Mining Landscapes in Sicily: Problems, Strategies and Perspectives

Sicily has been characterised by a striking mining activity throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. It deeply changed the appearance of the internal areas of the Island, transforming natural and agricultural landscapes into industrial ones. When the extraction activities finally came to an end, the industrial landscape started to be regarded from another point of view, as a cultural and touristic value. However, mining landscape is today a wasted opportunity. Large parts of machines, railways and chimneys are disappearing due to carelessness and abandonment. Anyway, the crisis which is affecting Europe will eventually force us to look back at these territories as a possible resource to overcome it. The main goal of the research I’m conducting is understanding how this particular landscape might become a financial asset for Sicily. From this point of view, cultural heritage is not considered only as something to protect and save. Using design as an instrument to know and understand our territory, the research is investigating which role architecture and landscape may have into the transformation of these spaces. Therefore, landscape design is considered a way to transform wastelands and to protect and save them. The research is also focused on a case study. This is a large park in a former mine yard close to the Greek city of Morgantina and the UNESCO site of Villa Romana del Casale. Its proximity to the freeway, the esthetic quality of its landscape and its localisation in the very heart of the region makes it one of the best sites to test design hypotheses. It is all about investigating the possibility to create a network of cultural sites linking classical and industrial archeology.