Leptis Magna: “a heritage in war uniform” to be protected

As stated by former Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova, "the heritage protection is the best way to create resilience in society, to recognize the past, but also to look to the future, as it is closely linked to the concept of identity. Without respect for the identity of peoples, it is not possible to achieve peace or reconciliation or even hope for the future". This important warning that appeals to culture as an instrument of cohesion, leads us to reflect on the theme of preservation of cultural and historical heritage in war zones and - more generally - towards the protection of endangered cultural heritage. Currently, more than 50 UNESCO sites are included in the list of the heritage of humanity at risk, of which more than half due to wars and ruthless interests of terrorist networks. In 2016 the UNESCO commission has included in this list the ancient city of Leptis Magna, along with four other important sites in Libya, due to the massive damage caused by the civil wars that followed the fall of Gaddafi (in 2011) and due to threats that still weigh on these settlements. Result of a particularly fertile historical sedimentation, Leptis Magna remains an exceptional archaeological site for wealth and diversity. We cannot interrupt scientific research focused on this important heritage; everything that can be carried out in terms of documentation, cataloging, survey, restitution, can be used to compensate the injured assets and restore their identity when the conflicts will be over. All this, in respect and in favor of the broader "peace building" process supported by UNESCO

Leptis Magna: "a heritage in war uniform" to be protected

As stated by former Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova, "the heritage protection is the best way to create resilience in society, to recognize the past, but also to look to the future, as it is closely linked to the concept of identity. Without respect for the identity of peoples, it is not possible to achieve peace or reconciliation or even hope for the future". This important warning that appeals to culture as an instrument of cohesion, leads us to reflect on the theme of preservation of cultural and historical heritage in war zones and - more generally - towards the protection of endangered cultural heritage. Currently, more than 50 UNESCO sites are included in the list of the heritage of humanity at risk, of which more than half due to wars and ruthless interests of terrorist networks. In 2016 the UNESCO commission has included in this list the ancient city of Leptis Magna, along with four other important sites in Libya, due to the massive damage caused by the civil wars that followed the fall of Gaddafi (in 2011) and due to threats that still weigh on these settlements. Result of a particularly fertile historical sedimentation, Leptis Magna remains an exceptional archaeological site for wealth and diversity. We cannot interrupt scientific research focused on this important heritage; everything that can be carried out in terms of documentation, cataloging, survey, restitution, can be used to compensate the injured assets and restore their identity when the conflicts will be over. All this, in respect and in favor of the broader "peace building" process supported by UNESCO

The Chappe telegraph from the French Revolution to Napoleon’s Empire. Communication from war to peace / Il telegrafo Chappe dalla Rivoluzione Francese all’Impero di Napoleone. La comunicazione dalla guerra alla pace

The founding idea of the volume was born from a conference held in Alessandria in 1995. A research shared between Italy and France, but also extended to other European Countries. The initiative was born to deepen the studies on the optical telegraph, invented at the end of the 18th century by the French abbot Claude Chappe: a brilliant and, at the time, innovative technology of distance communication, based on the visual use of the territory, which transmitted messages in code, scientifically encrypted. The work presents the results of bibliographical–documentary surveys (with research in specialist archives), crossed with examples on the European territory, in which the Chappe telegraph machines were installed using transmission network systems. In the scientific project, three of the main objectives indispensable for the quality of research are applied and verified here: internationality, interdisciplinary integration and innovation

Reflect! Visual communication for a new social "third space"

Oldenburg (1989) suggests that for a Health existence, citizens must live in a balance of three realms: home life, the work place, and the inclusively sociable place (the french "rendez vous"). A kind of "Third Place"- where people can gather and put aside the concernes of work and home, and hang out simply for the pleasure of good company and lively conversation - are the heart of a community's social vitality and thr grassroth of democracy. This concept can be extended and filled with deeper objectives, aimed at single or shared "laic meditation", but more widely toward the spiritual dimension, to compensate for the alienation fostered (especially in young people, for example) by the white nights and the happy hour or situations of stress and conflict. We must therefore return again to reflect, to find ourselves and others. For these spaces, the visual characters may confirm - metaphorically - the trend that from history (Candy, 2011 and 2012) evoke and actualize the use of mirrors and reflective surfaces, in the art (Zeky, 2007) and in architecture: from Jan van Heik Escher and Pistoletto, to English Mark's House (study Two Islands) or Mirror Houses in Bolzano (Peter Pitchler), or the Marseille Vieux Port (Foster) until Lucid Stead in Joshua Tree in California (of Pillip K. Smith III). Methodologically, the contribution will start from a careful and systematic review of studies, including theoretical and traditional, to arrive at examples and design experiments, visual in nature

Rilievo tridimensionale del palazzo fortificato di Entella

Entella is a city of ancient Sicily, whose ruins rise on the summit plateau of the homonymous Rocca. The typological complexity and the architectural and volumetric articulation of the imposing structure of the medieval castle - one among the most important testimonies found in the intramural area of the Rocca, definable from comparison to different scales (territorial, urban, architectural and detail) - have oriented this research towards a synergistic integration of different methodologies of survey: with 3D laser scanner, to obtain a three-dimensional metric model; with GPS, for the recording of scans and the definition of a topographic framework; with direct survey, for the verifications of parts and components. The main objective of this complex operation was to obtain a first and complete three-dimensional relief of the archaeological evidence belonging to the fortified palace, whose only knowledge was entrusted exclusively to two-dimensional planimetric representations (with a low scale of detail) and to partial sections obtained returning the data received from various manual survey campaigns