The image of Historic Urban Landscapes. Representation codes

According to the UNESCO 2011 - Recommendations on the Historic Urban Landscapes, the historic urban landscape (HUL) is the urban area understood as the result of a historic layering of cultural and natural values and attributes, extending the “historic center” or “ensemble” concept to include the broader urban context and its geographical setting. This wider context includes notably the site’s topography, geomorphology, hydrology and natural features, its built environment, both historic and contemporary, its infrastructures above and below ground, its open spaces and gardens, its land use patterns and spatial organization, perceptions and visual relationships, as well as all other elements of the urban structure. It also includes social and cultural practices and values, economic processes and the intangible dimensions of heritage as related to diversity and identity (Bandarin & van Oers, 2012). This paper presents a strategic process based on local character assessment through a place-visualizing toolkit that includes urban identity and pattern analysis, color representation and design codes; tools include the visualization of landscape parameters, the explanation of its qualities and, in particular, implementing processes, methods and tools of narration of tangible values and intangible assets. This framework enhances the knowledge of places within the frame of its historical evolution, its identity and appearance pointing out their character and distinctiveness. The contribution also aims to set a methodological model of reading, interpretation and narrative of the cultural heritage qualities; a visual catalogue that becomes meta-narrative on which to build subsequent pathways of activation and enhancement. The process has been tested on the information and documentation systems of some historic urban landscapes in Italy. The ultimate goal is to develop the framework as a place-identity toolkit for communities and places and to generate design coding strategies providing an efficient pipeline from survey and documentation to design and field actions.