In the same way as chemical synapses in our brain, which materialize sensations, ideas and events of our lives, as well as the alleys, walls and roofs of cities they make the collective memory of our province corporeal.
Every year of history can
be found in the forms of the ancient peasant courts, in the materials of
cornices of the old buildings and in the identical balconies of the new neighborhoods
167.
We are among those who
they believe in the existence of strong relationships between adapted space and lives
of the men who transformed him.
And like in any system
Overall the implications are mutual: not only can we read history
of recent years through the metaphor of cement, how fluid it is
possibility of any form and instead hardened is staticity and choice, image
which alone would be enough to describe what could have been and instead was;
but we can also on the contrary think about the influence that squares, gardens and
better houses they would have produced on
our lives, an influence as strong as that produced by notable
investments and new opportunities
work.
Of course it's not ours
intention to enter into a difficult discussion on the relationship between structure and
superstructure and how much one prevails over the other and vice versa; let's say
simply that there are two obvious aspects that often cause speculation
philosophical forget. The first, irrefutable in its simplicity, is the difference in sensations that they arouse
well-designed spaces, such as those of ancient historic centers, compared to
those of many neighborhoods of the new city. L'altro aspetto, relativo alle
public works, concerns the participation
which only appropriately designed spaces can foster.
We believe that the added value to produce
the acceleration they have need them
our provinces must be sought in the consciences of men and not just in
economic systems.
Many scholars of
Midday they consider the election
direct from the mayors in 1992, the entry into Europe and in particular the G7 a
Naples as driving forces of the economic recovery, sensing a new state of mind,
a trust that now seemed to have definitively disappeared and which instead gave
new life also for the production system.
The economy cannot suffer
profound changes in a few years without underlying enthusiasm, without that
fervor that in the post-war period, for example, caused it to be rebuilt in just a few years
nations; after all, this dependence on the moods of men makes it one
a discipline that is not truly scientific, and therefore which requires intervention
not only on a strictly financial level.
A new policy for
cities of the South is then also to begin building spaces of
qualities, such as to have the strength to accelerate the transformation process.
Many administrators
they will reply that they have already been moving in this direction for some time and will list
the numerous recently built public works: new roads, squares
modern, municipal villas, and so on.
But our reasoning is
based on an essentially different point: the quality of the construction and not the
quantity. Not all the reorganization efforts, which are being made, are being made
urban planning - architecture of heritage
existing are the same: only well-designed and built places have the
strength to have a positive impact on our lives, and to do this we need a
new way of entrusting tasks for public works.
The administrations do not
they can think about them as a private client would: entrust tasks
public "ad personam" is an act of presumption, because a politician
cannot understand all disciplines.
In his eyes the work
designed could be the best in the world and instead betray everyone
aesthetic and functional standards. And then imagine the damage: a square that doesn't
manages to aggregate, a deserted municipal villa, a crossroads without visibility and
crowded with cars; these are the works that will then constitute ours
"memory"...
We emphasize that honesty is
out of the question: that the directors appoint their consultants
(even friends) for projects does not mean that they are colluding, often they are
also a question of naivety and desire for transparency, for example, entrusting
assignments to university professors, yet everyone now knows as much as ours
universities are full of boasters: let us therefore clarify the matter again
this time it is not about morality, but about value.
In fact, without demagogy,
one of the main reasons that generated the trust, which we were talking about earlier,
it is precisely due to administrations that have made honesty their own
flag, but this is not enough! Honesty is not synonymous with quality, perhaps it is
moral value, but that's something else.
We believe (although not
recognizing ourselves in the liberalist trend) which is the only one warranty for quality there is fair competition: and therefore in
case of public works i competitions for
ideas. Tool that would allow us to overcome the free will of
our administrators and to avoid the censorship
that they however operate by entrusting the task to a designer or to
another.
L'intellectual honesty of our mayors cannot do without
recognize that if we were able to initiate this solution, the most
democratic at all, the public works sector would result
revolutionized; as has happened in all European countries: obtaining
quality and transparency.
In ancient Greece indeed
theinvention of the competition allowed democracy to control value,
without making ideological censorship. THE'agon,
competition in the public life of the Greeks, performed "the function of
mediate conflicts without censoring them". In sport, in art, in
politics and in every other institution "competition allows
keep the question of ancient duels (who is the best?), but give it
a new sense: who is the best in relation to things, who is the best for
dominate not man, but nature?".
Of course the speech has
a general value, but in this case the
nature they are public works with their "responsibility" in
ongoing development process and with their ability to make the
our lives.
Of course it is always one
political decision in the end having to choose the "best" project
but, after having exposed the works to the public, the Administration could
knowing the moods of the city and above all having the possibility to choose
on a range of solutions.
Also competitions for ideas
they are a splendid educational system: they allow the city and its representatives
to improve one's aesthetic sense, to train one's imagination
stopped by years of building speculation all the same, but above all it allows the
dialogue and public debate, no longer with the usual theoretical discussions
on methods to improve one's city, but through the exposure of
works and through a timely criticism of the possible scenarios envisaged by the
designers.
Competitions would do
to give citizens the pleasure of discussion again, after having been
forced for years to listen only to electoral programs: the
participation in political choices is the right way to regain trust and
fill the squares again.
