Author(s)

A. Santarossa

Abstract

The ideological clash opposing Eastern and Western Europe from the beginning of the 20th century till the end of the 80s resulted in the north-east of Italy being one of the heaviest military structures of the world. A dense grid of bunkers, military sites, barracks, explosives sites, training and aviation camps, spread throughout the country, made a reality the idea of a landscape as a strategic scenario. Friuli Venezia Giulia, the region more affected by this system, has seen 50% of its area influenced by easement for military purposes and counts today 102km2 of military zones. After 1989, wide parts of its region, in urban, agricultural or natural context – historically separated from everyday life and its use – suddenly lost their function and moved towards a state of neglect and degradation. No one knows how many of such sites there are. With the independent research A Farewell to Arms, an extensive survey was carried out mapping 210 former sites; probably more than 200 are still in review, which theoretically means a military site every 15km. We are facing the collapse of an entire system that has influenced for several years the whole region and further afield. Now we are developing different models of reconversion that are based on a precise hypothesis: is it possible to reconvert a former military network into a new one? Starting not from a \“site by site” but from a \“system by system” approach that takes into account the position and the geographical and infrastructural values of the former sites, the models of reconversion investigate the possibility to reinterpret an area through its former military heritage. Keywords: barracks, military disposal, military site, military system analysis, reconversion scenarios.

Keywords

Keywords: barracks, military disposal, military site, military system analysis, reconversion scenarios.