide the landscape and connect two physicalities: the mountains and the sea.

Thanks to the fertility of the soil on the banks of these streams, the rivers have always been important areas for agricultural production and the subsequent urban development. Residential development, in fact, has been for centuries related to the presence of these water courses and the city has learned during the time to live with these streams using the existing dry bed as paths to organize the territory. With the advent of industrial civilization the delicate relationship between place and human settlement, culture and nature, was partially compromised and also the agricultural sector started its decline.

The physical geographic conditions of the territory have historically defined its growth due to the very nature of the land appropriate for inhabitation in urban form which in turn has dictated the productive landscape both segregating the agricultural whilst simultaneously ensuring that the industrial and residential programmes are forced to co-exist.

The sea and the strait have defined the urbanisation of the region for centuries but the cities of Reggio Calabria and Messina have developed an interesting relationship with the coastline. The restructuring of Reggio Calabria following the 1908 earthquake showed an attempt to embrace the relationship between the city and the sea for the people with the construction of the promenade and the access to the main city beach.

THE PRODUCTIVE LANDSCAPE OF THE STRAIT


FIGURE 4.2

The land suitable for industrial production in the

region is found within the narrow strip at the foot of

the hills and the sea. Because of this many parts

of the coastline have been segregated by these

developments.

FIGURE 4.3

The same strip of coastline is also the most suited

to urbanisation and the exploitation of the coastline

as a tourist destination as an econmic producer.

There is an immediate conflict between these jux-

taposing functions.


FIGURE 4.8

The infrastructural system of the strait defines a

border of the territory whilst simulatiously connect-

ing those parcels of land that are suitable for urban

or industrial development often acting as catalyst

for these.

(Image Source: Jia You Wei, 2013)


FIGURE 4.4

The Italian highway network provides the only sig-

nificant road connection between Sicily, the main-

land and on to the north.

FIGURE 4.5

The rail network provides a more comprensive set

of connections accross the country as a whole but

remains a slow and inefficient system skirting the

coastline in the south.

Torino

Milano VeronaVenezia

Firenze Ancona

Roma

Napoli

Bari

Catanzaro

Reggio CalabriaMessinaPalermo

Torino

MilanoVerona

Venezia

Firenze Ancona

Roma

Napoli

Bari

Catanzaro

Reggio CalabriaMessinaPalermo

State efforts to develop the south in order to bring it in line with the economic productivity of the north have mainly focused their efforts on infrastructural projects to boost both industrial activity and the connectivity of the wider region (Fig.4.4 & 4.5). Despite the fact that many of these projects have been plagued with delays, failures and corruption, this infrastructure has in turn impacted heavily upon the development of the productive landscape.

To the north and south of the central area of Reggio Calabria the access to the sea is cut off by infrastructure. The presence of this infrastructure has also resulted in the growth of industrial areas along the coastline, as the infrastructure was able to connect those small areas amongst the foothills upon which construction could occur. This peppered the coastline with small, sparse industrial developments whilst exploiting the transfer of goods onto a distribution network of road, rail and sea. At the same time points of significant cultural and leisure production were sometimes maintained, the infrastructure providing a limit to much of the urbanisation

and also by passing many sites of historical importance that reflected the Calabrian relationship with the sea.

Messina shows a similar pattern, however the relationship with the Strait does not take in any form leisure, the port remains an infrastructural area for the transfer of people and goods. To the south of the port the railway forms an impassable border between the city and the water leading to the growth of a ribbon of industrial land-use along the coastline. This industrial land-use severs the city from the coastline, concentrating industrial manufacturing production in the central metropolitan area determined by its proximity to the infrastructural network along which it has developed.

PRODUCTIVE LANDSCAPE DETERMINED BY INFRASTRUCTURE


FIGURE 4.6.1

Messina has developed into a long narrow city

the geography of the coastline to the east and the

mountains rising sharply to the west have forced

the city to develop on a SW-NE linear direction.

The effect of the infrastructure in segregating the

city from the coastline is evident along the eastern

coast.

FIGURE 4.6.2

The road system in Messina reflecting the pat-

tern of urbanisation above and bordered by the

highway infrastructure which passes through the

mountains.


FIGURE 4.7.1

With similar geographical limitations Reggio

Calabria has developed a similar urban profile.

Although the shallower slopes to the east have al-

lowed the sprawl of the urban fabric to distribute

in a more even manor accross the foothills as op-

posed to the concentration of development in the

valleys that is found in Messina. It is also very

clear that Reggio Calabria is dramatically disected

by the fumara on their trajectory from mountain to

sea.

FIGURE 4.7.2

The road infrastucture in Reggio is very similar with

the same concentration of the grid in the centre,

loosing its form through the urban sprawl. again

the highway traverses the outskirts of the city form-

ing a border with to the central city.


FIGURE 4.8

The extent of the rail infrastructure in the city of

Messina, which forges a physical divide through

the landscape and determnes the location of in-

dustrial development.


FIGURE 4.9

Highlighting the locations of Messina and Reggio

Calabrias industrial areas which are strung along

the coastline as a strip that cut the cities from the

strait. It is clear that this is a more pronounced

condition in the city of Messina.


The city of Messina has historically benefitted from its geographic location as the crossing point of the Strait of Messina and the trade corridor between the island of Sicily and mainland Italy. Following the destruction due to the 1908 earthquake manufacturing and industry was quick to recover but none so much as the construction industry, a necessary result of the removal of debris and reconstruction of the cities. In contrast to the advanced industrial sectors of northern Eu-rope, industry in Southern Italy consisted of largely small enterprises operating for the consumption needs of local populations for the first half of the twentieth century. Post-war governments prioritized the development of the Mezzogiorno beginning with public spending on infrastructural projects creating pre-conditions for development be-fore expanding investment in 1958 to directly stimulate the industrial sector. State owned companies were specifically required to pursue national utility over profit-orientated goals. The result was a growth in large-scale manufacturing and a decline in small scale artisanal pro-duction as improved infrastructure increased imports to the region. This, for example, halved the size of the food industry in the twenty years between 1951 and 1971. Suffering from the economic depres-sion of the early 70s, industry in the south was forgone in favour of the north with high energy prices particularly affecting the petrochemical industries that had been located in the Mezzogiorno. Many compa-nies were subsequently taken over by the state to limit job losses.10

The impact upon Italian fiscal policy that resulted from the Maastrict treaty of 1992 meant many public firms were privatised, a major con-tributing factor to the stagnation of economic growth in the Mezzo-giorno. There was however growth in the manufacturing of consumer goods during this period. The largest decline has been in the heavy industry sector, such as the petrochemical industries in Messina and in large-scale industries in Reggio Calabria. This has been worsened by the divergence of port and city functions as both cities lose the industrial infrastructural role of the ports to the container port of Gioia Tauro and the new smaller commercial port in the south of Messina.11

MESSINA: BETWEEN LANDSCAPE AND SEA

10. Helg, R., Peri, G. & Viesti, G. (2000) Abruzzo and Sicily: Catching up and lagging behind, EIB Papers, ISSN 0257-7755, 5 (1) pp. 60-86

11. Latella, F., Marino, D. & Timpano, F. (1998) Infrastructures of transport and regional develop-ment: the rediscovered centrality of the Gioia Tau-ro container port in the Mediterranean. 18th Eu-ropean Regional Science Association Congress. Vienna, Austria.


FIGURE 4.10

The urban morphology of Messina is largely dic-

tated by the landscape with the density of the built

environment increasing as the topology flattens

out towards the sea with the flatest areas becom-

ing home to the industrial typologies.

FIGURE 4.11 (Following Page)

Topographical map of Messina showing the topog-

raphy as a skin upon which the urban form has

developed.


tHE SAn rAniEri PEninSuLA

The San Ranieri Peninsula forms the northern culmination of a strip of industrial devel-opment that has occurred along the railway lines, severing the city of Messina from the coastline of the strait. The peninsula can be seen as four distinct areas each with a dis-tinct character and land use. The most northern part reflects the historical importance of Messina as a military port as it remains a naval base segregated from the city occupying the end of the peninsula.

The only central industry continuing to thrive in the metropolitan area is that of the boat yard in Messina, services that continue to hold a high reverence in that region of the Mediter-ranean. The boat yard occupies the western edge of the peninsula that flanks the inside of the Messina harbour. The south of the peninsula where the landmass meets the centre of the city of Messina is dominated by the train station and the mass of the associated rail infrastructure which also operates as the interchange between rail and shipping services which connect the rail infrastructure with the Italian mainland.

The remainder of the peninsula was formerly occupied by the heavy industrial programmes instigated by the Italian state namely an extension of the shipyard and a degassing sta-tion for petrochemical product shipping services. These industries have since left the area leaving a large landscape of former industrial structures that runs along the eastern sea front. This is an area of former heavy industry and is now a selection of vacant industrial typologies spanning the coastline over looking the strait towards Reggio Calabria. To the south are the remains of an 18th century fortress again reflecting the historical military significance of the peninsula. The site is bordered on one side by the road which divides the derelict from the active industrial areas and to the other side by the sea along which runs a sandy beach. The former docks for loading of boats with liquids dominates the coastline, its series of concrete plinths linked by bridges and pipes. In the south shipwrecks line the beach along side further remains of the fortress.

FIGURE 5.1

The strip of industrial development along the Mes-

sina coastline culminating in the north at the San

Ranieri Peninsula segregated from the city by the

station and rail infrastructure.


The landscape of the Strait of Messina can be read as a complex stratification of destruction and reconstruction of architectural artefacts, a landscape of abandonment where the political, economical and social shifts are recorded together with the dramatic natural events. The result of the decline of the productive industries on the San Ranieri Peninsula is a post-industrial landscape of neglect. This landscape appears in sharp juxtaposition to the romanticised image of the natural beauty of the Mediterranean, an environment in which it is immersed and yet so far from.

The prevailing condition is one that is characterised by the contrast between the care and neglect of the landscape. There is a certain condition of disassociation between the people of Messina and the coastline, physically segregated from it for the most part the city has turned its back on the sea. This has had a compounding effect on the post-industrial landscape upon which no attempt has been made to reintegrate the neglected area into the city. The relics of past industry stand as a reminder that both the Italian state and the private market have failed the cities productivity in the industrial sector.

The neglect extends beyond that of the industrial built environment to include both the historical and landscape attributes are also present in the area. These elements have been left to their own devices to decay and return to the landscape.

POST-INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE OF NEGLECT

FIGURE 5.2 - 5.6

The condition of industrial decline has defined the

post-industrial landscape of the San Ranieri Penin-

sula reflecting the psycho-geographic condition of

neglect and disassociation.

FIGURE 5.7 (p.38-39)

The relics of the failing of the large-scale industrial

past of Messina lie abandonded on the peninsula

defining the productive landscape of Messina.


dEALinG WitH tHE ProductiVE LAndScAPE

The aim of this thesis is to propose a way in which the post-industrial landscape of neglect could be reimagined and restructured as a productive landscape set to new parameters that learn from past mistakes and begin to offer an alternative model for regeneration of the post-industrial landscape through the unique contextual reading of the Mediterranean and in particular that of the South.

The generic rhetoric of a mode of regeneration in pursuit of the materialistic commodity pursued through the lens of a Northern European ideology does not translate to the psycho-geographic condition of the Mediterranean. The unique socio-political context of the South and its subjection to various economic forces have given rise to a landscape deserving of reinterpretation and full of possibility.

Having seen how historically the Italian productive landscape has been shaped according to economic and political determinates, what follows is an examination of two ways of dealing with the productive landscape through an abstracted application of design with the intention of testing these two possible treatments of the approach to the physical landscape. These in turn will feed into an approach that could be applied in approaching the restructuring of the productive landscape.

FIGURE 6.1

The juxtapostion between the built form and natu-

ral environment, the two elements that constitute

the productive landscape.


The pretence for this intervention is that contemporary cities have become subjected to an endless urbanisation, consuming the natural landscape at an unprecedented rate. It is therefore proposed that a new centrality is formed which contains urban development and as such preserves the limit between the urban and the rural.

The concept is to introduce a super structure that acts as a single urban form to contain sprawl and introduce a new density to the inner city. This is seen as an act that preserves the physical landscape by minimising the impact beyond the borders of the existing built environment. The concept explores the possibility of concentrating residents into agglomerations that open up the possibilities of a new productive landscape that is segregated from the physical and natural landscape. The project defines a new territory within a single structure in which education, leisure, administration, residential and manufacturing programmes are contained.

Through an entirely abstracted ideological visualisation of the possibility of the project a structure is proposed that features a minimal footprint upon the existing whilst opening up entirely new spaces and concentrations through which the aspirations of a new productive network can be realised.

However the very nature of the super-structure concept completely segregates the physical and human landscapes and ignoring the context. This could be seen as an exaggeration of a condition that has already been experienced within the context of Messina where large-scale single function programmes have been inserted, such as those on the San Ranieri peninsula, with detrimental effects on the relationship between people and their environment that has led to the extreme condition of neglect.

PRESERVING LANDSCAPE THROUGH NEW CENTRALITY

FIGURE 6.2

Considering the concept of centrality as a way of

preserving the landscape and defining an urban

limit.

(Image: Diego Vergara)


FIGURE 6.2

Creating agglomorations of functions within a cone

structure that minimises the imapct upon the land-

scape segregating the urban and productive uses.


FIGURE 6.3

Creating a new productive landscape that is seper-

ated from the physical environment that surrounds

the city whilst containing urbanisation within the

structure.



FIGURE 6.4

Situated on the strip of land between the rail infra-

structure and the strait on the shores of Messina

and Reggio Calabria it is possible to release the

physical environment and return it to its natural

condition.


FIGURE 6.5

The creation of a new centrality such as this that

ignors the context and imposes a new condition

upon the city is a repetition of the process whereby

monofunctional industry was imposed upon the

Messina coastline.



FIGURE 6.7 (Right)

Although disassociated the concept could open

up a new relationship with the landscape through

preservation whilst establishing an agglomoration

of production activity that broadens the productive

system beyond that of industrial manufacturing.

FIGURE 6.6

Inserting two new centralities for the cities of Mes-

sina and Reggio Calabria could be seen as rein-

forcing the segregation of function from the physi-

cal lanscape, the same preposition that has led to

the disparity between care and neglect.


If a segregation of productive programme and physical landscape is seen as a factor leading to the decline of the San Ranieri peninsula and a divergence from a condition of care to one of neglect then it may be appropriate to incorporate an approach that integrates the physical and human landscapes, therefore defining a new productive landscape.

Through an exploration of two existing projects; Villagio Mattioti by Giancarlo de Carlo and Lafayette Park by Mies Van De Rohe, and their methods of integrating the built and natural environments, the possibilities of integration are critiqued. It is proposed that incorporation of the two will begin to foster more of a dialectic between the citizens and their environment.

APPROACHES TO INTEGRATING LANDSCAPE


FIGURE 6.8

Meiss project in Detroit attempts to establish a

new urban landscape within the city, defying the

immediate context.

(Image Source: http://farm8.static.flickr.

com/7271/6908926784_831cc08788.jpg)

FIGURE 6.9

De Carlo attempted to establish an integrated

landscape that worked upon a heirarchy of spaces

within the project, defined along a linear logic.

(Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/pho-

tos/82261333@N04/8434574407/)


FIGURE 6.10

Through an extraction of Meiss project and a rei-

maging in the city of Reggio Calabria it is possible

to exchange the prairy landscape that had been

envisioned by Meis in Detroit for that of the Cal-

abrian landscape. The homogenous programme

however limits the extent to which the landscape

can be integrated as a landscape of production

rather than consumption.

(Image: Boaz Rotem)


Lafayette Park is situated in the North American city of Detroit. Developed in a industrial boom period on the back of Americas ever expanding automobile industry, Lafayette Park was an inner city urban renewal project in central Detroit.

The area that contained traditional row houses was deemed to have deteriorated in quality and like many renewal schemes of the time was subjected to tabula rasa in order to be redeveloped. The new neighbourhood of Lafayette Park not only changed the urban fabric but also excluded the original population, instead targeting the young middle class families that had profited from the economic successes of Detroit.

Meiss modernism is an example of the early avant garde modernism adapted to the context of post-war North America. The project can be conceptualised in modernisms aspiration to produce a new built character regardless of the context, applied on a tabula rasa. As well as this was the establishment of a dialectic between the abstraction of the architecture and the landscape

which served to produce a suburban typology in the inner city, bringing the prairie to the city.

The rationalism of the grid was captured in the architecture and served as a backdrop and reflection of the landscape. Van de Rohe attempted to produce a new architectural language through the relationship between the grid and nature.

Lafayette Park is successful in integrating the human and physical environments in a manor that fosters a relationship between the built form, that appears to be floating in the landscape, and the inhabitants. However, the homogenous programme that is applied to the project is not conducive to an inclusive neighbourhood with potential to develop a local productive system with rich human and social capital.

LAFAYETTE PARK - MIES VAN DER ROHE

FIGURE 6.11

The material contrasts with the landscape but at

the same time reflects it therefore reinforcing its

presence in the built form.

(Image: Boaz Rotem)


FIGURE 6.12

De Carlo employs a strict logic upon which the

integration of the landscape is orchestrated and

where appropriate segregated from functions such

as vehicular circulation.

(Image: Valaria Piras)


Villaggio Matteotti is situated in the Italian city of Terni around 100km from Rome. The project was developed in order to house workers of the state run steel mill that dominates the city. Originally a much larger scheme was proposed to replace the social housing built in the 1930s but only one section of De Carlos plan was finally realised. Villaggio Matteotti is located on the fringe of Terni in an area that is characteristically low density and suburban. The area contains two or three family homes, that are typical of the area, set in large plots. There is also a variety of agricultural use in the land neighbouring the project.

Giancarlo De Carlo wanted to create a dense piece of city fabric with this project and we felt as though it was necessary to produce a drawing that highlighted the juxtaposition between the density and character of Villaggio Matteotti in comparison to its surroundings. De Carlo embarked on a collaborative process of design by which he consulted extensively with the families who would inhabit Villaggio Matteotti. As a result De Carlo produced a design of 5 fundamental types each

containing 3 different apartments, this resulted in 15 different apartment types which also had interchangeable internal layouts resulting in 45 possible permutations.

De Carlo believed that through a process coined by Aldo van Eyck called configurative process, one could combine a set of standard elements in differing ways generating an architectural hierarchy. Irregular massing employed so as to mitigate any sense of monotony that may be felt at this density and repetition of types. These forms combine around the three dimensional grid of vehicular and pedestrian routes that make up the structure.

Through a restructuring and a semi-encompassing of the physical landscape De Carlo was able to foster a close relationship between the inhabitants and the landscape. By providing a blurring of the boundaries between the private and public portions a sense of ownership has been nurtured leading to a high level of care that the landscape requires.

VILLAGGIO MATTEOTI - GIANCARLO DE CARLO

FIGURE 6.13

Envisioning the Villaggio Matteotti project in the

context of Messina explores shows how the land-

scape can be integrated into the heirarchy of spac-

es between the linear elements and also how the

project can be integrated with the context.


rEAdinG tHE SAn rAniEri PEninSuLA tHrouGH tHE contEXt:

tHE roLE oF tHE WALL

The site of the San Ranieri Peninsula consists of a rich and complex set of forms and materiality that are deserving of a deep archaeological and architectural reading in order to begin to formulate a proposal that preserves the character and heritage of the site whilst simultaneously unlocking the potential of the productive landscape and a recovery of the physical environment.

With this in mind the site can be read as a multifaceted stratification and destratification of the landscape through the application of the wall as the raw architectural element used to structure the territory. The large-scale abandonment of the area has left these relics of a former period that has left the area as large swathes of industrial landscape in various states of minority occupation and dereliction, an archaeological site of industrial production.

The site can therefore be explored through the previous application of the wall in order to provide a reading of the site through its context. From this reading a re-appropriation of the landscape can be defined that articulates the reconstruction of the elements that constitute the physical structure of the context. For this three applications of the wall as a conceptual element have been defined; the ruins of the citadel, the metaphorical and physical wall of the rail infrastructure and the walls that define the former industrial programmes.

FIGURE 7.1

The wall maniphests itself in different ways upon

the San Ranieri Peninsula defining itslef as the pri-

mary aparatus for the structuring of the area, rich

and complex in materiality and form.


FIGURE 7.3

Location on the San Ranieri Peninsula of the walls

that remain as relics of the former La Real Cita-

della, the 17th Century Spanish fortress built as a

strategic point of control over the city and the strait.


The perilous existence of the remains of La Real Cittadella still exerts a dominant presence on the landscape of the San Ranieri peninsula. Built between 1679 and 1682 whilst Messina was under Spanish occupation. The Citadel was constructed as a garrison from which the city of Messina could be controlled

The structural properties of the citadel represent not only its capacity as a defensive building to protect the port of Messina from attack from the sea, but also reflect the significance of its ability structure the territory and exert the control and influence of the occupation upon the city of Messina and its inhabitants.

Having survived various attacks during its existence as well as the earthquake of 1908 La Real Cittadella

eventually succumbed to the expansion of the port of Messina and the shipyard in the late 1950s. Today only three arms of the original structure remain although much of the Citadel still exists underground. The remainder of the Citadel has been ravaged by time and neglect, with no attempts to restore or preserve one of the finest fortresses in the Mediterranean. It has been subjected to industrialisation surrounding it and including the building of an incinerator in the 1970s between sections of the built structure.

The Citadel still commands a dominating presence over the peninsula but is currently at the mercy of the natural landscape which is steadily reclaiming the remains of this striking structure.

LA REAL CITADELLA

FIGURE 7.2

Highlighting the remaining sections of the original

structure hich now lie as ruins in the landscape.


FIGURE 7.5

The remaining structure of the citadel has become

a forgotten territory, abandoned to the elements

and disassociated from its heritage. The presence

of the derelict incinerator, built in the 1970s, high-

lights the lack of respect of industrial interventions.


FIGURE 7.6

The use of the citadel as a disposal ground for

construction debris has begun to envelope the

structures forming a new landscape in the voids

between the structures.

FIGURE 7.7

The historical significance of La Real Cittadella

has been neglected and the landscape now eats

away at what was once a beautiful construction.


FIGURE 7.8

The monumental presence of the two intercon-

nected railway stations and the associated infra-

structure forms a metaphorical and physical wall

cutting the peninsula from the city.


The point at which the peninsula joins with the city of Messina is dominated by the presence of the rail infrastructure that consists of two adjoining stations and the rail tracks.

The built form consists of the Messina Centrale and the Messina Marittima stations. These are the main connections to the Sicilian rail network and also serves as an interchange between rail and ferry services to the Italian mainland.

The station buildings were built between 1937 and 1939 and designed by the architect Angilolo Mazzoni in the typical fascist/futurist style that accentuated the vertical proportions. The scale of the building and its

orientation towards the city of Messina, turning its back upon the San Ranieri Peninsula define both a physical and psychological wall between the city of Messina and the peninsula. The impenetrable nature of the mass of rail infrastructure strengthens the segregation of the territory and reaffirms the sense of disconnection of this forgotten area.

There currently exists only one connection from the front of the station to the rear which is a pedestrian pathway somewhat hidden within the structure of the station that traverses a bridge that hugs the rear of the buildings curve. Vehicular access is further prohibited with the first bridge across the rail tracks some 1km to the south of the station.

RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE

FIGURE 7.8

The complex mass of rails and overhead cables

that must stands as a inaccessable territory that

must be negociated to access the coastline.

?


FIGURE 7.9

The interchange between the rail and ferry ser-

vices has created a complex environment that has

become an inhospitable border to the city centre

that must be negociated.


FIGURE 7.10

The station building itself has its back turned to

the peninsula, reinforcing the lack of relationshiop

between the peninsula and the centre of the city

which lies to the front of the station.

FIGURE 7.11

Access to from the station is uninviting and has

come to act more as a limit than as a threshold

between the city and the peninsula.


FIGURE 7.12

Location of the walls that defined the internal and

external boundaries of the industrial functions and

landuses that were imposed on the landscape of

the San Ranieri Peninsula.


The industrial function of the San Ranieiri peninsula has been split over two primary industries; shipbuilding and repair and that of the degassing and cleaning of oil tankers. Both industries were developed under regional funds with the shipyard being developed in 1957 as an expansion of Messinas historical significance as a ship building area.

In order to define the programmes and the areas of industrial activity the construction of a network of concrete walls was employed that defined both the external and internal boundaries of the industrial landscape. The walls served to delineate the private industrial sectors and also the individual functions within the area.

In doing so the physical landscape of the Peninsula also became increasingly segregated. The industrial development completely excludes access to the coastline compounding the similar effect of the of the rail infrastructure to the south, depriving the city of Messina of access to the sea.

Industrial activity on the Peninsula ceased as of 2006 after the company that controlled both the shipyard and the degassing facilities suffered numerous environmental and economic catastrophes leaving the area to slip deeper into dereliction. As of yet no significant progress has been made towards either the clearing or redevelopment of the remaining structures.

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

FIGURE 7.13

The walls served as a segregating device to sepa-

rate industrial functions as well as to enforce the

boundaries of the private territory occupied by the

industries.


FIGURE 7.14

The former de-gassing station exemplifies the role

of the wall in segregating and defining the physical

structure of the industrial landscape.


FIGURE 7.15

The walls reinforce the pscho-geographic condi-

tion of marginalisation, inhibiting circulation and

lines of sight.

FIGURE 7.16

Circulation is constricted to the narrow strip of road

that runs between the walls that section off the in-

dustrial uses.


FIGURE 7.17

The single trajectory of circulation, featuring very

narrow pavements and mostly limited to vehicular

traffic. The road separates the active industry on

the inside shoreline of the harbour from the re-

mainder of the peninsula.

FIGURE 7.18

The network of open spaces and yards that cur-

rently exist on the site but are isolated from each

other by the presence of the wall.


It is clear that in all three applications the wall works not only as the physical structure of architectural elements but also functions in way to structure the territory on an urban scale. The wall is therefore the device that controls the way in which the site is experienced defining access, permeability and function as well as operating on a cognitive level defining a psychological boundary between the city and both the industrial and physical landscape. In this way the wall creates a psycho-geographic condition of abandonment and neglect, for the most part the San Ranieri Peninsula is out of site and inaccessible for all but those who venture into it with a purpose. It is a forgotten territory, reflected in its current state and reinforced by the physical boundaries imposed by the current structuring.

Levels of access and permeability are therefore a direct consequence of the application of the wall, circulation; both pedestrian and vehicular along the peninsula are confined to a single trajectory through the centre (Fig. 7.17). The road serves to delineate between the post-industrial landscape of abandonment on the side of the strait and the active productive industries on the inner shoreline of the harbour.

The existing landscape consisting of the archaeological components of both the citadel and the former industries separate a network of open spaces across the site, a series of concrete yards and more natural wastelands lie within the existing stratification of the landscape (Fig. 7.18). The presence of the walls currently prevents a coherent reading of these spaces and their possible interrelationships.

The existing walls have also been used in the past as a structuring device for the illegal appropriation of the area as a home for small industries on a workshop scale (Fig. 7.19). These structures have since been removed due to their illegality but this does however reflect the ability of the wall as the element through which to restructure the territory, rescaling production to meet the current demand. The presence of these illegal workshops and small industries can be seen as an indication on the form of productive space that is needed in Messina to meet existing demand. Cheap land with immediate access to the infrastructural network and the ability for firms to agglomerate in close proximity, with the over-riding structure provided on an urban scale.

THE WALL AS A TERRITORIAL STRUCTURAL DEVICE

FIGURE 7.19

Illegal construction amongst the remains of the

citadel which formed the structural device around

which the construction was orientated.


FoStErinG A nEW idEntitY For tHE SAn rAniEri PEninSuLA

It is evident that a post-fordist model of regeneration through a large-scale regeneration initiative is not appropriate in the current economic climate and the context of Messina in the Italian south. The generic rhetoric of a mode of regeneration in pursuit of the materialistic commodity pursued through the lens of a Northern European ideology does not translate to the socio-economic or psycho-geographic condition of the Mediterranean. The unique socio-political context of the South and its subjection to various economic forces have given rise to a landscape deserving of reinterpretation and full of possibility. The region of Messina and Reggio Calabria is characterised by a contrast between care and neglect: a traditional care of the landscape, embodied in millennia of sophisticated agricultural practices, juxtaposed with the large-scale abandonment of industrial areas developed through state interventions and under the speculation of European Union funds.

From this point it is possible to begin to imagine how a new identity for the San Ranieri Peninsula may be forged and nurtured. Making full use of the rich reading of the context on all scales, from that of the Mediterranean to that of the site, to address the post-industrial landscape of the South, using the San Ranieri Peninsula as the case study. After the archaeological reading it is deemed appropriate that the elements that constitute the physical structure of the context will provide the starting point for the appropriation of the landscape. It is proposed that the project provides a restructuring of the productive landscape through the systematic use of the wall as the spatial and urban device.

Accounting for the increasing failure of specialisation in Italian industrial districts and the lack of a coherent cultural identity and association with heritage; an integration and juxtaposition of spaces for manufacturing, artisan industries, education, culture and leisure as modes of production is will be explored. This reflects an attempt to reconsider the way in which post-industrial landscapes are construed in the context of the Mediterranean. In addition the proposed project will investigate the incorporation of both the human and physical landscapes to propose a new reading of what it means to give the territory the term of productive landscape.

From the reading of the current condition and the context a set of tools will be proposed upon which the speculative intervention will be based.

FIGURE 8.1

The identity of the San Ranieri Peninsula is de-

serving of reinterpretation as a new landscape of

production in terms of manufacturing, culture, edu-

cation and leisure to overcome the marginalisation

of the territory.


1. THE WALL AS THE ARCHITECTURAL DEVICE

The potential of the role of the wall as the device through which to re-structure the territory is evident through its existing role within the immediate context. The insertion of the wall as the elementary architectural element restructures the productive landscape and provides the permanent foundations of a flexible growth structure.

The physical characteristics of the walls to be inserted build upon that of the reading of the context. The volume of the walls represent their capacity to restructure the territory whilst their emptiness and the open-ended nature of the striped organisation exposes the potential and embraces the possibility of reappropriation by the user. A stark juxtaposition in materiality between the productive space of the ground floor and the residential units expresses the ability of the structure adapt to demand and providing access to a low-cost live/work arrangement. The structures are arranged to enable a hierarchy of streets with varying frontages whilst the end units provide space for commercial and civic functions that animate the central spine to which the elements are attached.

Building upon the linear typologies of the warehouse structures remaining from the ship building industry and utilising an architecture of emptiness, developed through a striped organization of space, the intervention refrains from prescribing over-baring programmes that would inevitably destroy the rich complexity of the site. Instead providing a structuring device for appropriation and agglomeration of firms, knowledge and social capital.

Alternating the facades provides a hierarchal approach to the organisation of space and a street network allowing for a simultaneous segregation and integration of functions and experience of the street level.


FIGURE 8.2

Using the wall as the archaetectural element to re-

structure the territory, defining new spaces of pro-

duction on a linear logic that allows for a multiplicity

of appropriations.


2. RE-USE OF EXISTING STRUCTURES

The complexity of the remaining context invites an innovative approach for the appropriation of the site. By operating in contrast with the severe logic of the intervention of the walls an unlocking of the potential of the existing structures within a coherent spatial framework should be examined. The utilisation of the physical structures on the site provides a rich materiality and spatial complexity that can contribute to the intervention on the urban scale.

The understanding of existing structures can be extended to include that of social structures and accumulations of human capital that are pre-existing within the wider context of the city of Messina. In fitting with the ideological view of the civic appropriation of the site and a reclaiming of the landscape by the citizens of Messina, popular movements such as Teatro Pinelii Occupato who are already undertaking the occupation and re-use of derelict buildings in Messina. By incorporating uses for civic purposes they are building a network of social capital and exploiting it in a way that could be appropriate in order to facilitate initial interventions within the existing physical structures on the site.

An initial exploration into the possibility of re-using of industrial relics by defining a new programme that completely changes their function demonstrates the capacity to redefine the productive nature of the context whilst maintaining and even enhancing its existing character to provide a rich experience of the intervention (Fig. 8.3 - 8.5).

FIGURE 8.3

Location of the tank structures, the re-use of which

was explored using the model shown.


FIGURE 8.5

Generating new relationships between the struc-

tures previously isolated and segregated from hu-

man activity giving them new purpose and mean-

ing.

FIGURE 8.4

Using a model to explore the possiblilty of re-us-

ing existing industrial structures such as the tank

structures. Maintaining the industrial character

and form but defining a new spatial programme.


3. ORCHESTRATION OF EXPERIENCES

The landscape is read as complex and contrasting combination of the natural and the built environments that exist on the San Ranieri Peninsula. The rich materiality that defines existing elements is explored as a means through which the open spaces can be orchestrated as a series of differing and complementary experiences in order to integrate the interventions with the existing spaces and buildings. This allows a restructuring of the territory through interventions that operate upon the three main principles: the wall as spatial structure, re-use of existing structures and connectivity through experience orchestration. A pedestrianised spine is inserted through the centre of the site connecting the area to the city whilst tying the elements together along a linear path. This is supplemented by a treatment of the landscape through a logic that rejects the former stratification of the area, maximising permeability.

By imposing a new layer of pedestrian connectivity existing spaces are revealed and coordinated taking on new purpose whilst respecting archaeological and industrial heritage and memories. Autonomy and possibility are embraced through the merger of juxtaposing functions whilst engaging with existing elements of the landscape to give new purpose and defining new amenities for the wider region as a network of public space is unravelled integrating the San Ranieri peninsula with the immediate hinterland.

Fig. ? demonstrates the schematic connections between the existing built form and open spaces along the spine anchored at either end by significant nodes; to the north the Torre di Lanterna, a site of military and historical significance it marks the municipality of Messina to those arriving by sea and to the south by the Messina Centrale station which forms the connecting point with the city of Messina.

FIGURE 8.6

Schematic masterplan of the orchestration of ex-

periences between the existing built form, spaces

and yards, integrated with the new structures utilis-

ing a new network of circulation.


PROJECT PHASING

The project is envisioned as a gradual process of appropriation that evolves and grows over time. The phasing process is seen more as a guideline for growth that allows the site to manifest itself according to the needs of the end-users, anchored by the public programmes and circulation.

Beginning with the archaeological education centre focused around the reuse of the tank structures of the former de-gassing station, acting as a catalyst for both the built and landscape strategy. The project then develops around the new layer of circulation that unlocks spaces and structures and provides the logic from which the site develops.

This evolves over time eventually, re-appropriating the entire site of the San Ranieri peninsula into a cohesive and rich piece of the city.

1. Centre for archaological education connecting with historic

site of the citadel.

5. Linear structures establish a new structure for the productive

territory.

4. Structures grow along spine responding to demand for

productive space.


6. Circulation is expanded to the north continuing the spine and

an additional connection to the station is made in the south un-

locking a possible site for beach front development.

2. Establishing connection with the city and extending the spine

through the site activating the existing warehouses.

3. Beginning to establish the new structures plugging into the

spine.

7. The linear model is replicated along the spine in the north

expanding the productive landscape across the enitre site.


CENTRE FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL EDUCATION

Forming the catalyst for the project and utilising many of the structures from the former de-gassing plant, the centre for archaeological education occupies the centre point of the site. The centre for archaeological education is proposed to exploit the presence of the citadel as an archaeological heritage site that can provide a study site appropriate for practical education through both examination and restoration.

The centre combines three primary programmes; educational facilities, public programmes and student accommodation, all contained within a light frame that demarcates the project but refrains from inhibiting permeability or restricting access.

The two larger former tanks house the more public programmes whose purpose is reinforcing the rich cultural and historical character of the San Ranieri Peninsula and the Strait of Messina. One tank houses an auditorium on the ground floor serving both the educational facility as well as allowing for public lecture and speaking events. This combination is extended to the remainder of the space within the larger tank structures. By remaining open plan they provide space for exhibitions, workshops and event spaces of both an educational and public nature for the purposes of reflecting and building knowledge upon the archaeological heritage of the Italian south. The remaining two smaller tanks are used as social and informal learning spaces for the students and public alike.

The main building , which is made up of three buildings connected by the external frame, features a ground floor orientated to define the eastern edge of the complex. This building houses the primary educational spaces and the associated auxiliary functions, the proportions remain large so as accommodate the workshop and laboratory functions associated with archaeological study and restoration. On the first and second floors student accommodation is found housing up to ninety-six students in single rooms orientated in groupings of twelve around a communal living space. Between each cluster is an external space shared by the student residents allowing for social functions and exploiting the pleasant climate of the region.

FIGURE 8.8

Groundfloor plan of the centre for archaeological

education demonstrating the relationship between

teh elements involving educational and public pro-

grammes.


FIGURE 8.9

The project redefines the de-gassing station as a

centre of production focused around archaeologi-

cal knowledge and public programmes to broaden

the histroical significance of the peninsula and the

wider region of the strait.


FIGURE 8.10

The centre is defined by its frame which replaces

the exisitng walls that contained the former indus-

trial functions. The frame remains permeable and

open inviting a merger of the educational and pub-

lic programmes.


FIGURE 8.11

The main new structure houses the educational

workshops and laboratories on the ground floor

(bottom) with the student accomodation arranged

over the first and second foors above (middle), all

of which is encased by the frame which connects

the buildings and external spaces (top).


FIGURE 8.10

First floor plan of the centre making full use of the

tank volumes and representing the clustering of

the student accomodation around communal facili-

ties and shared external spaces.


PARCO DE LA CITTADELLA

Respecting the authority of the ruins and the landscape that has begun the envelope them the Parco de la Cittadella is formed by allowing the existing landscape to remain whilst defining the ruins of the Citadel by carving them out using a network of paths that circumnavigate its external walls. The concrete expanse that surrounds the incinerator situated amongst the ruins is removed and the natural landscape allowed to develop as it has elsewhere in the park. The incinerator remains as a relic to the industrial past, a study object for decay and a reminder of past mistakes but an appreciation is made of the grandeur of the structure itself.

The park serves two purposes that are intrinsically interconnected. The first is that the ruins of the citadel become a live archaeological site for the students and academics of the educational centre. Secondly, through their increased importance and emphasis placed upon the site and the restoration work done as part of the educational process the ruins take on the function of an amenity for the city. This manifests both through the evolution and recovery of the structures and landscape as a leisure destination that continues to reinforce the sense of place and memory held within La Real Cittadella and also as the development of a signifier of the historical importance of Messina in the wider Mediterranean region.

Given time, consideration and the correct restoration the Parco de la Cittadella could evolve to include the internal spaces of the citadel giving further meaning to site.

FIGURE 8.11

The plan of the archaeological park of the citadel,

leaving the remaining structures floating in the

landscape creating an archipelago of forms board-

ered by the circulation.


FIGURE 8.12

The incinerator is left as a relic to the heavy in-

dustrial programmes imposed on the site but rei-

magined as a centre point to the park taking on a

new functional role which could in time become an

interactive feature of the park.


FIGURE 8.13

The Parco de la Cittadella becomes an amenity

for the city helpng to reestablish its identity and re-

lationship with Messinas heritage, both historical

and industrial.


RE-STRUCTURING THE PRODUCTIVE TERRITORY

The re-structuring of the productive territory occurs primarily through the employment of a strict linear logic that is enforced by the presence of the wall structures and extended into the landscape encompassing the chaotic nature of the context. The central spine provides the anchoring point for the structures to plug into before extending the logic of the intervention into the landscape and existing built environment.

The ground floor of the built interventions remains open plan to enable the maximum multiplicity of productive appropriation but also enables the possibility to subdivide the space according to the proportions of the structure. The intention is that the end units where the structures plug into the spine take on a retail or civic function that reflects the internal activity whilst simultaneously providing a rhythm and animating the pathway.

By providing a hierarchy to the streets that separate the structures through the alternation of their facades and primary functions it is possible to segregate the different traffic patterns and provide a suitable street environment for both the productive space and the residential quarters above. It is also intended that the streets are given further animation and character by reflecting the internal activity and projecting it into the street in an appropriate manor that limits conflict in activities.

The ground floor structure provides a growth foundation for the residential units above. These units are formed by the repurposing of shipping containers as the living unit. The use of the container unit is considered appropriate as it reflects the existing condition and character of the site and reflects the reinterpretation of this landscape. The proximity of one of the largest container ports in the Mediterranean, Gioia Tauro, ensures a ready supply of the units and minimises construction and transportation costs. The use of the units also provides the possibility of providing an industry focused on the fabrication of these units within the production space. This would utilise the abundance of construction knowledge in the area as well as being a location ideal for the distribution of the units beyond that of the project itself.

The extension of the logic into the existing built environment begins to integrate the context whilst maintaining the contrast with the intervention. This enables the orchestration of the differing experiences of the project and unlocks the existing structures for reappropriation as part of the new productive territory.

FIGURE 8.14

Ground floor plan of the linear structures and their

architecture of emptiness emphasising the pos-

sibility of appropriations and refraining from pre-

scribing over-baring programmes that would inevi-

tably destroy the rich complexity of the site.


FIGURE 8.15

The linear logic is extended into the existing built

environment providing a coherent spatial frame-

work for the productive landscape and unlocking

the potential of the structures.


FIGURE 8.16

The heirarchy of streets allows for a softer frontage

and narrower pedestrianised street with access to

the residential units above whilst also reflecting the

nature of the productive space inside.

FIGURE 8.17

There is a segregation of vehicular traffic that ser-

vices the internal ground floor functions from the

alternate facade reducing conflict between users

and activity.


FIGURE 8.18

The alternate facedes reflect the primary activity of

the street whilst also servicing the structure in an

appropriate manor, ensuring circulation limits con-

flicting activities whilst also unifying residential and

productive programmes.


FIGURE 8.19

The containers are arranged to form a composi-

tion that has the ability to grow, or in fact shrink, to

respond to the demand for accomodation.

FIGURE 8.20

The container arrangement allows for one, two and

three bedroom typologies arranged around private

and semi-private external spaces and covered

courtyards as seen in the section below.


CONNECTING SAN RANIERI PENINSULA

An integral part of the project is to reconnect the San Ranieri Peninsula to the city of Messina that has turned its back on the area and reinforced the psycho-geographic condition of neglect. The mode in which this will be conducted is through the use of the existing structure of the station building and an enhancement of the pedestrian connection that currently exists.

The current elevated connection that skirts the rear of the station building above the rail infrastructure will be enhanced in several ways. The existing steps from the front of the station, currently hidden from view, will be opened up and widened to provide a feature stair-case leading up from the station entrance. This could be further enhanced through the conversion of the current vehicular ferry waiting area into a new station square. The addition of ramps at either end of the connection will also allow cyclists and those physically impaired to access the connection and thus opening up the peninsula to them.

The intervention does not impair or disrupt the current functions of the station building or the rail ferry interchange but rather negotiates the complex arrangement to increase the permeability of the structure and improve access. Where the intervention descends onto the San Ranieri Peninsula again the ramps are employed as well as a feature staircase that aligns with the spine of the project.

The intention therefore is to connect the elements of the project using the most simple and direct method of creating the pedestrianised spine extending from the new connection. By removing the obsolete obstacles the spine connects the spaces and remaining buildings through which a new accessibility and coherent spatial framework is created. The autonomous nature of the site is maintained whilst simultaneously activating the spaces and structures facilitating reappropriation and a reading of the structure of the place.

FIGURE 8.21

Plan of the station emphasising the new connec-

tions to the site and utilising the tops of the existing

tank structures to provide a veiwing platform ac-

cross the site. The plan also shows the possible

addition of a new station square extending the site

into the city.


FIGURE 8.22

The project utilises and exaggerates the exisit-

ing connection whilst also providing an additional

bridge negociating the extensive rail infrastructure

and providing a direct pedestrian connection to the

sea front and the beach.


FIGURE 8.23

The introduction of ramps improves the level of

access by enabling otherwise impaired forms of

transport such as bicycles and wheelchairs the

possibility of access.


PUBLIC SPACE INTERVENTIONS

The project attempts to redefine the notion of public space in the context of the landscape o

'Landscapes of Production'

Documents

Transcript of 'Landscapes of Production'