Il palinsesto di Alessandria / Alexandrian palimpsests

Based on project-oriented research, which materialised for the International Workshop Cosmopolitan Alexandria: What Future for its Heritage?*, the paper emphasises some distinguishing features of this ever-changing city, highlighting the great potential of Alexandria as a testing ground for architectural design. Alexandria epitomises a long history of construction and reconstruction, of both the urban form and its corresponding townscape. The Arab Town embedded the Hellenistic layout. The ancient metropolis together with the Arab and Turkish towns became quarries of building materials for the fast-paced development of the 19th-century colonial bridgehead. This process of creative destruction repositioned many vestiges of the past, some of which can still be identified, yet incorporated into new built-up forms. This text was conceived and discussed jointly by the authors. However, Luisa Ferro focused her research on Hellenistic Alexandria, whereas Cristina Pallini concentrated her studies on the development of the city since the early-19th-century city.