The End of Landscape

Abstract

In the 17th century, the cultural dimension of ‘discoveries’ led to a portrayal of the Italian territory and the places delegated to the idealization of its landscape, through identification of the compulsory itineraries of Grand Tour travellers. Currently, a new portrayal is pressing due to the actual morphological situation brought about during the great transformation of the territory that occurred in the second half of the 20th century. The resolution of the great needs of the modern city, formal themes linked to limited resources, and the ecological dimension which has been ousted by long term planning projections are all included in redeeming the dimension of the landscape by incorporating it in architecture. In this context, after a long period where architecture and urban planning have transformed the territory, we might call for a provocative “end of the landscape” to reposition priorities of the scale of architecture so as to place new, precise structures in the framework of postmodernity.

Keywords

• Paesaggio, Architettura, Progetto per il Sud