Page as a Visual Story: An Adventure in a Workshop Images Deeply Settled in a Real Space to Promote Cambiano City’s (Turin’s Area) Artistic, Cultural and Territorial Heritage and the Distilleria Mazzetti d’Altavilla in Alexandria

What is the meaning each of us want to give to “his own” architecture, “his own” city, “his own” life? And how can we communicate this with a vision and especially through images? Can the “visual story” become a mirror reflecting our culture, our soul? We are going through a historical moment of which reflection on “visual culture”, but even the most widespread practice of the “act of seeing”, is back to being very contemporary, supported by an ever wider use of images in scientific practice. In this sense, the fundamental role of images in many different disciplines and scientific areas is undeniable, ranging from the culture of vision experienced in the introductory workshop “The page as a visual narrative”, declined in its various applications, from public to private. This workshop ranged between theory and practice, between vision laws and graphic applications for existing work and products, interacting with the customer. The activity carried out a series of practical experiences and reasoning aimed at showing how communication should be planned. The realization of four exhibition panels and four illustrative brochures have put in practice the concept of “visual narrative” to evoke, in the modern communicative reality, the artistic cultural heritage of Cambiano city in Turin’s area and history, products and philosophy of Mazzetti d’Altavilla company in Monferrato

Representing fortified architecture to narrate and enhance the Alexandrian territory border

[EN] The Piemonte cultural territory is also characterized by the significant presence of complex defensive systems, grouped by types and orographic configuration. Specifically,this paper will address asystematic and unitary re-reading of the territory of the Alessandria area, which includes: the sixteenth-century Cittadella di Casale, of the Gonzagas; the Citadel of Alexandria (1732), by Giulio Ignazio Bertola; Valenza and its fortifications (from the “Spanish” period with interventions by Gaspare Beretta, also interested in the fort / Castello Tortona); that of Gavi (restored “in the modern” by Gaspare Maculano known as Fiorenzuola, the friar who condemned Galileo). Following thirty years international research, the objectives of the work are twofold: the first aims to physically connect in this system a “network” of thematically dedicated tourist itineraries, through documentary paths that reconstruct historical events, construction phases and transformation, (in similitude with the ECCOFORT project, in the province of Verona). Following other works, by the authors already dedicated to the Alexandrian, through the advanced 3D modeling (like the one carried out in the reconstruction of the fort of Gavi) the second objective of the present contribution will follow the same restoring and reconstructive procedure. Through digitalized anastylosis, even dynamized, the Castle of Tortona will be rebuilt on the basis –among other things– of the conspicuous documentation (dated 1799, the year of the Napoleonic siege, followed by demolition, in 1801) found at the Osterreichisches Staatsarchiv, Kriegsarchiv of Vienna. The critical reconstruction is now made possible thanks to the precious wealth of knowledge, matured over the decades by Marotta, Zerlenga, Abello: with (indexed) data, including metrics, graphics and visual returns. Drawing between real and virtual, it will be possible to reconnect individual episodes, comparable and critically selected information, by means of congruently connected interventions, both physically and digitally. Finally, in a project of knowledge, conservation and valorisation, the “local” dimension dialogues and integrates with the European dimension.Marotta, A.; Cirillo, V.; Rabino, C.; Zerlenga, O. (2020). Rappresentare l’architettura fortificata per narrare e valorizzare il territorio della frontiera alessandrina. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 357-364. https://doi.org/10.4995/FORTMED2020.2020.11473OCS35736

‘Disegno dal vero e dell’immaginario’: le verità di un ossimoro visivo | ‘Drawing from Life and Imagination’: the Truths of a Visual Oxymoron

ITA - Pare che in alcuni Corsi di Laurea in Architettura le “magnifiche sorti e progressive” della tecnologia digitale sempre più avanzata abbiano generato la quasi totale scomparsa del disegno manuale e tradizionale. Il dominio dell’immagine digitale, che si impone come nuova forma di comunicazione visiva, regala l’illusione che si possa prescindere dalle forme di rappresentazione tradizionali, tanto da pensare di poterle escludere dal percorso formativo dell’architetto. Restando fermi nella convinzione che sia, invece, indispensabile per un architetto avere una solida cultura del Disegno, da quello tradizionale alle modalità più innovative, un contributo prezioso viene fornito dal Workshop di Disegno dal Vero e dell’Immaginario, inserito nei Corsi di Laurea Magistrale in Architettura, presso il Politecnico di Torino. Il nome scelto per questo corso racchiude in sé un evidente ossimoro, nell’ottica di conciliare due aspetti apparentemente contraddittori, ma in realtà complementari. In un’epoca in cui la comune visione tridimensionale dell’opera d’arte può essere integrata o sostituita da una realtà virtuale, alcuni termini come ‘fantastico’, ‘immaginario’ o ‘visionario’, assumono una diversa funzione. Così, paradossalmente (in architettura e non solo), la rappresentazione della realtà ‘virtuale’ viene impiegata per meglio rappresentare il ‘vero’ e la realtà. Il presente contributo affronterà in prevalenza il secondo approccio proposto nel corso e cioè quello dell’immaginario. ENG - It seems that in some Degree Courses in Architecture the “magnifiche sorti e progressive” of increasingly advanced digital technology have generated the almost total disappearance of manual and traditional drawing. The dominion of the digital image, which imposes itself as a new form of visual communication, gives the illusion that one can disregard traditional forms of representation, so much so that one thinks one can exclude them from the architect’s educational path. Staying firm in the belief that it is, instead, indispensable for an architect to have a solid culture of Drawing, from the traditional one to the most innovative modalities, the Drawing from Life and Imagination Workshop, included in the Master’s Degree Courses in Architecture, at the Polytechnic of Turin, provides a valuable contribution in this sense. The name chosen for this course contains an obvious oxymoron, in order to reconcile two apparently contradictory but actually complementary aspects. In an age when the common three-dimensional vision of the work of art can be integrated or replaced by virtual reality, some terms such as ‘fantastic’, ‘imaginary’ or ‘visionary’ take on a different function. In this way, paradoxically (in architecture and not only), the representation of ‘virtual’ reality is used to better represent the ‘real’ and reality. The present contribution will deal mainly with the second approach proposed in the course, namely that of the imaginary

Designing art in the city between ethics and creativity

We can believe that the Culture of Vision is the disciplinary area in which various creative projects mature, to be considered in the specific definitions and variations, that the contribution will analyze: urban art, street art, murals, Aerosol Writhing, graffiti, (especially the latter also evaluated in their critical issues) with their respective areas and protagonists. In the contemporary world, English Bansky [1] is one of the best known protagonists. His works (messages and representations with an immediate, almost silhouette, polemical-satirical and political background) are made using the stencil technique. In the contemporary international scene there is the maturation of a complex phenomenon which, as an “amateurish” and “spontaneist”, often takes the form of a true artistic manifestation, with precise cultural references, by each individual author knowingly and programmatically adopted and shared. In general, these practices are able to transform through their universally recognizable visual codes - as we will clarify later - the perceptual impact of a building, a street, an entire neighborhood: this language orientates and creates harmony through visual hierarchies, which can be programmed and controlled.This is because one of the most widespread and significant areas of application concerns the recovery and redevelopment in cities, even in less well-kept areas (when not abandoned) both in urban centers and in peripheral areas, characterized by the lack of formal identities and cultures, communities and landscapes within them.DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.24.2020.16</p

Page as a Visual Story: An Adventure in a Workshop Images Deeply Settled in a Real Space to Promote Cambiano City’s (Turin’s Area) Artistic, Cultural and Territorial Heritage and the Distilleria Mazzetti d’Altavilla in Alexandria

What is the meaning each of us want to give to “his own” architecture, “his own” city, “his own” life? And how can we communicate this with a vision and especially through images? Can the “visual story” become a mirror reflecting our culture, our soul? We are going through a historical moment of which reflection on “visual culture”, but even the most widespread practice of the “act of seeing”, is back to being very contemporary, supported by an ever wider use of images in scientific practice. In this sense, the fundamental role of images in many different disciplines and scientific areas is undeniable, ranging from the culture of vision experienced in the introductory workshop “The page as a visual narrative”, declined in its various applications, from public to private. This workshop ranged between theory and practice, between vision laws and graphic applications for existing work and products, interacting with the customer. The activity carried out a series of practical experiences and reasoning aimed at showing how communication should be planned. The realization of four exhibition panels and four illustrative brochures have put in practice the concept of “visual narrative” to evoke, in the modern communicative reality, the artistic cultural heritage of Cambiano city in Turin’s area and history, products and philosophy of Mazzetti d’Altavilla company in Monferrato

Rappresentare l’architettura fortificata per narrare e valorizzare il territorio della frontiera Alessandrina

The Piemonte cultural territory is also characterized by the significant presence of complex defensive systems, grouped by types and orographic configuration. Specifically,this paper will address asystematic and unitary re-reading of the territory of the Alessandria area, which includes: the sixteenth-century Cittadella di Casale, of the Gonzagas; the Citadel of Alexandria (1732), by Giulio Ignazio Bertola; Valenza and its fortifications (from the “Spanish” period with interventions by Gaspare Beretta, also interested in the fort / Castello Tortona); that of Gavi (restored “in the modern” by Gaspare Maculano known as Fiorenzuola, the friar who condemned Galileo). Following thirty years international research, the objectives of the work are twofold: the first aims to physically connect in this system a “network” of thematically dedicated tourist itineraries, through documentary paths that reconstruct historical events, construction phases and transformation, (in similitude with the ECCOFORT project, in the province of Verona). Following other works, by the authors already dedicated to the Alexandrian, through the advanced 3D modeling (like the one carried out in the reconstruction of the fort of Gavi) the second objective of the present contribution will follow the same restoring and reconstructive procedure. Through digitalized anastylosis, even dynamized, the Castle of Tortona will be rebuilt on the basis –among other things– of the conspicuous documentation (dated 1799, the year of the Napoleonic siege, followed by demolition, in 1801) found at the Osterreichisches Staatsarchiv, Kriegsarchiv of Vienna. The critical reconstruction is now made possible thanks to the precious wealth of knowledge, matured over the decades by Marotta, Zerlenga, Abello: with (indexed) data, including metrics, graphics and visual returns. Drawing between real and virtual, it will be possible to reconnect individual episodes, comparable and critically selected information, by means of congruently connected interventions, both physically and digitally. Finally, in a project of knowledge, conservation and valorisation, the “local” dimension dialogues and integrates with the European dimension

Patient-specific primary and pluripotent stem cell-derived stromal cells recapitulate key aspects of arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy

Abstract Primary cardiac mesenchymal stromal cells (C-MSCs) can promote the aberrant remodeling of cardiac tissue that characterizes arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) by differentiating into adipocytes and myofibroblasts. These cells’ limitations, including restricted access to primary material and its manipulation have been overcome by the advancement of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), and their ability to differentiate towards the cardiac stromal population. C-MSCs derived from hiPSCs make it possible to work with virtually unlimited numbers of cells that are genetically identical to the cells of origin. We performed in vitro experiments on primary stromal cells (Primary) and hiPSC-derived stromal cells (hiPSC-D) to compare them as tools to model ACM. Both Primary and hiPSC-D cells expressed mesenchymal surface markers and possessed typical MSC differentiation potentials. hiPSC-D expressed desmosomal genes and proteins and shared a similar transcriptomic profile with Primary cells. Furthermore, ACM hiPSC-D exhibited higher propensity to accumulate lipid droplets and collagen compared to healthy control cells, similar to their primary counterparts. Therefore, both Primary and hiPSC-D cardiac stromal cells obtained from ACM patients can be used to model aspects of the disease. The choice of the most suitable model will depend on experimental needs and on the availability of human source samples