Flebili tracce. Kamarina, progetto nel tempo: vegetazione e scavo archeologico

Looking at the map of the archaeological sites of Sicily, more than sixhundred sites are marked, surveyed and studied in the excavation campaigns; along the coast of the island you can find the testimonies of all the ancient Mediterranean civilizations. The proposed reflection refers to a research project developed during the PhD in “Architecture, Arts and Planning”. The question arises as to whether it is possible to over come the vision that configures archaeological sites as monofunctional enclosures separated from the urban fabric to which they belong; what are the values attributed by the population starting from those defined by Alois Riegl; whether and how to relate the “protected interior” to the outside. In order to reason on the theme of “archaeology and nature”, with the tools of architectural and landscape design, related to those of archaeological research, the site of Kamarina, on the southern coast of Sicily, was chosen. The soil and vegetation are used as the main materials of the project to express the perception of time and duration, starting a virtuous process for the protection, for the narration of the site, for the continuity of the territory, to decrease the abandonment of those archaeological areas considered peripheral in relation to the type of ruins that have emerged and the geographical location. Starting from the planning of there discovery of the archaeological fabric, a “project over time” is proposed, which develops in three phases during which the vegetation take son the dual role of protective factor of the buried finds and narration of the site. The project is used as a tool for prefiguration and verification of the initial hypotheses: thanks to its processual nature, it has been possible to control the changes induced by the progress of archaeological excavations in relation to the changes that climate, vegetation and new uses bring.