Chapter I disegni della chiesa della SS. Annunziata dei Catalani a Messina. Tra rilievo e ricostruzione grafica

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

Tra bigness e small urbanity: i villaggi a nord di Messina

The polarizing attention paid to the bigness debate, referring particularly (if not exclusively) to metropolitan areas and global realms, still tends to overtake the issue of small urbanity. In a country as Italy, where small settlements with a population of less than 5,000 inhabitants represent 69% of Italian municipalities and affect as much as 50% of the national territory, the endemic isolation of small towns and hamlets seems to be finally contrasted: a better knowledge of local dynamics has developed; some policies to struggle the dispersion of inhabitants have been promoted and initiatives to support the return to places and emerging forms of resilient community have been drawn. In this perspective, the case of the 47 villages around Messina is emblematic. For the first time, bottom-up request for a referendum has been held to create a new municipality called “Montemare” which should collect some of these small towns splitted in the northern area of the Peloritan area, affected by conditions of marginality and abandonment as perceived and complained by the inhabitants. Coastal or hilly (as in the case of the “Masse,” the subject of this paper), these hamlets experienced a condition of relative prosperity until the second post-war period and since then they suffered a progressive abandonment. The proposed Messina Urban Plan puts these villages in a new condition of centrality within innovative strategic features and in specific projects of recovery balancing territorial disparities.L’attenzione polarizzante rivolta al dibattito sulla bigness, in particolare (se non esclusivamente) riferita alle aree metropolitane e alle realtà globali, tende ancora a sopravanzare la questione della small urbanity. In un Paese come l’Italia – dove gli insediamenti con una popolazione inferiore ai 5.000 abitanti rappresentano il 69% del totale dei comuni e il 50% del territorio nazionale – l’isolamento endemico di piccoli centri e frazioni sembra poter essere contrastato: è maturata una maggiore conoscenza della storia e delle dinamiche locali; vengono promosse nuove politiche per avversare l’abbandono; sono messe in campo iniziative a sostegno del ritorno ai luoghi; si rilevano forme emergenti di comunità resilienti. La recente ed eclatante richiesta partita dal basso di un referendum per la scissione di una decina dei 47 villaggi che circondano Messina, per dar vita a un nuovo comune denominato Montemare, ha fatto cogliere il senso di marginalità e disuguaglianza percepito dalla comunità locale.Queste frazioni, costiere o collinari (come nel caso delle Masse, oggetto di questo paper), hanno conosciuto una condizione di relativa prosperità fino al Secondo Dopoguerra a cui è seguito un progressivo declino. Il nuovo Piano Regolatore Generale (PRG) di Messina, in corso di redazione, vuole porre i 47 villaggi in una nuova condizione di centralità all’interno degli assi strategici del futuro sviluppo della città e farne oggetto di specifici progetti di recupero che riequilibrino le disparità territoriali

La matita e la clessidra: il disegno e il tempo

Riflessioni e analisi sulle modifiche avvenute soprattutto nell'ultimo mezzo secolo in alcuni luoghi simbolo della Sicilia orientale (la piana di Milazzo, Taormina e la valle dell'Alcantara). Il ruolo che la rappresentazione ha in questi contesti è multiplo, legato a più discipline e il disegno può recitare una parte non marginale

Environmental Impact Assessment of Different Manufacturing Technologies Oriented to Architectonic Recovery and Conservation of Cultural Heritage

Our cultural society has made remarkable advancements in creating digital models that depict the built environment, landscape, and reality. The advent of technologies such as terrestrial laser scanning and drone-based photogrammetry, coupled with sophisticated software capable of processing hundreds of photographs to generate point clouds, has elevated the significance of three-dimensional surveying in documentation and restoration. Point cloud processing and modeling software enable the creation of precise digital replicas of the investigated architecture, which can be scaled down and transformed into physically identical models. Through the export of STL files and the utilization of both subtractive and additive 3D printing technologies, tactile models resembling traditional manually crafted plastics can be obtained. An exemplary study focuses on the Gothic church of Santa Maria Alemanna in Messina, Italy, where laser scanner surveys and 3D prints using various technologies were applied to different parts of the building. The models were produced using a CNC milling machine and a 3D printer for fused deposition modeling. The sustainability of these production technologies was assessed through a Life Cycle Assessment, demonstrating the environmental advantages of additive manufacturing, including the use of materials with high recyclability and lower energy consumption. Additionally, the additive approach helps reduce processing waste

The technologies of Laser Scanning and Structured Blue Light Scanning applied to criminal investigation: Case studies

The use of non-destructive methods guaranteeing high standards of accuracy, speed, simplicity of use, and low costs may be crucial during judicial inspection aimed to reconstruct the spatial arrangement of crime scenes. Three-dimensional (3D) laser scanning and structured blue light scanning are two modern and advanced technologies widely used in many sectors of the sciences, included forensic sciences. Limiting itself to forensic applications, these technologies may be successfully used for acquiring point clouds in 3D space and reconstruct 3D virtual models of large-, medium-, and small-scale forensic scenarios. These two technologies were applied for reconstructing 3D virtual models from real crime scenes and geological evidence, respectively. Different investigative places and items were investigated and discussed. The research evidenced the advantages of using these modern techniques in order to assist investigators in: i) providing 3D virtual models for reconstructing even complex crime scenes occurred outdoor; ii) reconstructing of the dynamics of events, and iii) individuating possible interactions between the actors of the scene and the surrounding places

The application of 3D virtual models in the judicial inspection of indoor and outdoor crime scenes

The multidisciplinary approach has become an almost indispensable requirement in the examination of the scena criminis, especially in complex cases involving different professional profiles within the biomedical and forensic sciences. In recent times, innovative methods have been joined by the possibility of using three-dimensional laser scanners, capable of obtaining virtual reconstructions, very useful in analyzing outdoor or indoor crime scenes. In the present paper, three case studies regarding simulated indoor and outdoor crime scenes were analyzed, applying a virtual reconstruction based on a survey and acquisition of “point clouds” by using a laser scanner Leica BLK360, managed by means of the software Leica Cyclone. Victims were simulated by two hyper-realistic dummies produced by the Lifecast Body Simulation. The first crime scene regarded a suspect homicide case of a man found hanged to a metallic rod indoor, inside a room; the second crime scene regarded a homicide case of a woman, suspected to be victim of sexual assault, found indoor, on the floor of a corridor in a palace; the third scene regarded an outdoor place located in the hills of the Peloritani Mountains, simulating a crime scene where a homicide was committed. The advantages and disadvantages of virtual three-dimensional acquisitions in relation to forensic purposes were finally highlighted. The successful outcome of the scans proved the true-to-life reproducibility of virtual targets, with the possibility of easier interactions, the possibility to measure specific parameters, adequate simulations, and the essential “crystallization” of physical evidence. In the next future, it will be important improving the procedure in order to obtain protocols with high quality standards, able to ensure that the acquired data will be considered valid with evidentiary effect in judicial trials