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For some years now, the Italian Strategy for Inland Areas and the responses given in academic, professional and territorial governance circles have found increasing interest in France, where they are compared to specific local characteristics, policies and actions (Masboungi and Hébert (Les territoires oubliés. Un futur désirable [Forgotten territories. A desirable future], Le Moniteur, 2014). Although these territories have known major phenomena of depopulation, aging population, urban decline, exploitation of resources, they still have a rich cultural and natural heritage, which asks to experiment with “more restrained forms of development that respect the landscape and built environment” (Jury of French Grand prix de l’urbanisme, 2023) (Masboungi and Petitjean (En campagne - Simon Teyssou, Grand Prix de l’urbanisme 2023 [In the countryside—Simon Teyssou, French Grand Prix of Urbanism 2023], Grand Format, Parenthèses, 2014). The present contribution investigates a design teaching experience, in partnership with the University of Catania, carried out at the Versailles School of Architecture, for almost 3 years, on some minor centers in Eastern Sicily. The double condition of insularity (in the heart of an island and isolated from the dynamics of coastal cities), the massive migratory flows to Northern Italy and abroad, as well as the contrasting results of ongoing revitalization strategies make these centers a case study of interest to French architecture students. The design studio questions the origins and effects of this marginalization process and develops regeneration proposals focused on three main axes: the inhabited environment, considered as an investigation on ways and forms of living; the built and unbuilt heritage, deepened in a perspective of preservation, adaptation and transformation of the existing; and the landscape, read as an expression of the territorial palimpsest, at the junction between responding to risk situations and making the most of local resources. By analyzing the results of work carried out to date on the towns of Leonforte, Troina and Caltagirone, the present contribution aims to explore an analytical and project-based approach to minor centers, inspired by the internal dynamics of the territories and at the crossroads of different disciplines, scales and timeframes.

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Inhabited Environment, Heritage, Landscape. Three Challenges for Minor Centers in Decline in Eastern Sicily. A Teaching Experience at the Versailles School of Architecture

  • 会议论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Roberta Borghi

摘要

For some years now, the Italian Strategy for Inland Areas and the responses given in academic, professional and territorial governance circles have found increasing interest in France, where they are compared to specific local characteristics, policies and actions (Masboungi and Hébert (Les territoires oubliés. Un futur désirable [Forgotten territories. A desirable future], Le Moniteur, 2014). Although these territories have known major phenomena of depopulation, aging population, urban decline, exploitation of resources, they still have a rich cultural and natural heritage, which asks to experiment with “more restrained forms of development that respect the landscape and built environment” (Jury of French Grand prix de l’urbanisme, 2023) (Masboungi and Petitjean (En campagne - Simon Teyssou, Grand Prix de l’urbanisme 2023 [In the countryside—Simon Teyssou, French Grand Prix of Urbanism 2023], Grand Format, Parenthèses, 2014). The present contribution investigates a design teaching experience, in partnership with the University of Catania, carried out at the Versailles School of Architecture, for almost 3 years, on some minor centers in Eastern Sicily. The double condition of insularity (in the heart of an island and isolated from the dynamics of coastal cities), the massive migratory flows to Northern Italy and abroad, as well as the contrasting results of ongoing revitalization strategies make these centers a case study of interest to French architecture students. The design studio questions the origins and effects of this marginalization process and develops regeneration proposals focused on three main axes: the inhabited environment, considered as an investigation on ways and forms of living; the built and unbuilt heritage, deepened in a perspective of preservation, adaptation and transformation of the existing; and the landscape, read as an expression of the territorial palimpsest, at the junction between responding to risk situations and making the most of local resources. By analyzing the results of work carried out to date on the towns of Leonforte, Troina and Caltagirone, the present contribution aims to explore an analytical and project-based approach to minor centers, inspired by the internal dynamics of the territories and at the crossroads of different disciplines, scales and timeframes.