YAC just launched their latest competition, titled 'Post-Quake Visions,' which aims to find out innovative ways to overcome the effects of a seismic catastrophe over a medieval Mediterranean town. Participants are encouraged to rethink and redesign the quake-inflicted gaps left inside ancient urban tissues. This endeavour hopes to revamp such scarred ecosystem under cultural and economical keys, with the goal of finding out urban perspectives and social possibilities once undisclosed or unconceivable. 'Early bird' registration ends September 1, and the deadline for submissions is November 11. More information after the break.
Italy has been experiencing a delicate situation regarding historical memory preservation, in which such precious heritage is constantly put under harming risk. On one hand both protection and preservation cover a pivotal role; on the other hand national legislation is becoming more and more entangled by complex and articulated rules. The result of those conjoined features is bringing stasis instead of real maintenance; an upcoming risk is therefore for such system is paralysis or eventually death. As a matter of fact, inner cities belonging to small-medium Italian municipalities are currently stating a slow and relentless depopulation.
But what if an extraordinary, dramatic or dismal occurrence broke such clockwork? Which are the scenarios that may be disclosed to the eyes of the designer? On the night of the 20th of May 2012 an earthquake shook the middle-northern part of Italy, razing hundreds ancient buildings and transforming many inner cities in abandoned ruins. Where current economical context - widely recognized as a period of “crisis” - makes reconstruction impossible, designers are involved within a fundamental debate: is it possible to think about concrete solutions, capable of overtaking a conception of mere refurbishment / restoration / reinstatement for highly anthropized environments?
YAC aims to base this research firstly on reading the wounds the quake left on cities, communities and architectures. By focusing on such vacant spaces, the goal is to insert brand new architecture able to blend ancient heritage with contemporary pace.
For this second edition, eminent figures such as Shigeru Ban Studio, 5+1AA and Bologna University will team up with YAC to follow and award projects and ideas. For more information, please visit here.