Architectural Design V-IX: The Alps as Common Ground - Turin (G. Vogt)

Abstract

The design semesters of Professor Vogt circle around the Alpine arc, following the thesis that it can be read as an urban Common Ground. Every semester, the task of verifying this thesis arises by focusing on a metropolitan region and asking about its specific relation to the alpine region.

Objective

Independent thinking and acting.

Content

After Milano, Lyon, Ljubljana, Munich, Marseille, and Vienna, we will be looking at the urban territory of Turin in the spring semester 2022, which concludes the semester series "The Alps as Common Ground". We focus on the alpine valleys of the "Città Metropolitana di Torino" in particular the Susa Valley and the Lanzo Valleys. On the basis of explicit drafts, we discuss the redefinition of the meaning and use of these valleys in the area of tension between extensification and intensification, with the aim of establishing a new productive relationship with the Turin metropolitan region. By way of example, we will examine these themes in the Piedmontese Alpine valleys, in particular the Susa Valley and the Lanzo Valleys. In the Susa Valley we are concerned with developments to be expected in connection with the high-speed railway line currently under construction between Turin and Lyon and the associated new railway station at Susa. The situation in the Lanzo valleys is almost the opposite. In the course of the last century, these were affected by strong migration, which means that the culture established over centuries and the associated landscape are in some cases severely endangered or have already been lost. These valley communities, which appear to be developing in a complementary manner, raise various questions. For example, should familiar landscapes be preserved? Are there any new usage developments? Is a withdrawal of humans from certain areas conceivable? Or are other scenarios promising? We want to address that. The term "Process Cartograhy" forms the methodological framework of the design lessons. Based on a complex issue on a territorial scale, the first step is to examine the spatial relationships of the metropolitan region of Turin. On a two-day field trip, we complement the analytical view with a personal view of the place. From this, the students develop an individual program as the basis for their design. The proposed interventions can vary between urban planning and landscape scenarios as well as concrete architectural proposals. This approach takes account of the fact that the design is not to be understood as the end product, but as a process in which the individual movements of thought are to be made visible and recorded.

Resources