A hypothesis for the redevelopment of the Archaeological Park of Agrigento

The project here presented is developed at the Department of Architecture of the University of Palermo. It is an in-progress research project that combines two fields of knowledge: architectural design and architectural survey. These two branches are combined in a functional redevelopment project of the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, one of the largest and extraordinary archaeological parks in the Mediterranean area. This interdisciplinary research is driven by three fundamental strategic actions: “survey”, “design” and “representation”. The intervention has four fundamental goals. The first goal is the survey - performed with laser scanning and photogrammetric techniques - of the gymnasium, the Roman temple, the bouleuterion and the space and valley that separates these two areas, as well as the elaboration of 3D models. The second goal is the design of paths into the archeological area, aimed at connecting the gymnasium area with the Museum, to close the circular route of the park and to create staging posts and landscape observation points. Indeed, in the park there are inaccessible areas and cul de sacs that prevent a correct display of archaeological “vestigia” of great interest, yet marginal compared to the main tourist routes. The third goal is the revision of the entrance and visit paths inside the Archaeological Museum, yet without modifying the set-up system. In this sense, a new volume is planned to include and cover the excavations of the Roman temple and the Greek bouleterion discovered only after the museum was built. In this case, the intervention is configured as an extension of the existing museum complex which, through this new configuration, gains a new centrality in the visiting route. The fourth and final goal is the representation of the landscape and architectural redevelopment project through feature-based augmented reality techniques, aimed at visualizing and verifying the design solutions in situ using mobile devices. This research is based on the conviction that “survey”, “design” and “representation” are three fundamental and parallel steps of the transformation process of the archeological space.