%0 Journal Article
%T Ragusa – a ‘Lab City’ for Investigating the Possibility of Advancement in Cohesion and Expression of the Urban and Architectural Structure
%A Franta, Anna
%J Housing Environment
%V 2019
%R 10.4467/25438700SM.19.042.11673
%N 29/2019
%P 60-72
%K expression of an urban and architectural structure, didactics as a research laboratory of the city
%@ 1731-2442
%D 2020
%U https://ejournals.eu/en/journal/srodowisko-mieszkaniowe/article/ragusa-a-lab-city-for-investigating-the-possibility-of-advancement-in-cohesion-and-expression-of-the-urban-and-architectural-structure
%X 
	Cities with history have ‘a good tradition’ of multicultural expressiveness. What are, however, new dimensions of social expressiveness; where are threats lurking, and where do opportunities reside for the 21st-century city? What is necessary is an intention of composition (in contrast to the quite commonly encountered intention of lack thereof) of parts and of the whole, and the vision of the ‘face’ of the city it entails, as well as the governing principles of formal coordination, coordination of activities, and of the dramaturgy of connections – sequences exhibiting different expressiveness. Public spaces of historical inner cities more and more often NEED to be supported by new public spaces, attractive somewhat differently. They also call for studies of a designing nature. In Ragusa, starting from the Re-use Ragusa 2014 International Workshop, architects-researchers took up issues of key importance for the advancement of inner city structures of this place, making use of the opportunities offered by a properly directed didactic process. The work was based on a thorough – albeit virtual, indirect – observation of the city, on the investigation of diversified problems, but also singularities, in search of the potential of specificity residing in individual areas of activities, including the ones which are seemingly less valuable. Ragusa transformed into a ‘lab city’. It became a place of a fascinating designing experiment, aimed to identify strategies promoting revitalisation of the city from the inside, starting from the resources and the potential it offers. The goal here was to notice and improve the values and opportunities presented by the location, to be able to accept new perspectives for this intentionally creative observation. It is paramount that such an ‘idealistic’ contribution be useful, offering an array of possible activities and opening up fields for further discussions by creating good models in compliance with the specificity and identity of the place, that is local communities and their needs in terms of individualised expression.