Nuove intensità urbane. Esperienze e progetti di architettura nella città storica

The depiction of urban complexity, as a preliminary action to the project, makes it possible to bring together several research on the vitality of public space, with reference to the observations and projects in the existing city of Jane Jacobs (1961) and Jan Gehl (1971). The notion of urban intensity, investigated in its social and experiential dimensions through a comprehensive theoretical framework, emerges as a key element to reconnect a fragmented urban fabric. A common interest in the idea of experience as a compositional key connects research on phenomenological perception of Mirko Zardini (2005), Juhani Pallasmaa (2005), and in the works of Steven Holl. This contribution summarizes the work carried out during the Architectural Design Workshop held in Madrid and Palermo. The theme of the intervention in the historic center of the Spanish town Alcalá de Henares revolves around two main questions: what should we mean by urban quality when considering the future of the European city? Can the renewal of the historic city be structured in fragments, concentrating new urban intensities in specific areas? The new approach to the project marks a change of vision regarding the role of the experiences generated in an urban or architectural environment, according to Peter Zumthor (2007), shifts the focus from the architectural object to the process, behaviors and people’s actions and produces spaces with different programs, activities and temporalities.