Representation and Visualization Processes for a Sustainable Approach to Landscape/Heritage

This paper intends to focus on the modes and forms of representation for a novel and sustainable approach to landscape/heritage, to those “tangible and intangible landscapes”, which are also called “emerging landscapes of heritage”. The long tradition of landscape description is grounded in visibility/objectivity terms as well as on nature/history. Nowadays, a sustainable approach to landscape/heritage should also carefully describe the participatory processes in recognizing, enhancing, and sharing meaningful values for a community. Starting with the Icomos recommendations about heritage modes of representation, this paper extends the research question to landscape/heritage where there are required methodologies that take into consideration both visible and objective aspects for depicting the interactions of people and territory, and its “becoming”. This contribution will therefore outline the main forms adopted today for the visualization and communication of the landscape that can monitor human and physical processes in progress and that, while being in continuity with the idea of landscape rooted in the West on the intangible aspect of “visibility”, they also need to be increasingly performative in describing the territorial and tangible complexity of dynamics and phenomena on a large scale.