The Adriatic threshold: building dynamic mapping tools for understanding complex and layered territorial configurations.

This work analyzes the nature and the influence of ancient fishing machines called trabucchi on the Adriatic coast. The disruptive factor is the dislocation of the coastal railroad which left a void in landscape, creating opportunities for a new path for connections of seaside towns. Worthy of studies are the intersections with further cultural territorial elements as medieval coastal watchtowers and ancient pastoral pathways (tratturi). The core of this research is the innovation in mapping techniques for fragile territories. The first step in the methodology of research is the exploration of the current state of the art of digital technology in GIS applied to Computational Design. Once state of the art has been fully analyzed and comprehended, it will be necessary to choose a selection of these tools to be suitable for modeling these fragile landscapes. As a second step, it is necessary to analyze the cultural and architectonic heritage in the selected area with proper tools to understand its relationships with the landscape and seaside towns. It is necessary to clarify that (for the purpose of framing for the first of year of research) the analysis will be limited to Abruzzi and Molise coastal area. Although limited to the area of Abruzzi and Molise (around 40 km long and 10 km wide), this process may only be executed with specific survey tools, via remote sensing combined with ground survey; selected area is lacking in detailed data, especially in the desired multiscalar data accuracy, which spans from nodal data, as trabucchi and watchtowers, to long infrastructures as railways, roads and tratturi. As a third step, once landscape and territorial fragilities have been understood, the use of digital tools will be useful to generate models that can simulate the process of mutation, which is currently in progress. The study aims to use computational design tools to predict the different possible territorial configurations.The main outputs will be static and dynamic maps of the study area, which will be represented via GIS tools, with the integration of Computational Design software. The desirable results of this research will be establishing a methodology for analysis of fragile coastal areas through representation with dynamic maps and three-dimensional models. These results will ease the understanding of relations among cultural heritage, infrastructures and coastal towns .