The storm has gone: Piave river where we returned to see if actually “The storm has gone” (1). You will certainly remember the devastating flood in November 2018 and the death of millions of trees in the mountains.
In the immediate following weeks, groups of volunteers cleaned the coast of Jesolo. A group was also guided by our Ermes. After a few months we went along the Piave to check the situation. To be precise between San Biagio di Callalta and Ponte di Piave in the province of Treviso.
Apart from some minor parts, the place is clean. The fury of water can still be noticed by some details such as the piled grass and unusual objects that remain “perched” on the branches. There are some plastic objects but they are really a small part.
For the rest the landscape has a lunar aspect and in some ways looks like a labyrinth. It seems indeed that “the storm has gone” and Piave river is quiet again
Light plays strange games, just as weird objects we found in twilight. They almost seem to have become part of the natural landscape. Let’s put it in this way, Nature will always prevail on the human being …
Birkenau Block 25. Call me Lavinia but I have no longer a name, numbers instead. I live, if this can be called life, in block 25 in Birkenau. My block mates are numbers like me… We are going to die, we know. We are packed in this block, waiting, or no longer waiting, resigned, weak. It’s dark here, narrow windows, we can hardly breathe but I can still see the moon, a big moon, lightning the dark. There is something comforting in that light.
Now I am beyond the ground I am a tree, I am moon, I keep the distance from all this cruelty and sadness. I am free.
The house is silent. The wind on my branches just seems a breath of clouds on an extinguishing fire. I’m alone again. A cycle has been completed: my destiny of seed that has sprouted, the design of my ancestors. Lavinia is now earth and humus. Her spirit dancing in the evening wind (translated from the Italian version of The Inhabited Woman by Gioconda Belli)
I did not know how to start a post about Birkenau and I decided to let a woman talk. Why a woman?
Birkenau – crematoryBirkenau – Block 25
Waiting room for the gas
Block 25 was known as “waiting room for the gas” and it was a female block. When visiting Birkenau I gave a quick glance at the block, to be honest I gave a quick glance to everything, I felt a certain burden. The most horrible and incredible feeling was perceiving a rather “normal” aspect of that place when you are outside.
There was even a beautiful sunset to highlight the “normal” aspect. And then I took the picture of the ruins of the crematory, If I hadn’t written what it was, nobody would have understood and it would have been “a beautiful landscape with moon”.
I was hit by my own picture, then the wind came and it reminded me of The Inhabited Woman and the orange tree
All of a sudden the shapeless prisoners acquired Lavinia’s shape and I realized that I was watching the very same moon that women in block 25 saw.
Auschwitz – prisoners
And then I started singing in my mind La vita è bella. If you haven’t seen the movie by Roberto Benigni yet, now it is time to see it
Already published on the Local Guides Connect platform. The article is not part of the themes of Associazione Progetto Re-Cycle. It is our contribution to the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. All picures A.Grana
Finally our new Quaderno . A man made of plastic, a title that contains all the aspects you will find in this issue. A Quaderno, number 9, with multiple aspects. It retraces our Manifesto and highlights our mission. “To make easier the interaction between culture and business in order to create new economic opportunities by starting from what already exists”.
Our journey started two years ago. It is evolving. Sometimes we were at a stalemate, sometimes tired but always ready to start again with even greater enthusiasm.
A man made of plastic gives a deeper emphasis to the relationship between territory / culture. Besides it highlights the increasingly complicated relationship between Man and the Environment. If we were to give an explanation in two words, the focus of this issue would certainly be Trees and Plastic. Trees and plastic depicted as a story, as a poem, or as news, as science fiction. Trees and the Plastic become for the authors the vehicle to talk all round of culture and the re-reading of territories, environmental emergencies and possible corrections. And above all, of man as a sentient being but also a being made of plastic. Sometimes a non-man, unaware of what he sees or, better still, of what he does not want to see.
A company point of view
A company point of view enriches this Quaderno. The article has been written by an important Venetian company dealing with automation systems for the plastics transformation. Are today’s companies responsible for plastic contamination? If so, to what extent? Are they making any correction? Or, what is under our eyes is the result of a lack of vision that brings us back to the sixties, when Giulio Natta is awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the construction of polypropylene and high density polyethylene?
As usual we ask questions. As usual our purpose is not so much to give answers but to provoke an autonomous and critical thought.
Christmas, water, earth and air. Such a strange title to present the Christmas Markets in Zero Branco, not far from Treviso. Let’s try to make a little order (that’s what I usually say, since my starting point is always chaos) and give meaning to these words.
Christmas: this is clear. I am talking about December 15 and 16 markets. Less clear (presumably completely obscure) the three natural elements.
Our story begins at the end of 2016, December to be precise, just over a month from the earthquake affecting Central Italy. Since that December we have been travelling a lot, our last “landing” was Bolognola, in the province of Macerata, a few months ago.
Water
Bolognola is very small, about 150 inhabitants. It is the smallest and highest municipality in the Marche region. Although tiny, Bolognola is divided into three groups: Villa da Capo, Villa di Mezzo, Villa da Piedi. We could call Bolognola a land of water because of the sources of the Fiastrone and the waterfall of the Acquasanta. Water is important for Zero Branco too. Here in the plain (Zero Branco is located in the Po Valley) the small town is bathed by the river Zero, a spring-fed river, and by the Vernise. The presence of water has been very important since the Middle Ages for the construction of mills, some of which remained in operation until the 60s. The first element of commonality, water, has been therefore identified. I almost forgot…. Bolognola is coming to Zero Branco for the Christmas Markets!
Earth
At Zero Branco I have found a book “Stories of land and water“. The link with the land/earth for small businesses is very strong, just mention the Radicchio Tardivo that makes clearly understand the union between earth and water. The same link between the inhabitants and their land can be found in Bolognola. A land a bit ‘treacherous”, mother nature andstepmother at the same time, which in October 2016 attested its dominance over the human being. A land that also knows how to give a lot because of its beauty.
Air
Land in which the last element stands out, air or better still wind, a predominant characteristic of Bolognola and above all of Pintura di Bolognola. From the stories of the inhabitants, who are accustomed to gusts that have reached 200km / h, we have learned of the strong wind that blew and of the extreme difficulty of preparing the emergency structures after the earthquake.
All the elements of our story are here now. The Proloco di Bolognola, with their typical products, will be a guest at the Markets of Zero Branco. But this will not be enough to tell the whole story, or rather the stories, of two years spent between Marche and Umbria. And then, let’s go with photos, videos, virtual reality. There will be much to see and hear as well as to taste. We will obviously not be alone but together with other associations of Zero Branco, waiting together for Santa Claus and his helper
Shortly before Christmas, in a tiny little town, high up in the mountains where there was a very strong wind, a Santa Claus’ helper was thinking about how he could cheer up the tiny little town.
This small, small town is called Bolognola, lately it has been a bit shaken up but now it’s pretty good!
Thinking and thinking again and again, today and tomorrow, he decided to call Santa Claus. He called him in a small town, a bit bigger than Bolognola, in the plains. There was no wind there but some fog indeed.
Sometimes it snows and in the plain 10 cm of snow are so many! Last year it snowed just before Christmas. You have to know that the inhabitants are a bit clumsy (they are not used to snow) and to move around they needed a 4X4 sleigh!
The helper and Santa Claus wrote to each other via chat (and yes… even Santa Claus has become technological). They decided that the helper would come down to the plain to find Santa Claus. The helper would bring with him many good things from the little town. He would introduce the flowers, the mountains, the valleys, from where those good things were made.
Flowers Monti Sibillini
Santa Claus said: “Hey, I’m waiting for you on December 15th and 16th at Zero Branco, it’s near Treviso, you know. It’s just a nice place. Everyone always asks me: what a strange name, what does it mean? I’ll give you a link (I am technological you know and , above all, really, really lazy) about its story Have a look “
The Sile is rather unusual, it is a river that “rises” from the depths of the ground with pools of limpid and vital water, a network of springs, called “Fontanassi”.
“Fontanasso”
You can get to know the Sile in two ways: experiencing its water, in a canoe or small boats, on foot or by bicycle. For our activities we have started to map two paths, (virtual tours available at the bottom of the page) accessible for the disabled for most of their itinerary. As a consequence we have also started to explore the natural environment surrounding us. The first path, where the Sile is originated, or rather “rising”, is “La Porta dell’Acqua“ near the Gran Bosco dei Fontanassi. It is less frequented than the second one the “Burci cemetery” but, on the other hand, less crowded means much more relaxing.
Undoubtedly the Burci are fascinating, the remains that emerge on the surface of water, evidence of a “slow” era that no longer exists, the accessibility of the path, attract many people. Unfortunately (or luckily, depending on the points of view) on Sundays and in summer it looks like a city central area. It took ages to map the path, if you want to take your time and relax it is better in winter.
Bosco dei Fontanassi – Accessible Path
Burci Cemetery
Humidity
In summer nature is lush, very green and you can find a great variety of flowers. I thought about it for a moment and tried to answer the question “why do I come here and not somewhere else?” What can I find so particular worth telling?” The answer came to me from the humidity of the place. Yes, just the humidity of the Pianura Padana, so often depressing, with its skies never, or rarely, completely blue.
It was surreal to find out that, as in the last period I have frequented other places, I have missed the humidity (normally detested) that makes you feel the physical sensation of “passing through” a place as if you were swimming metaphorically through an impalpable water. Water that you feel and leaves you a little breathless. In summer the green that surrounds you is greener than green but, in my opinion, you can fully understand this environment of land and water especially in autumn and winter. With the fog...
Fog along the Sile
Fog
Try to imagine the autumn fog, the shape of the places that fade, the sounds are not clear but muffled. Humidity is the main attraction, again and more strongly, the sensation of swimming in and through the place. Time is suspended, you cannot get the feeling of time because you cannot see the sky. Yet the noise of water in the background, some nutria that dives, the beating of the swans’ wings define the contours of the place.
Often with the mapping activities, we have been accused of digitizing everything and making people “walk around” without having to leave the sofa. Nothing could be more untrue. You can see the place on a screen, you can even follow a path, but you cannot feel it. Can you “swim” in the humidity? The only image of a place does not define its complex and changeable reality. Experiencing by feeling the reality of a place is the key word.
Panta rei, everything flows … reality is a continuous becoming
I have heard so many times the word magic during my stays in Marche and Umbria, magic meaning a peculiar characteristic, uniqueness of the Sibillini territory. This peculiarity was highlighted during Concita De Gregorio’s interviews to the “Women of the Sibillini” too. Most of the women’s answers on the meaning of “home” and “future” after the earthquake, were connected in an essential way to the territory women belong to. I, as an external “character” and not involved in that specific place, started thinking about this topic. I asked myself “what would I tell a tourist to convince him/her to visit these places?”
Concita De Gregorio interviewing Donne dei Sibillini
I thought about it for a short time but. As I tend to base my judgments on parameters as much objective as possible, the word magic has begun to be unconvincing. To be more precise I do not think that only “magic” can define a place. Defining a place as magical is an emotional and subjective criterion, what is magical for me may not be for others. So I started looking for the meaning of “magical”:
“In general, practice and form of esoteric and initiatory knowledge that presents itself as capable of controlling the forces of nature; in various cultures and in different historical periods, it has been object of opposite evaluations, now considered a form of superior knowledge, now rejected as imposture and condemned by civil and religious authorities.
“Capable of controlling the forces of nature …” No, it’s not, in that territory still destroyed by earthquake, I would say no, it is not magic. So what is it? I tried with sublime. The dynamically sublime is “nature considered in an aesthetic judgment as might that has no dominion over us”. We are getting closer but not enough.
The relationship between Nature and Man
In both cases it is clear that we are not talking about Nature and Man (human being) only but we focus on the relationship between Human Being and Nature. On one hand, Human Being aspires to the control of Nature with magical arts, on the other he/she is fascinated and overwhelmed by Nature
Perhaps we have taken a step forward, no, better say a step backward and I wonder (and I ask you) “Why, the Sibillini and not the Dolomiti? Just an example” What are the criteria for my choosing a mountain or another? I mean, as a normal person, I am not a climber. I’m returning to subjectivity but based on reasoning and not on emotion only. The difference is therefore made by the human being and his/her relationship with nature. Let’s try to make a hard and simple evaluation: both mountain ranges have spectacular landscapes. The softer and more rounded Sibillini, the more impressive Dolomiti. Their differentiation is based, for me (subjective), in their colors.
Colors
Very bright colors (the red of the poppies seems redder) and the ocher in the Sibillini at the end of the summer (an American friend seeing a photo said “The Golden State”!). In the Dolomiti, in addition to the rock, many shades of green.
The Golden State
Dolomiti Brenta
Harmony
In addition to the landscapes, however, I expect something else. Now we are entering the field of what can be offered combining interaction between Human Being and Nature. In other words, what other services are available for me “tourist by chance” ? Please, let’s skip excellent food . In Italy you can never eat badly, you have to put a certain amount of effort into it … From my point of view (subjectivity, again …) it is the harmony between the urban fabric and the environment. In these two photos you can see two examples of what I like: the version of “a fairy tale” of human intervention on the landscape and Art that blends with nature as in Arte Sella.
The Gingerbread House
Arte Sella
In the end the difference between choosing one mountain or the other (or not choosing, as I do happily, jumping around from one side to the other) is made by human beings living in those places and what they have been able to build as a relationship with other human beings of those places (let’s call them “neighbors”) and with Nature. And above all the tale, the experience, the stories of that urban and natural fabric. I have described the mountains. I live in the plains but also here, land of water and fog, the relationship between man and nature has a story to tell. What is your story? And please don’t tell me anything about magic!
How did we get from Veneto to the Sibillini? And then back again? Are there any common aspects that connect those territories? For sure there are stories of people and territories
Visually absolutely nothing. The two regions (to be precise three: Veneto, Marche and Umbria) are different, take a look at these photos. The Dolomiti, although mountains, certainly do not resemble more ancient and gentle Sibillini. Our lagoon, our rivers are quite another thing … And yet, there are common things. These things are the stories, stories related to the territory and connected to people.
Venice – the lagoon
fiume Sile
The first time we arrived at the very center of the earthquake area we were in Norcia, December 10, 2016. I can remember that date very well as from that date the stories of Progetto Re-Cycle and those of Local Guides (volunteers who update the maps in Google Maps) have started interacting. The LG are real people made of flesh and blood, not dematerialized beings or avatars. They use the “virtual” to give another reading of the “real”. Not everyone is so “philosophical” in giving this kind of reading, but I am
Our project Re-building was developed from the meeting with the LGs . Actually, we already had it in our mind but we did not know how to do it. Re-building is the “construction” of a virtual memory safe, with geolocalized images on a shared map, of the areas hit by the earthquake. The map is in working progress, the beauty of this type of technology is that you can continue to develop and improve. From that moment it was natural to converge in the re-reading of the territories , not only the territories affected by the earthquake but other areas in Veneto as well. Therefore we started to talk about it in the same words of the Manifesto of Progetto Re-Cycle “to start from what already exists to start new life cycles “.
King of the world
We recently returned, at the end of April 2018, in Umbria and Marche regions, in particular in Norcia and Bolognola (MC). The reconstruction, or at least a return to normal life, proceeds in a sort of patchwork style. Some things have been done, others are still to be done. The sense of “Donne dei Sibillini, bellezza e dignità del territorio” is to re-start, re-construct focusing both on the value of people, especially women, and territory that represent the great treasure of the area.
Near Bolognola
View of Fargno trail
From my point of view, even a little ‘business – like” if you want (it’s because of my work), only thinking about connecting the “real” aspects of the territory with “virtual” aspects, we can start talking about real rediscovery, with a strong cultural substrate, of the territories and people (and companies) that live it. Here I’m starting to move into “business culture” …
Posizionamento della pila-Altered Carbon serie 1,episodio 1, min. 12.22
Re-thinking Humans: si può arrivare al paradosso di ri-pensare, ri-progettare l’essere umano? La spinta continua verso l’innovazione tecnologica deve comunque poggiare su basi umanistiche? Oppure l’essere umano si sta “evolvendo” e si sta trasformando in “corpi da progetto”, dei cyborg? Sono ovviamente delle provocazioni per sollecitare delle domande.
Posizionamento della pila-Altered Carbon serie 1,episodio 1, min. 12.22
Il Quaderno 7 – Re-thinking humans. Il design nella progettazione del post-umano – è un quaderno quasi “fantascientifico”, troverete infatti alcuni esempi tratti da due note serie televisive: Black Mirror e Altered Carbon che offriranno uno spunto “narrativo” per osservare “ l’ evoluzione della progettazione, in particolare delle tecnologie applicate al corpo umano e agli spazi antropocentrici, e di come i canali di intrattenimento popolare contribuiscono a trasmettere e formare un immaginario tecnologico attraverso la divulgazione di narrazioni distopiche”.
In un momento storico nel quale le tecnologie si sviluppano in tempi sempre più ridotti, impattando fortemente sulla nostra quotidianità, ci siamo fermati a riflettere sulle implicazioni che l’adozione delle tecnologie stesse comportano in termini sociali, biologici ed etici? In tutto questo, quale è il ruolo del designer e della progettazione? Vi è una relazione tra immaginario e design? Certamente sì, dato che ciò che è stato semplicemente immaginato in un’epoca è diventato reale in un periodo successivo
B. Munari – mostra Aria Terra Cittadella 2017
L’intento di questo Quaderno e della sua autrice Francesca Toso è di provocare un pensiero critico sulla relazione tra prodotto/oggetto, essere umano, spazio/ambiente e tempo riprendendo in alcuni punti il Manifesto di Progetto Re-Cycle in relazione all’ ottimizzazione dei cicli di vita, all’ innovazione tecnologica come ri-lettura del passato e alla storia delle innovazioni per ri-pensare il futuro.
Riciclo
come opportunità per avviare nuovi cicli di vita partendo da ciò che già esiste
come strategia per ottimizzare giacimenti di risorse materiali e immateriali
come strumento per valorizzare repertori di saperi e competenze
come canale per aggregare professionisti, aziende e istituzioni
come approccio a nuovi modelli di produzione e consumo
Progetto Re-Building, l’attività di mapping per la creazione di una mappa condivisa di foto geolocalizzate delle aree colpite dal sisma, prosegue e si arricchisce di nuove foto della zona di Arquata del Tronto. Re-Building assume sempre più l’aspetto di “cassaforte della memoria”. Per molti luoghi l’unica cosa che potrà rimanere sarà la memoria: non è possibile ricostruire
Castello Arquata del Tronto – mappa
La ricostruzione non è però solo una scelta architettonica ma riguarda anche l’identità di un luogo.
Spiegare qualcosa di immateriale è sempre molto difficile, solo andando nei posti, solo vedendo il rischio concreto di desertificazione umana si può comprendere cosa significhi il senso di appartenenza a un luogo e l’identificarsi con esso.Per chiarire ecco alcuni passaggi del Q6
[… ] Nella fase iniziale Re-Building era partito con l’obiettivo di contribuire alla ricostruzione anche in termini materiali/strutturali oltre che sviluppare una “cassaforte della memoria” virtuale e condivisa. Con il passare dei mesi e con la conoscenza sempre più approfondita dei territori colpiti dal sisma, la valenza che ha iniziato ad essere preponderante è stata quella della ricostruzione dell’identità dei luoghi, identità espressa in termini di valori condivisi siano essi storici, economici, naturali o culturali […]
[….] I punti di riferimento e di aggregazione sono venuti a mancare, le popolazioni sono in parte rimaste, in parte sono delocalizzate in altre aree. Se si fa un rapido giro nei Social ci si renderà conto che il poco di unione che ancora rimane è data proprio dalle immagini pre-sisma che sono condivise e commentate con i ricordi della popolazione. Il rischio di desertificazione umana, in particolare per i borghi più piccoli, è dietro l’angolo, vuoi per impossibilità di ricostruire (molti edifici si trovavano proprio sulla faglia ed è impensabile ricostruire) vuoi per le condizioni di disagio e isolamento di alcuni siti […]
Affreschi scoperti dopo il sisma
Re-Building e l’attività di mapping non si fermeranno a queste aree, vi sono altre aree nel mondo che hanno bisogno di rimanere vive almeno nella memoria.
Chiudiamo con Ungaretti che ci traghetterà da questa memoria di luoghi ad altre memorie su cui stiamo lavorando. Al prossimo post…
Di queste case
non è rimasto
che qualche
brandello di muro
Di tanti
che mi corrispondevano
non è rimasto
neppure tanto
