Architettura e urbanità del turismo: il caso della Sardegna

The analysis of the relationship between architecture, the territory and modern tourism, the subject of this research, is part of the interpretation of the tourist phenomenon as a spatial phenomenon at the basis of new urban scenarios, capable of influencing the processes of the urbanization of places and their perception, of generating renewed urban metaphors contributing to modify social forms and methods of communication. In this sense the initial frame of reference within which research is developed, refers to the theory of space aimed at understanding the phenomenon of tourism.The study of the “space tourist” has so far placed itself within the scientific debate regarding the geographical knowledge, of which two tasks have been traditionally assigned: the first was to provide representations, the second to translate the reading and interpretation of the territory into operational tools in order to transform it according to the needs of society. The latest spatial manifestations of tourism have therefore represented significant areas whereby to draft the features of a possible postmodern geography. But the analysis of space tourism, in recent decades, has taken on a new dimension and with it, a new relevance in terms of social and cultural aspects, in fact tourist images of places have contributed in an ever more consistent way to feed the mind maps of individuals and thus their vision of space, of the territory and of the world. The horizon of tourist research was broadened enormously by the research of the last ten ye- ars, and tourism has thus become an important key for interpreting significant phenomena, starting with the process of nation building, the Americanization of consumer styles and production patterns, the elaboration of the con- cept of heritage, the courses of development of backward economies, up until the most recent studies on the relationship between tourism and urbanism. And it is precisely on contemporary urban horizon which I intend to focus on in this work, thanks to more recent research trends of the French school, in particular in the transition from the study of geography of tourism to the study of the relationship between tourism and urban themes and by the research carried out by the MIT team (MIT Team – Mobilités, Itinéraires, Territoires). Today we can speak of hyper-tourist phase- a definition that may be useful to distinguish first generation tourism from the current one - for the fact that the relationship which has been established between tourist industry, urban are as and local systems is typically post-modern. In fact, both in terms of territorial transformation and economic and cultural terms, many cities have taken tourism as the reference model and, in turn, tourist spots and places have adopted dynamics which are typically urban even when pre-existing urban settlements are not mentioned. These premises are the basis of the objectives of this research that by analyzing the contemporary tourist phenomenon in its architectural and urban spatial dimension, intends to bring materials and methodologies for interpreting it as a phenomenon that generates “urbanity”. The concept of urbanity thus allows us to approach tourism in a different way than just studying a set of practices which have incre- ased exponentially: rural tourism, ecological tourism, seaside tourism, urban tourism, etc., allowing us to highlight the properties common to the tourist phenomenon and what forms it may take on. At the same time, the concept of urbanity allows us to bring out the urban characteristics produced through tourism. The concept of “urbanity” is then referred to the transformations of the territory tied to tourism: from the evolutionary trends of the settlement, which also fits the role and orientation of planning, up to the current processes of restructuring the territory. In this sense it was deemed necessary to distinguish two reference scales: the extra-territorial dimension of the phenomenon where, in the dynamics of contemporary flows, it is possible to identify a sort of macroplace (destination) that includes all the spaces where people come to and which they often share, and bringing us to a phenomenology of generalized de-localisation and de-territorialization. - the territorial dimension, the one where in the concrete relationship with places, tourism leaves deep traces in space, produces urban substance becoming the generator of urbanity forms, which often defy the rules of the city in the consolidated or traditional sense, and for which it is necessary to define critical issues and politics of intervention . Starting from the need to bring the attention to the territorial dimension, in which analysis and formalization of the relationship between territory-tourism-urbanity can lead to theoretical and operational outcomes, the developments of this research thesis are then referred to the specific case study of Sardinia. This research is structured into three main sections. The first is dedicated to the analysis of space tourism, where, starting from the modern-post modern dichotomy as identified by Minca (1996), an in-depth examination is carried out, on the one hand, a kind of tourist space explo- sion, with the acquisition of new and increasingly large territories and, on the other hand, a genuine tourist space implosion with the concentration inside closed or semi-closed areas in a series of images and pure, stylized tourist landscapes. The focus is placed on the territory: the tourist territory - namely the spatial organization (or space-time) tourism, which presents itself since its origins as a consumer-driven system, because it is moulded favouring methods of access to resources and exchange, that today becomes the paroxysmal place of the flows both in terms of material consumption of goods – starting with the territory - in terms of geographical mobility (movement) and in terms of symbolic exchange (communication). The analysis of the first section focuses, as indicated in the introduction, focuses on the interpretation of the tourist phenomenon as a spatial phenomenon which causes space tran- sformations through the construction of images and landscapes, creating forms of urbanity in terms of urban ‘products’ and architecture ‘products’. With reference to specific case studies and analysis we will then refer to the alternation in time of genuine models tied to the courses of differentiation and approval, related to the creation and organization of tourist area in which fundamental interpretations regard the formulations of Battilani (2007) and the research contribution of Trillo (2003). This type of analysis is supported by a further comparison, the one with the specialised ‘manuals’ and its contents compared to the reflections and attempts to define guidelines for the space tourist project. Therefore those elements emerge - which is the basis and where the thesis is oriented towards with the ability to confer quality to the project of tourist spots, with a significant contribution in the Italian case, consisting of a lecture by Gio Ponti entitled “Architettura e turismo” (Architecture and Tourism), held in 1942 for the Directorate General for tourism and ENIT (National Tourist Agency), which widens the horizon of the debate, from the manual type of debate to the more complex one: the context. The following paragraphs relate to a specific analysis of spatial transformations induced by tourism and in particular to the phenomena of cultural and physical de-location and de-territorialization, up to the analysis of urban dynamics- related processes, in which often the concept of city is represented, made into a utopia, or subverted. If in the first section of the thesis tourism has been identified as a spatial phenomenon, which begins with a project, an intention tied to the use of places, it is evident to steer this research within a framework of analysis on the relationship between tourism and the theme of urban, introducing the second section with an interpretation of Tourism as a generator of urbanity. The possibility to analyze and identify the specific characters of urbanity, referring to the evolutionary dynamics of a given territory, can constitute a conceptual tool that allows us to receive the tourist dimension as a component of the ur- ban aspect. This is formalized through the interpretation of three different dimensions: that of urban monuments, urban public spaces and mobility, deepening the analysis on the relations between tourist spots and the differentials of urbanity, illustrating the issues whereby that tourist aspect is featured as “relative urbanity”. Consequently a second analysis scenario is introduced, the one that refers to the relationship between Tourists and Urbanists, hence between tourism and planning. Some a few fundamental references, Oddi (2011) with regard to the study of the relationship between tourism and urban planning, we start with the fundamental differences that exist between the two scopes: the town is basically a technique and an art2 ; while tourism is – just as with all the “isms” - a movement, a flow, even before a pure and simple activity. In this sense the town is the tourism object but it does not deplete its interests and interferes only partially with its reasons strongly tied to moving. That which unites urban planning and tourism, however, is the need for design, planning and programming of transformations that generate in the territory in order to ensure the control and quality of interventions. It is clear that the town planning technique (more rarely art) has established the necessary instrument for implementing tourist settle- ments, but the goals have strongly come apart, producing a sort of mutual distrust that under lies many still pervasive attitudes.