Europan_9 Erice. Italia

The project area, bounded respectively by “Porta Spada” and the Church of “San Giovanni”, takes up almost entirely the eastern margin of the town: the “third side” of the triangle which encompasses the urban fabric of Erice “on the summit”. This location of exceptional importance however is not matched by a built border of congruous urban architectural quality. The section running between the Church of San Giovanni and the so-called “Spanish quarter”, in particular, seems incomplete vis-à-vis its potential role as public space and is of poor architectural and urban style. The municipal planning actions currently under way and specific projects already in the implementation stage clearly target resolution of these problems: however, we think that more incisive action is called for, with the right “ambition of shaping” the town. On the western and southern sides, between Porta Spada and Porta Trapani and between the latter and the Pepoli gardens (the Balio), relations are much clearer. In the first portion, the relationship between urban structure and the landscape is defined by the presence of the Elimo-Punic walls, followed for a long stretch by a broad cobblestone graded ramp and further south by an unbroken coherent border of buildings. In the second case, via Conte Pepoli, which ends with the stairway of the gardens bearing the same name, plays a threefold role: access to town, lookout point onto the landscape and the matrix of the main tourist routes. In both cases, the town’s margin coincides with a public space, and is characterised by routes linking the “apexes” of the urban structure and finally makes it possible to establish clear perceptual relations with the landscape. Moreover, on both these sides the boundary of the old town is traced by a retaining structure or a wall. The “boundary”, whether intended for soil retention or for defence against external enemies, is therefore the place where the greatest meanings converge, as concerns the relationship between internal and external space, and between nature and human artefact. The project attempts to refer to these deep matrixes of Erice’s urban structure in order to raise the study area to a “rank” comparable to the other town boundaries and enable it to achieve its latent potential. For these reasons, the “Porocittà” project proposes recreation of the urban margin on the eastern side through the construction of a series of buildings whose elevation at the level of the attic does not exceed that of the highest portion of via Nunzio Nasi. This condition makes it possible to create a series of piazzas/belvedere terraces on the roofs looking out towards Valderice and Monte Cofano, linked to street level by flights of steps, ramps and graded ramps. This new public space will help enhance the value and quality of the routes between the Church of San Giovanni and the area around the Church del Carmine, both longitudinally and transversally. The project volumes therefore develop between the top of the belvedere squares and level +708.00, corresponding to the base of the buildings and the roof of the underground car park. The series of house fronts consisting of a double facade in stone elements makes the work similar to construction work or a quarry face, intentionally playing with the ambiguity between natural and artificial elements. The new architectural form consolidates and strengthens the coherence of the image of the old town in the part where this image is more fragile and uneven, renewing a traditional practice which has always considered earth retaining works crucial for the beauty of cities. The new margin is cross-cut by alleys, some public, others serving private houses. The difference in elevation and the proportions of these alleys make it possible to recreate, by analogy, the same conditions found within the consolidated fabric: “narrow and winding alleys”, a labyrinth where visitors love getting lost, the “narrow and steep passages” associated with the “discovery of the unexpected”: now exploring nooks and crannies, now taking in the surrounding landscape. The depth of the built structure and a degree of typological analogy with the matrix of the existing built stock have suggested the creation of internal courtyards encircled by the houses. The roof and terraces thus appear crossed by passages and perforated by courtyards, confirming also in the contemporary addition the “porous” texture of Erice’s urban structure. The apartments, mostly on a single floor, alternate with some offices and commercial premises at street level, as required by general urban policies . The underground car park is accessible from the municipal road of Porta Spada-Fontanelle which should be enlarged in order to add a second lane for vehicles heading in the opposite direction and a sidewalk taking to the Spanish Quarter Complex and highlighting some areas of special interest which should be renovated: in particular “Piscina Apollinis” and the “chapel of Maria SS di Custonaci”, but also the observation post of the civil protection department, to be set up in an unauthorised house currently under a demolition order.