RECONSTRUCTION OF THE CASTLE OF

FINAL THESIS BOOK BY VITORIA LUPPI

1 POLITECNICO DI MILANO School of Architecture Urban Planning Construction Engineering Master of Architecture - Built Environment Interiors

Author: VITÓRIA LUPPI Student ID: 896376

Supervisor: ALESSANDRO ROCCA

Academic Year 2018-2019

2 3 «We excavate the past in order to find memories that are embedded in places, like the work of archaeologists. It is a searching and researching process that drives our curiosity. It allows deep thinking and also facilitates encountering things that have been forgotten, erased or vanished by our global modernization. This is the first step of our process often full of surprises and discoveries through which we begin to believe in the idea of excavating collective memories. Then that archaeology, the process of thinking from the past to the future, slowly becomes architecture» (Tsuyoshi Tane, Archaeology of the Future, Tokyo, TOTO Publishing, 2018).

4 5 I dedicate this work to everyone that helped me in this process, even with small attitudes. My biggest thanks goes to my father, my mother and my grandfather, who always believed in my potential and made my dreams possible.

6 7 ABSTRACT

This thesis work presents a design proposal for a touristic center in the archaeological site of the Avigliana’s Castle, in the Avigliana city, Susa Valley, now characterized by the presence of the castle’s walls architectural ruins. Located in the top of the Pezzulano peak (+440) and accessible only by walking through a stone natural path, the ruins’ grandiosity and importance remains, but in need for a reconnection with the city and the Valley. The Susa Valley is rich in history and nature, with touristic attractions like the , however there isn’t any reference point to organise the tourism and its activities in the Valley.

Based on the understanding of the castle’s history and on the analysis of the present tourism, a specific site project was designed with three pavilions and a connection path, which dialogues with the ruins in a way that evokes the place’s imaginary and realm and its memory. The project aims to bring the castle’s importance back to the city and to the valley by telling its history, promoting encounters and appreciation, and respecting the archaeological site and its contemplative elements.

Keywords: Avigliana’s Castle; Avigliana; Susa Valley; Topography, Archeology; Reuse; New Intervention; Peak; Archeological Site

8 9 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTEXT p. 13

ANALISYS p. 25

CONCEPT p. 57

REFERENCES p. 65

BIBLIOGRAPHY p. 79

10 11 CONTEXT

12 13

14 15

16 17 SUSA VALLEY

18 19 AVIGLIANA CITY

20 21 CASTLE OF AVIGLIANA

22 23 ANALYSIS

24 25 SUSA VALLEY TOURISM

The tourism is one of the most important activities on the Susa Valley. With data from the Tesori del Valle di Susa, it was possible to understand the most requested touristic attractions (many of them related to culture) and also that the italians are interested on their own country history. Unfortunately, the existent info points and cultural spaces are not well spreaded for tourists or local population.

26 27 28 29 AVIGLIANA CITY

Avigliana, Vian-a in piemontese, with 23,22 km² and 12.480 inhabitants (sense of 2017, January), is a town and commune of in the Piedmont region. The city rises 383 meters from the sea level, and its about 25 kilometers from Torino by walking trough Val di Susa, a strategical position in an economically and military sense.

The landscape was mostly formed during the big glacial periods, when the valley received mass of detritus from moraine period and generated two lakes, called Piccolo (365 meters from sea level) and Grande (352 meters from sea level, approximately 100 hectares, maximum profundity 30 meters), today used by aquatic sports’ lovers. It was during the last two glacial periods (Riss, 230.000 years ago, and Wurm, 120.000 yeras ago) that the lakes were formed, but nowadays only these two lakes remained in Avigliana.

30 31 Excavations along time found The historical centre of the city goes fossils of molluscs and other animals, an up the Pezzulano peak, with the ruins of the entire paleofauna, what motivated the castle visible specially from the Piazza Conte regional law nº 46 in 1980, May 16th, Rosso, surrounded by medieval houses founding the natural park of Avigliana’s and where was concentrated many public lakes (410 hectares) in order to maintain the activities in the past during the medieval environmental heritage. period, having now the Municipality and Tribunal of the city. The alps panorama was formed specially during the Mesozoic with under The main city’s activities before the Second the sea volcanos, giving origin to lava World War were agriculture, livestock and rocks which formed the Pirchiriano peak, handicraft, being still current nowadays. where is located the Sacra di San Michele After the war, there was a notable shift (962 meters), and the Pezzulano peak, of people to the cities, phenomena that with Avigliana’s castle in the top (467 happens even in small cities. meters). The landscape, with an ecological and climate peculiarities (lakes, mountains, city), is extremely attractive for tourism, which unfortunately is not well disclosure nowadays.

32 33 34 35 36 37 CASTLE OF AVIGLIANA

Before talking about a new architecture and a new project, it’s necessary to understand the castle’s history over time, its importance and how it was seen before becoming the ruins now, even those with major importance to the city nowadays. Even with many different elements and languages, for example the two towers, one circular and another square shape, all of them dialogue with one another.

The current situation of the castle is due to two major historical events: the French invasion and the carelessness of correct administration over time, not earthquakes or atmospheric events. In order to situate these events, a timeline with the main events is going to be presented along the paper.

In the 574, the Lombardo King Cleph (Clefi) built the castle of Avigliana on the

38 39 top of the Pezzulano peak, but there is his granddaughter married Oddone di Until 1386, the Savoia lived their golden by orders of the marshal De Montmorency. no documentation of it being used as Savoia, bringing interest in the region of period, specially by the toll from the roads In 1536, after conquering the city of Susa, residence or military. From 750, with the end Piemonte, mainly commercial. It was in and commercial activities. Between the XII the French army partially destroyed the of Lombardo domination, the population the 1174 that the castle was destroyed by and XIV century, Avigliana’s castle gained castle of Avigliana by gun firing it. The of Avigliana gradually moved from the Federico Barbarossa in his assaults. two different fortifications. In the XV walls, which were not built to resist the Dora river margins to the peak Pezzulano, Century, Avigliana was made important by new armoury, did not resist and the enemy in order to escape from the instability due During the Savoia’s expansion to being strategic to defend the borders from was able to open a hole and penetrate the to the passage of many people in the Val Turin and their subsequent transference to the French’s invasion being used for the fortress. di Susa. It was documented that the peak the court at Torino, they used Avigliana as Savoia court occasionally. of Pezzulano was fortified in the X Century, house to the Savoia’s counts and the castle For about twenty years, the Piemonte but the first document that mentions the gained importance as military fortress. For With the death of Amedeo VIII di Savoia, region was disputed between and castle is on 961. the inhabitants of the city it didn’t change in 1451, there were five successors in a Spain. It was only with Emanuele Filiberto, their routine, even if Avigliana city was period of half century, having Filiberto II di who won the San Quintino battle, that the The city depended from the Abbey of always important as a traffic point for those Savoia as the last of this period. Filiberto Savoy won back their prestige and in 1559 , but from 888 some invasions who walked along the alps. The ‘strada del II made agreements with Luigi XII, current the countries signed a peace agreement. of the Saracens made people take refuge Cenisio’ and ‘del Monginevro’ were used France’s king, and allowed French military inside the Sacra di San Michele to do for the merchants that attended the big troops to access and go through Val di In 1627 the war between France not succumb to foreign domination. fairs at Fiandre and Champagne zone, and Susa to access Lombardia. After the death and Spain has been resumed, attacking The fight against the Saracen was won passing by the city, a toll should be paid of Filippo II, the situation got worse due the castle. The Duke Carlo Emanuele, by by the Arduin di Ivreva, or Arduin V, in to the city. to problems with French crimes. Carlos the side of the Spanish, was forced to the XI Century, which also built the first III, Savoia count, closed the borders and ratify the peace agreement at the Castello settlement of Avigliana’s castle. In 1046, Francis I, new king of France, sent his army di Avigliana. The Avigliana’s population

40 41 decayed from 2000 to 260 and many houses destroyed. In 1655 the castle was restructured and modernized probably by Amedeo di , but in 1691 that a French army, by the command of Catinet general, exploded the fortification of the castle, from which it remains only the ruins now.

42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 From the ruins today, it is still possible to recognize some aspects of the castle planimetry, such as the base of the square tower, the door between the high and low court; the high courtyard presented the residential part and the lower courtyard, before the entrance to the central tower, there were the warehouse, the oven and the stalls. The biggest remaining feature is the fake round tower, the highest existing wall, which existed to impose a sense of power on the castle (and still does), without any specific function.

Nowadays, the ruins of the castle are open for visitation, with no control and little maintenance (just cutting the plants). The local administration cannot administrate the management of a large cultural asset, and the suggestion of the local archaeologist and the Associazione Archeologica Aviglianese is an awareness of the importance of space as history and memory and the need to respect the ruins, for tourists and local population as well.

50 51 52 53 54 55 CONCEPT

56 57 WHAT

_A touristic center divided into three pavilion and connected by a pathway. The three pavilions: museum, open theatre and belvedere

HOW

_Three pavilions made of wood structure with superficial foundation points - not agressive on the archeological site

_Pathway with natural stone from Avigliana city following the existing pathway track sequel

WHY

_Organise the tourism of the Susa Valley into one main point of reference

_Value the history of the Castello di Avigliana and its’ importance to Avigliana city

_Respect to the archeological site

_Understand the history of the place

_Highlight the natural views and landscape of Susa Valley and Avigliana city

58 59 60 61 62 63 REFERENCES

64 65 SILENT PAVILION

ARQUITECT_ Simon Ungers LOCATION_ No specific location FUNCTION_ Cathedral MATERIALS_ Steel

66 67 SHELTER FOR ROMAN RUINS

ARQUITECT_ Peter Zumthor LOCATION_ Graubünden, Switzerland FUNCTION_ Shelter for ruins MATERIALS_ Wood; steel

68 69 CASA DE SUIZA

ARQUITECT_ DELLEKAMP ARQUITECTOS LOCATION_ Alameda central, Ciudad de México, México FUNCTION_ Open theatre MATERIALS_ Wood; steel

70 71 PERGOLADO BONDINHO

ARQUITECT_ A+ Arquitetura LOCATION_ Rio de Janeiro, Brazil FUNCTION_ Open Square MATERIALS_ Wood; steel

72 73 ZINC MINE MUSEUM

ARQUITECT_ Peter Zumthor LOCATION_ Allmannajuvet zinc mines, Sauda, Norway FUNCTION_ Museum; Coffee; Services MATERIALS_ Wood; steel

74 75 ACROPOLIS PATHWAY

ARQUITECT_ Dimitris Pikionis LOCATION_ Athens, Greece FUNCTION_ Pathway MATERIALS_ Stones (variable)

76 77 BIBLIOGRAPHY

78 79 AA.VV., I castelli della bassa valle di Susa tra IX e XV secolo: S.Mauro di , Villardora, PATRIA, Luca. Medioevo sul Pezzulano: documenti vecchi e “nuovi” per la storia di Avigliana. Avigliana, S. Ambrogio, , [coordinamento del progetto e revisione dei testi Paolo Denicolai, Segusium, 2009. Ugo Gherner, Piero Del Vecchio]. Condorve: Editrice Morra, 1998. VOLTERRANI, GIlibert. Valsusa com’era Tèra ‘d n’òstri vej. Susa: Ed. Delphius. Susa, 1977.

BRAYDA, Riccardo; RONDOLINO, F. : la sua torre, i suoi signori. Torino: C.E. Bertolero, Websites 1886. Archdaily CAPELLO, Ezio. Avigliana: storia, personaggi, ricordi, immagini di uma città milenária. : Arti grafiche San Rocco, 1995. Associazione Archeologica Aviglianese. Available at: https://www.facebook.com/ AssociazioneArcheologicaAviglianese/ ENRICHETTO, Martina. La Lettura di Avigliana Medioevale: e la sua verifica secondo la teoria del potenziamento visivo. Torino: Edizioni Quaderni di Studio, 1967. Città di Avigliana. Available at: https://www.comune.avigliana.to.it/

FABRETTI, Ariodante. Scavi di Avigliana. Torino: Atti dela Società di Acheologia e Belle Arti per la Maps.stamen.com Provincia di Torino, 1875. Valle Susa Tesori. Available at: https://www.vallesusa-tesori.it/en/ FIRPO, L. Theatrum Sabaudiae: Teatro dagli stati del Duca di Savoia. Torino: Archivio storico della Città di Torino, 1984-1985.

GONIN, Enrico. Album delle principali castella feudali della Monarchia di Savoia. Torino: Doyen, 1845 - 1857.

LIEURE, J. Jacques Callot: Catalogue of the Graphic Work. Paris, 1927. Livros │ Books

NOTA, Marco. Il castello di Avigliana: indagine storica e ipotesi di riuso. Torino : Politecnico di Torino : Facoltà di Architettura, 2000.

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