Scenari di riconversione dell'area del Bastione di San Filippo a Cagliari. Proposte progettuali per un distretto dell'arte| Perspectives for the reconversion of the San Filippo Bastion in Cagliari. New design proposals for an art district

The study for the possible conversion and enhancement of the San Filippo Bastion and the ancient Military Bakery in Cagliari is part of a wider research focused on the Savoy forts in Sardinia and on their possible reconversion to different military or civil uses. In fact, excluding few examples of reuse as civil museums included in this paper, the large part of this heritage is under-used, abandoned or even in a state of ruin. San Filippo Bastion is a case in point because, even if the area is still owned and used by the Italian Army, it has been included in the list of possible disposals provided in 2008 by the Ministry of Defence, together with the local Regional Administration. In the actual lack of specific political strategies about its conversion to civil use, the paper illustrates an exploratory design project for possible reuse of the ancient fort as a new urban art district, in the event of a future military closure. Architecturally, the proposal stems from an in-depth historical and material analysis carried out in order to highlight material and immaterial values, collected using the tool of the Raumbuch. On the urban scale, the project shone the spotlight on the military district as the activator of a wider cultural district, connecting the nodes of the already existing cultural network and providing new strategic polarities within the historic centre. In line with the evolved European cultural district examples, the design proposal for the creation of a new DAC Art District includes temporary workshops spaces, a museum trail between the ancient moats, converted bunkers and blockhouses, a library, reading spaces and a place for city events. The ancient fortified structures of the Bastion and external fortified works are valued and rediscovered through a naturalistic modelling of slopes and ramparts, highlighting the defensive 18thcentury profiles and unlocking the potential of new panoramic routes and discovering new accessibility in the historic centre of Cagliari.