Regeneration of landscape in Sicily
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
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Project Description
Through the images of the Sicilian landscape made by Edward Lear in his nineteenth-century tour of the island, compared with geo-localized aerial photos of the same places, the project aims to rediscover the current territory. By combining history, art, and new technologies, criticalities will emerge in the urban and rural landscape. The inclusive dialogue with local communities, through exhibitions and public debates, can suggest new sustainable models of regeneration.
Project Region
EU Programme or fund
Description of the project
Summary
Through the analysis of published and unpublished images of the Sicilian landscape made by Edward Lear (1812-1888) in his nineteenth-century tour of the island, compared with geo-localized aerial photos of the same places, the project aims to rediscover the current territory. Therefore, the project will develop in two phases, the historical reconstruction of Lear's trip to Sicily, through a collection of the most significant works, and subsequently, through the use of drones, the places represented in the paintings will be photographed exactly, with a precise geolocation of them.
The methodology is innovative and interdisciplinary, because by combining history, art and new technologies, it will be possible to have a multifaceted cultural vision of the territory and of the critical issues in the urban and rural landscape, also linked to an uncontrolled use of the territory and, sometimes, to audacious pieces of speculation. The results of this approach will lay the basis for a subsequent, highly inclusive dialogue with local communities. The stages of it will be the organization of exhibitions and the promotion of public debates with conferences and with the implementation of a website in which to create a forum to encourage a broad debate. The project will thus be able to promote new sustainable models of territorial regeneration and it can contribute to preserve or improve the Sicilian cultural heritage and to strength the relationship between people and their territory. This final objective is particularly important because it can help to create an ethical vision of the territory, with placing people at the center of it, creating a virtuous circle between sustainability, aesthetics and inclusion.
Key objectives for sustainability
The historical and current vision of Sicilian multicultural heritage is undertaken with a view to implement urban and landscape regeneration processes, according to a sustainable vision, which can promote a new resilient approach to the use of architectural and landscape assets, which are unfortunately often not properly considered. The project aims to propose a sustainable and accessible vision of the places of cultural importance analyzed in the research, with the objective to return the territory to the use of local and international community.
The project, starting from a careful reading and historical analysis of the territory, aims to promote the enhancement of it, through social and cultural activities. Sustainable territorial regeneration mechanisms will be proposed, to preserve the identity of the Sicilian natural and built environment, otherwise, in many cases, compromised by phenomena of environmental degradation.
Starting from the study of the pictorial representation of places and comparing it with the current state of the same, the research will proceed in close harmony with the sustainability criteria established in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Through the reading and analysis of the places considered, some case studies of cultural, artistic and environmental relevance will be identified, suitable for promoting shared activities with local communities, aimed at knowledge and sustainable enhancement of the areas considered.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
Sharing beauty.
The fundamental purpose of the project is to enhance the Sicilian territory and its precious cultural and environmental heritage. Starting from the representation of the nineteenth-century Sicilian landscape by Edward Lear, and verifying the cases in which the places represented have been safeguarded over the course of a century, or if, on the other hand, they have been compromised by degradation phenomena of various kinds, we could understand the changes in their natural and built environment, in order to help involved communities to recompose the identity of the places.
Therefore, with retracing the steps of the English traveler, we will follow a cultural itinerary with the purpose to preserve and share the territory beauty.
Key objectives for inclusion
Among the objectives of the project, it is of fundamental importance to lay the foundations for future actions that aim to strengthen the dynamics of inclusiveness by overcoming the distinctions of age, sex, race, ethnicity, religion and economic status. On the one hand, the research results could foster a highly inclusive dialogue with local communities. On the other hand, they could underline the value of social inclusiveness and equality, proposing shared social and cultural activities to protect the places under examination. These activities will be able to involve the residents, and also the immigrant communities in a participatory way, aiming to encourage dialogue between the different cultures present on the island, developing interventions that improve the quality of life, in a perspective strictly connected to the open use of the Sicilian territory, historically characterized by tolerant and multicultural dynamics. The debates on the Sicilian landscape, with its mixture of historical and cultural evidence, will thus be an opportunity to strengthen dialogue and tolerance.
Innovative character
The scientific process adopted is based on an innovative and interdisciplinary methodology, as it aims to combine a new approach to the history of architecture and art with established methodologies in the disciplines of recovery, conservation and enhancement. Additional innovative aspects of the proposed idea can be found in the following choices:
- Geographic contextualization of historical views, through the use of drones and other photographic equipment, allowing you to observe the changes in the natural landscape built a century after Lear's tour.
- Development of knowledge of the Sicilian cultural, artistic, architectural and natural heritage, projecting research into an innovative experiential dimension, between art and reality, guided by an inclusive and sustainable vision, which can allow you to retrace Lear's tracks following selected itineraries in Sicily and at the same time to trigger regeneration processes with involving the communities present in the area without ethnic distinctions.
- Creation of a network of social actors sensitive to the debate on the protection of the Sicilian landscape. The stages of Lear, fixed in his views, will thus be the stages of a new shared dialogue between local communities, politicians and institutions.
