SCIentific RESearch and Information Technology Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologie dell'Informazione Vol 4, Issue 2 (2014), 43-54 e-ISSN 2239-4303, DOI 10.2423/i22394303v4n2p43 © CASPUR-CIBER Publishing, http://caspur-ciberpublishing.it METHODS AND PRINCIPLES FOR THE READING, ANALYSIS AND VIRTUAL RECONSTRUCTION OF URBAN FABRICS THAT HAVE DISAPPEARED Daniele Calisi, Maria Grazia Cianci* * Roma Tre University, Department of Architecture - Roma, Italy Abstract The research proposed in this short article, try to show one of the possible methods to analyze and study some urban fabric, in historic cities in the first place, that have been lost or have been heavily modified over the centuries, dramatically changing their appearance. In particular, the study is aimed at cataloging of archival records for the area of the Imperial Fora in Rome, especially, in this first phase, in the areas adjacent to the archaeological ruins. Therefore, the case study is undoubtedly one of the most complex in terms of urban stratification. The lost Alessandrino district, demolished to make way for the Via dell'Impeo has been carefully analyzed, the documents were redrawn in digital, and we are seeing to the three-dimensional reconstruction to the computer. Keywords Virtual Reconstruction, Urban fabrics, Heritage, Digital archive, Web Gis. 1. Introduction This study is based on all these aspects: the acquisition of all available information for the In our cities, we often find neighbourhoods case study, the critical analysis of the that have been ripped apart, losing their historical transformations, the definition of the structure. But what would that part of the city reconstructive hypotheses and finally gathering look like if it hadn't suffered a bombing raid, if it together of everything in an organized system. had not been shaken by a strong earthquake, if it This type of cognitive process inevitably leads to had not been deliberately demolished? the scientific verification of the collected data and Urban voids have their intrinsic social consequently the construction of a database that properties. They have become a symbol of contains all of the elements. It served to environmental and historical vicissitudes, a substantiate the phases of reconstruction of the historical memory that characterizes them. In three-dimensional model. many cases, we can understand the morphology This virtual archive will be implemented from of the place ante rem through the help of the time to time, updated with new acquisitions entire historical and archival documentation. needed for the three-dimensional reconstruction However this documentation is accessible to only of the district, an operation aimed at returning a few people and more importantly, it is often not significance and value to an urban space which organized. unfortunately no longer exists, as well as learning Another interesting source, for the more about it and making this knowledge available to recent cases, is photographic documentation, the public. which over the decades has become increasingly The proposed case relates to the demolition of substantial. Obviously, due to the greater ease of the Alessandrino district in the 1930s, with the use of photographic techniques, photographic subsequent development of the huge open space archives are among the most useful tools for that was created and the consolidation of an really understanding what was and what has urban void that has never actually been filled: the been lost. green spaces, the parking areas and the majestic (2014), n. 2 D. Calisi, M. G. Cianci road system have never made the area liveable. It Recent archaeological investigations1 have was a place from where one could see the ruins of revealed the presence of gardens on the terrain the great empire, and the excavations that have that were deposited on top of the ancient marbles taken place in the area in recent years have and small houses. Traces of these domus terrine attempted to bring to light, at different levels of and domus solarate are still evident, but notably stratification, the history of the district. the paths to the interior of the old Fora no longer Three different levels have been defined in the exist to link the original layouts due to functional reconstructions. The first and most philological requirements for connecting the parts. Some of due to its copious documentation, is a 3D model the most important of these are described in the that is very true to life. A second reconstruction, processional itineraries from the eighth century which requires a partial interpretation, comes onwards (First, the Argiletum which progressed from documents offering either the perspective up to the church of Sant’Adriano and from there drawings only, or the site plans only. The third to the Clivo Argentariorum and then, in the twelfth reconstruction, on the other hand, is one that less century, also the current Grillo ascent and its coincides with the real historic shape. connection to Via Lata). In this third case, the absence of archival A beautiful image contained in the Codex documents was an obstacle, however it was Escurialensis represents this portion of the city as overcome and justified through the use of the it would have appeared in the second half of the area's building “types”, starting with a 15th century (Fig.1). The Torre dei Conti (Conti's documented base concerning the heights and tower) is located in the centre of the drawing and numbers of plans obtained from land registration overlooks a wide, perhaps cultivated field, with a documents (called brogliardi). small built up roadstead around it against the The virtual reconstruction of Alessandrino is a background of the Rione Monti (Monti district) complex and complete study that touches on towers2 and the remains of ancient monuments. several disciplines: urban planning, architecture, The state of ruin is also reiterated in another archaeology, restoration and sociology. drawing from the anonymous Escurialensis with Furthermore, this virtual reconstruction is the Temple of Minerva and the Arch of Pantani in unquestionably of great importance for the foreground. understanding fully the profound changes the area has undergone and for realizing the artistic and architectural losses suffered by the city. 2. The Alessandrino District The area on which we are addressing our interest coincides with the area of the Imperial Fora. During the city's imperial period, in this area, which was also geomorphologically central with respect to Rome's original urban system, the political, administrative, commercial and cultural activity was concentrated, giving life to the complex and articulated system of Fora. Fig. 1: The district on an image of the Codex Escurialensis In medieval times, interest in these places that shows the quantity of towers present in the area waned and activities moved on toward new systems of territorial management. These The physiognomy of the district seems to be monumental structures were also gradually already outlined on the whole in the panorama of abandoned, relegated to the margins of the urban Rome by Giovan Battista Falda of 1676 (Fig.2), a morphology that the city was assuming. Over the centuries, disuse and neglect led to the 1 R. Meneghini, R. Santangeli Valenzani, I Fori Imperiali. Gli transformation of the spaces, which were scavi del Comune di Roma (1991-2007), Rome 2007. gradually reclaimed and "degraded" to 2 The presence of baronial towers marked the area, which, agricultural use. especially with respect to the area of the Forum of Nerva and Temple of Peace had, in around the year 1000, already assumed the name Campo Torrecchiano. 44 (2014), n. 2 Methods and principles for the reading, analysis and virtual reconstruction… configuration later confirmed by a drawing by cadastre for that of the relative land registration Nolli of 1748 (Fig.3), where the stately palaces documents (brogliardi) allows us to recognize the and the numerous churches are also indicated. existing building types in the area and the consistency of the building fabric. In the cadastral updates made in 1871, the district's construction appears denser, some portions of the interior areas are filled in and some parcels have been recast. From the archival documentation, especially title 54 and the Building Inspectorate kept in the Capitoline Historical Archive, it is clear that interventions implemented in this period mainly concerned erections, restorations, alignments, some rebuilding and restructuring of facades. Fig. 2: Portion of the Rome Plan by Falda of 1676, which shows the density of the district Fig. 4: Portion of the Gregorian urban Cadastre, 1824 But the situation outlined in these cartographies is intended to be revolutionized by the post unitary urban planning choices. These choices already from the drafting of the first regulatory plans traced the urban fabric with yellow lines of demolition. The opening of via Fig. 3: Portion of the Rome Plan by Nolli of the 1748, which Cavour was the first intervention that marked the shows the blocks and the public spaces beginning of the transformation. The road from the Termini station makes a straight line across Even more detailed is the description found in the Rione Monti (Monti district) and descends to the Gregorian urban cadastre (Fig.4), a tool that is the Roman Fora where it momentarily stops. essential for pursuing the goal of the research. Meanwhile plans to connect via Cavour to via Here the parcel division and the description of the del Corso followed with proposals for variants. At free areas has been added. Consulting the the same time historic buildings were demolished 45 (2014), n. 2 D. Calisi, M. G. Cianci adjacent to the Capitoline Hill to make way for the monument to Vittorio Emanuele. The variants to the Piano regolatore generale (General Regulatory Plans) of 1909, 1924 and 1925-1926 would decree the demolition of not only the buildings overlooking via Cremona in order to enlarge it, but also the entire neighbourhood overlooking the Imperial Fora.