Architecture and city between decommissioning and amazing reuse: the legacy of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries

Buildings and urban areas developed, in particular, during the Nineteenth until early decades of Twentieth century, have been object of different and significant examples of demolition in contexts of transformation, rehabilitation and ‘gentrification’ that have affected the contemporary towns. However, while demolition and reconstruction of urban areas have been a constant in the process of development of cities of most recent training and of cultures in which modernity and modernization have always had a predominant role – i.e. in American cities – in the last few decades, also more historically complex and layered cities have become experimental field of re-qualification of broad sectors, in which the historic heritage has often taken a polarizing and attractive role. The study aims to highlight, through some significant examples, reinterpretations and re-readings of the Nineteenth-century architectural heritage in spectacular key, considering their capacity to ‘mediate’ with the original spatial, architectural and urban values.