The present article illustrates an interdisciplinary methodology for the protection of fortified old towns and the management of their possible future transformation. Specifically, the study has developed a process of investigation to support the identification, assessment and conservation of material evidences related to the urban walls inside old towns. The disciplinary fields involved in the research are mainly history, drawing and restoration, supported by diagnostics on materials and structures, urban planning and sustainable design. The testing area is the walled city of Cagliari, a typical Mediterranean fortified settlement, highly stratified with a wide chronology of structures and interesting military constructive techniques. The research develops a working structure for the reasoned collection of contributions belonging from different disciplinary fields. The complex set of information implements a detailed knowledge plan conceived as a vulnerable risk map. Landscape and visual perceptions of the surrounding environment are also considered. The complex mosaic of interdisciplinary knowledge has been the basis for the proposal of effective policies for protection in order to forecast, guide and control possible transformative scenarios. Contemporarily, the management plan includes some strategic actions for the fruition and enhancement of the walled perimeter, such as new touristic paths or entertainment and sporting areas. Criteria and methodology resulting from this article seem to be easily applicable to other contexts, especially in the Mediterranean settlements.
The text proposes a comparison between the fortifications (bunkers and batteries) erected during the decade 1936-45 along the Mediterranean coasts of Spain and Italy and the network of defense architecture built in modern times. The needs to considering both architectural and landscape heritage gives opportunity for new debate concerning the matter of conservation. In particular because those latest elements are the oldest armored ruins of modern 20th-century architecture. This group of bunkers and coastal and anti-aircraft batteries is called Muro Mediterráneo for its formal and functional affinity with the Atlantic Wall built by the German army during World War II (circa 1942) along the coast from France to Norway. The comparison with the 'network of sentinel', erected by the Christian kingdoms in the Modern Age (XVI-XVIII sec.) along the Mediterranean coast for his defense, showed similar design criteria, location, functionality and materiality, however, while the 'sentinels' are protected by laws, the contemporary casemates are not. Among these, the differences are (without considering the age difference) as the towers have strong volumes emerging from the profile of the territory while bunkers and batteries (with similar geometric models) are mimetically integrated with the topography of the places where they are inserted. The elements of the Mediterráneo Wall form a new anthropic landscape which can be considered a monument for its allegory of tomb and memorial at the same time. ; El texto propone una comparación entre las fortificaciones (búnkeres y baterías) erigidas durante la década 1936-45 a lo largo de las costas mediterráneas de España e Italia y la red de defensas arquitectónicas construida en la edad Moderna. La necesidad de considerar el patrimonio arquitectónico y paisajístico da la oportunidad para un nuevo debate sobre el tema de la conservación. En particular porque esos últimos elementos son las ruinas acorazadas más antiguas de la arquitectura moderna del siglo XX. Este grupo de bunkers y baterías costeras y antiaéreas lo denominamos 'Muro Mediterráneo' por sus características formales y funcionales de afinidad con el Muro Atlántico (Atlantik Wall) construido por el ejército alemán durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial (alrededor de 1942) a lo largo de la costa de Francia hasta Noruega. La comparación con la "red de centinelas", erigida por los reinos cristianos reinos en la Edad Moderna (siglos XVI-XVIII) a lo largo de la costa mediterránea para su defensa, muestra criterios de diseño similares de ubicación, funcionalidad y materialidad; sin embargo, mientras que los "centinelas" son protegidos por las leyes, las casamatas contemporáneas no lo son. Entre estos, las diferencias son (sin considerar la diferencia de edad) que las torres tienen grandes volúmenes que emergen del perfil del territorio mientras que los búnkeres y baterías (con modelos geométricos similares) se integran miméticamente con la topografía de los lugares donde se insertan. Los elementos del Muro Mediterráneo forman un nuevo paisaje antrópico que puede considerarse un monumento por su alegoría de tumba y monumento al mismo tiempo como señaló Paul Virilio. ; Polo Museale della Sardegna; Università degli Studi di Cagliari; University of Edimburg; Istituto Italiano dei Castelli
The essay shows some results of a research aimed at building a digital database of Sardinian military architectures of Second World War. Following an activity of cataloguing entrusted to integrated digital survey methods already applied in other case studies of the region, this contribute analyses the built heritage placed in territory of Bosa, a centre located in the west coast of the island, in which 33 bunkers have been founded, most of them represented in the IGM military historical maps. These "modern sentinels", positioned along the coastline, the main roads and the railway leading to the actual urban context, are designed in reinforced concrete, also integrated with local stone, with a frequently use of square and circle shape often combined or modified and adapted to achieve a complete mimesis in the landscape that hosts them. The survey, applied at architecture and landscape scale, has produced a complete collection of data functional to realize an interoperable digital database, a necessary tool for a deepened knowledge and enhancement of a lost WWII heritage.
La cinta muraria di Cagliari costituisce un importante esempio di architettura militare, tutelata per il suo valore storico-ambientale e paesaggistico, della quale conserva la forma impostata dagli Spagnoli nella metà del Cinquecento e le opere volute dai Piemontesi nel corso del Settecento. In particolare la sequenza di opere "alla moderna", che dal bastione Santa Croce si susseguono lungo l'asse nord-sud in direzione del bastione Balice, e gli ampliamenti situati nel settore nord e nel settore orientale costituiscono il risultato di una serie di trasformazioni che hanno ridisegnato e ampliato la linea difensiva sostenendo logiche insediative, religiose e militari. L'attuale conformazione di sito pluristratificato custodisce le testimonianze dei diversi passaggi che hanno " ridisegnato e scolpito" le forme dei luoghi e creato un paesaggio che connota fortemente il quartiere Castello e la città stessa. Una tutela consapevole di un patrimonio storico caratterizzato da valori e criticità richiede una conoscenza approfondita delle trasformazioni avvenute e un'analisi delle dinamiche in atto, affidata ad indagini multidisciplinari. Lo studio dei diversi aspetti utili a garantire una consapevole gestione del patrimonio storico è tuttavia nelle mani degli specialisti, padroni di un linguaggio -a volte di difficile comprensione per i profani- che necessita di mezzi di rappresentazione appropriati al fine di favorire una più ampia diffusione e una maggiore consapevolezza dei valori. Una rappresentazione che fino all'Ottocento è stata principalmente finalizzata alla descrizione del progetto architettonico oltre che alla documentazione dei luoghi, come nei taccuini dei viaggiatori. Tuttavia, la complessità della stratificazione storica della città contemporanea richiede l'utilizzo di un linguaggio strettamente tecnico e di un'illustrazione scientifica che a volte sacrifica gli aspetti legati alla divulgazione. Il passaggio dal modello puramente tecnico a un modello di facile lettura diviene uno degli obiettivi di una più ampia ricerca -presentare e illustrare le trasformazioni urbane- che trova nella piazzaforte di Cagliari un'opportunità per esplorare le diverse modalità di analisi grafica e di linguaggi affidati a strumenti tradizionali e digitali, anche integrati. ; The city walls of Cagliari are an important example of military architecture protected for its historical-environmental and landscape value. The actual conformation of a multi-layered site preserves the signs of the different changes that have "redefined and sculpted" the shapes of the places creating a landscape that strongly characterize the Castello district and the city itself. The sequence of bastions located in the north and in the western sector of Castello, in particular, is the result of a series of urban transformations that have redesigned and expanded the defensive line by supporting settlement, religious and military reasons. A conscious protection of a landscape characterized by values and criticalities requires an in-depth knowledge of the transformations happened and an analysis of the dynamics in progress, entrusted to multidisciplinary investigations. However, the knowledge of the many aspects useful to guarantee a mindful management of the historical heritage is in the hands of specialists, masters of a language -sometimes difficult to understand for the layman- that needs appropriate means of representation to support a wider dissemination aimed to a bigger awareness of values. A representation that until the nineteenth century was mainly aimed to describe the architectural project as well as the documentation of the places in travelers' notebooks. However, the complexity of the historical stratification of the contemporary city requires the use of a strictly technical language and a scientific illustration that sometimes sacrifices the aspects related to disclosure. The transition from the pure technical model to a model easy to read is one of the objectives of a broader research -representing and illustrating urban transformations- which finds in the stronghold of Cagliari an opportunity to explore the different ways of graphic analysis and languages entrusted to traditional and IT tools, including integrated ones.
Le fortificazioni della Sardegna a partire dal 1720 sono interessate da una serie di progetti mirati al potenziamento delle difese. In quest'epoca, su iniziativa del governo sabaudo, si realizzano nell'isola numerosi interventi lungo i litorali -con la costruzione e ammodernamento del sistema di torri litoranee- e nelle piazzeforti di Cagliari e Alghero con l'ampliamento dei circuiti esistenti. Le nuove soluzioni prevedono l'impiego di forme e soluzioni tecniche quali controguardie, bassifianchi, tenaglioni e opere a corno. A Cagliari il fronte occidentale è uno dei settori oggetto di nuove opere ed il bastione cinquecentesco di Santa Croce riceve nella prima metà del Settecento una serie di modifiche e ampliamenti. La soluzione formale progettata nella metà del XVI secolo dagli ingegneri militari al servizio della Corona di Spagna in epoca sabauda vedrà difatti la realizzazione, ad opera dell'ingegnere piemontese Felice De Vincenti, della Scuderia di Santa Croce per la caserma dei Dragoni (1723-1728) trasformata nel 1736 nella caserma di fanteria "Carlo Emanuele III", struttura in funzione sino al 1838. Per la sua difesa, nel novembre 1732, si demoliva il roccione sottostante il Bastione e con il materiale di risulta fu costruita nel 1733 la Controguardia di Santa Croce, un'opera a V con le facce parallele a quelle del bastione. Le modifiche attuate ridisegnano il funzionamento dell'opera militare; alcuni passaggi in uso a partire dal Cinquecento perdono la loro funzione, sostituiti da nuovi percorsi voltati e sistemi di risalita individuabili nella cartografia settecentesca custodita presso l'Archivio di Stato di Torino e ancora presenti nell'attuale assetto del complesso monumentale. La loro individuazione e la comprensione della funzione da essi svolta quali "componenti della macchina da guerra" guida la realizzazione di un modello digitale che, costruito a partire dall'analisi delle fonti e dal rilievo delle strutture esistenti, permette di rileggere, rappresentare e comunicare la complessità del sistema costruttivo settecentesco.
The paper illustrates the decisions behind the creation of a digital database of military architectures built in Sardinia during the Second World War. This stylistic repertoire is characterized by an interesting historical-cultural and landscape value and composed by more than 1.500 artifacts positioned along the coast of the island to protect the major urban centers and the areas of strategic interest. A correct recovery and enhancement of these historical heritage necessarily needs a previous activity of knowledge and cataloging entrusted to integrated survey methods where digital and traditional tools works together to define an updatable and interoperable graphical model. The database become the place where studying these "stubborn ruins" also comparing geometry, materials and construction technique adopted in other countries. The need for mimesis has required an adaptation of the typological solutions designed by the Italian Military Genius and indicated in the archive documents offering interesting case studies. The first results of this path of knowledge is a complete catalog of small bunkers placed in the east sector of the territory of Cagliari, within the Natural Regional Park of Molentargius-Saline.
The essay illustrates the choices aimed at building a digital database of military architectures made in Sardinia during the Second World War. It is an historical cultural heritage characterized by an interesting landscape value, composed by more than 1.500 artifacts positioned along the coast of the island and designed to protect the urban centers and areas of strategic interest. The small bunkers built adapting the models designed by the Italian and German Military Genius gave rise to an interesting repertoire. The need for mimesis of these 'sentries' has in fact required an adaptation to the places of the typological solutions indicated in the archive documents. A possible recovery and enhancement of this heritage necessarily passes through an activity of knowledge and cataloging entrusted to integrated digital survey methods. ; Università degli Studi di Cagliari; Universidad de Alicante
The 43rd UID conference, held in Genova, takes up the theme of 'Dialogues' as practice and debate on many fundamental topics in our social life, especially in these complex and not yet resolved times. The city of Genova offers the opportunity to ponder on the value of comparison and on the possibilities for the community, naturally focused on the aspects that concern us, as professors, researchers, disseminators of knowledge, or on all the possibile meanings of the discipline of representation and its dialogue with 'others', which we have broadly catalogued in three macro areas: History, Semiotics, Science / Technology. Therefore, "dialogue" as a profitable exchange based on a common language, without which it is impossible to comprehend and understand one another; and the graphic sign that connotes the conference is the precise transcription of this concept: the title 'translated' into signs, derived from the visual alphabet designed for the visual identity of the UID since 2017. There are many topics which refer to three macro sessions: - Witnessing (signs and history) - Communicating (signs and semiotics) - Experimenting (signs and sciences) Thanks to the different points of view, an exceptional resource of our disciplinary area, we want to try to outline the prevailing theoretical-operational synergies, the collaborative lines of an instrumental nature, the recent updates of the repertoires of images that attest and nourish the relations among representation, history, semiotics, sciences.
[EN] The integrated method is been applied in the meet point between the curtain of Santa Chiara and the curtain of de Cardona, in a limited area of the ancient walls of Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy). The sector consists of a bastion called "curtain of Santa Chiara" designed in 1575 and realized in the period 1575-1578 by the military engineer Giorgio Paleari and the "curtain of de Cardona", a military work commissioned by the Viceroy in the 1930s of the same century and interested by modification until the seventeenth century. The archive documents offer a lot of informations on the presence of gunboats and vaulted passages designed and built in this area during this period. This source –accompanied by an architectural survey of the existing military work and the knowledge of the construction techniques used at the time and indicated in the military treaties– may direct a subsequent investigation with geophysical methods. To this aim, a first graphic representation of the study area in the sixteenth century is proposed. ; Pirinu, A.; Bagnolo, V.; Argiolas, R.; Utzeri, M. (2020). Metodologie integrate per la conoscenza, la tutela e la rappresentazione dell'architettura militare storica. Sistemi costruttivi e percorsi voltati lungo i bastioni occidentali di Cagliari (Sardegna, Italia). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1343-1350. https://doi.org/10.4995/FORTMED2020.2020.11378 ; OCS ; 1343 ; 1350
Desde que Paul Virilio hiciera una Exposición sobre los búnkeres de la Segunda Guerra Mundial en 1975, el Muro Atlantik (1942-1944) pasó de estar en el olvido a formar parte de la primera línea patrimonial. Este trabajo se ha convertido en un referente para cualquier investigación que aborde las defensas militares de las guerras del siglo XX al acercar estos dispositivos abandonados tras el conflicto a la arquitectura moderna. En el caso de Atlantikwall, se conservan documentos gráficos y permiten estudiar las estrategias militares de implantación en el litoral y las relaciones entre forma geométrica y armamento a través de las tipologías arquitectónicas. En el caso de España, los búnkeres hicieron acto de presencia con motivo de la guerra civil (1936-1939), tanto en los territorios del bando republicano como en los del bando rebelde. España fue un laboratorio de pruebas y experimentación de armas y arquitecturas militares que luego serían utilizadas en el enfrentamiento europeo. En cierto sentido, aunque ya se habían levantado otras líneas defensivas (como la Línea Maginot), el Mediterráneo español sería el primer lugar donde se ensayarían estos fuertes y baterías que constituían asentamientos defensivos para proteger ciudades y ciudadanos de los ataques aéreos del bando nacional desde la isla de Mallorca. Muchos de los planos de búnkeres y baterías, que obedecen a patrones de catálogos militares, se perdieron durante la contienda, dada la urgencia de las acciones que se llevaron a cabo de forma un tanto desorganizada. Se trata, por tanto, de restaurar los documentos gráficos desaparecidos mediante el levantamiento de estas arquitecturas que aún se mantienen en pie en lugares singulares porque pretendían repeler los ataques del enemigo por tierra, mar y aire. Este planteamiento de reconstruir una memoria a partir de los restos materiales de hechos arquitectónicos se llevará a cabo con la intención de vincular los proyectos de las defensas españolas situadas en la costa del antiguo Reino de Valencia con la ...
[EN] In 1936-1939 the War of Spain took place, turning its territory into the testing ground of Europe in anticipation of the Second World War; here new weapons were tested: mass media, propaganda and aviation. The national side used Mallorca as "aircraft carrier" from which it launched airstrikes on the Mediterranean coast: a rearguard that required fortification. To defend the cities, the Republican government ordered, in 1937, to build a coastal defensive system ("Mediterranean Wall"). On the Valencian coast there were ten basic enclaves: from the lighthouse of Castellón to the end of Santa Pola. This network of defenses had two built lines. The first was constituted by elements located at zero level, by the sea and on the beaches, which maintained regular distances from each other; these were reinforced concrete bunkers that sought to camouflage themselves. A second was formed by coastal and antiaircraft, concrete and masonry batteries that merged with the land, located in the hills to have a wider horizon and be closer to its objectives. Bunkers and batteries that followed geometric patterns in constant evolution. This communication studies the defensive settlements built by the Republican army in the cities of Xàbia and Dénia (Marina Alta), which had a port, airfield and armament factories, which made them the target of enemy aviation. In these territories many of these architectures have disappeared under real estate pressure, but there are still several bunkers, batteries and ammunition deposits that are intended to be inventoried and documented (especially the 7th of the Montgó and the 8th of the Portixol batteries) to insert into of the tradition of historical military forts (typological genealogies) and their understanding as a networked defensive system that maintains parallels with the system of coastal towers of the system of coastal towers of the Modern Age. ; Martínez-Medina, A.; Banyuls I Pérez, A.; Pirinu, A. (2020). El "Muro Mediterráneo" en el territorio de la Marina Alta: búnkeres y baterías ...
In 1936-1939 the War of Spain took place, turning its territory into the testing ground of Europe in anticipation of the Second World War; here new weapons were tested: mass media, propaganda and aviation. The national side used Mallorca as "aircraft carrier" from which it launched airstrikes on the Mediterranean coast: a rearguard that required fortification. To defend the cities, the Republican government ordered, in 1937, to build a coastal defensive system ("Mediterranean Wall"). On the Valencian coast there were ten basic enclaves: from the lighthouse of Castellón to the end of Santa Pola. This network of defenses had two built lines. The first was constituted by elements located at zero level, by the sea and on the beaches, which maintained regular distances from each other; these were reinforced concrete bunkers that sought to camouflage themselves. A second was formed by coastal and antiaircraft, concrete and masonry batteries that merged with the land, located in the hills to have a wider horizon and be closer to its objectives. Bunkers and batteries that followed geometric patterns in constant evolution. This communication studies the defensive settlements built by the Republican army in the cities of Xàbia and Dénia (Marina Alta), which had a port, airfield and armament factories, which made them the target of enemy aviation. In these territories many of these architectures have disappeared under real estate pressure, but there are still several bunkers, batteries and ammunition deposits that are intended to be inventoried and documented (especially the 7th of the Montgó and the 8th of the Portixol batteries) to insert into of the tradition of historical military forts (typological genealogies) and their understanding as a networked defensive system that maintains parallels with the system of coastal towers of the system of coastal towers of the Modern Age.
In 1936-1939 the War of Spain took place, turning its territory into the testing ground of Europe in anticipation of the Second World War; here new weapons were tested: mass media, propaganda and aviation. The national side used Mallorca as "aircraft carrier" from which it launched airstrikes on the Mediterranean coast: a rearguard that required fortification. To defend the cities, the Republican government ordered, in 1937, to build a coastal defensive system ("Mediterranean Wall"). On the Valencian coast there were ten basic enclaves: from the lighthouse of Castellón to the end of Santa Pola. This network of defenses had two built lines. The first was constituted by elements located at zero level, by the sea and on the beaches, which maintained regular distances from each other; these were reinforced concrete bunkers that sought to camouflage themselves. A second was formed by coastal and antiaircraft, concrete and masonry batteries that merged with the land, located in the hills to have a wider horizon and be closer to its objectives. Bunkers and batteries that followed geometric patterns in constant evolution. This communication studies the defensive settlements built by the Republican army in the cities of Xàbia and Dénia (Marina Alta), which had a port, airfield and armament factories, which made them the target of enemy aviation. In these territories many of these architectures have disappeared under real estate pressure, but there are still several bunkers, batteries and ammunition deposits that are intended to be inventoried and documented (especially the 7th of the Montgó and the 8th of the Portixol batteries) to insert into of the tradition of historical military forts (typological genealogies) and their understanding as a networked defensive system that maintains parallels with the system of coastal towers of the system of coastal towers of the Modern Age.
Between 1769 and 1779, the military engineer Fernando Méndez Ras performs a survey of the coastline of isla Plana –located in front of Alicante– and various drawings for its colonization. A project that – with the construction of the fortified citadel of "Nueva Tabarca"– joins design of new city and military architecture. The realization of this fortress was part of Carlos III's policy of founding new settlements. The proposed contribution analyses various urban projects (characterized by a high graphic quality and a rigorous technique), checking the evolution of the initial strategy of war machine until a settlement construction intended as an industrial village and a village of fishermen. The study of the three urban plans (1770-71, 1774-75, 1779) reveals these changes and shows how, in conjunction with decreasing the political interest for the defensive project, the engineer increases the definition of the urban project. The author transforms his design from military to civilian use, defining the citadel as a large cistern to collect rainwater for survival guarantee. The absolutist idea of man's control over the nature coexists with reasoning to understand that city, architecture and water realize a unit of military design.
Between 1769 and 1779, the militay engineer Fernando Méndez Ras performs a survey of the coastline of isla Plana –located in front of Alicante– and various drawings for its colonization. A project that – with the construction of the fortified citadel of "Nueva Tabarca"– joins design of new city and military architecture. The realization of this fortress was part of Carlos III's policy of founding new settlements. The proposed contribution analyses various urban projects (characterized by a high graphic quality and a rigorous technique), checking the evolution of the initial strategy of war machine until a settlement construction intended as an industrial village and a village of fishermen. The study of the three urban plans (1770-71, 1774-75, 1779) reveals these changes and shows how, in conjunction with decreasing the political interest for the defensive project, the engineer increases the definition of the urban project. The author transforms his design from military to civilian use, defining the citadel as a large cistern to collect rainwater for survival guarantee. The absolutist idea of man's control over the nature coexists with reasoning to understand that city, architecture and water realize a unit of military design.
