Urban re-composition

Re-compose in an urban context means tending towards a state where the relations among the parts are resolved in a new form of recognizable articulation. The prefix re, which precedes the word composition, should be intended as a metaphor for a therapeutic tactic necessary to heal and repair the space of the city. Since a systematic action applied to a single building is unthinkable, the transformation inevitably passes through a process of re-composition that carefully recognizes and defines the relations among things more than the things themselves. The risk lies in considering the space-between as an unconstrained void, free to be filled. Open space, instead, can have its own structure and articulation, primarily through the proximity relations that can be established. The theme of distance plays a prominent role for several reasons, as demonstrated by the abundant literature on this argument. Significant examples can be found in the research of authors united by their attention to the composition theme inherent to the idea of putting order between the parts of the city. Making the distance to the actual theme of the project confirms the importance of revealing the compositional structure that defines the city. Another decisive aspect lies in the diachronic character that urban re-composition entails, imposing a strategy to show a hidden order capable of considering the city’s materials as elements of a renewed composition.