Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Alternate architecture 2 - Gibellina

Gibellina could be a city in an Italo Calvino book.  Destroyed by an earthquake in 1968, with tragic loss of life, the city was not rebuilt.  Rather, the residents relocated to a new site nearby (new Gibellina), leaving the ruins behind.  At the request of the city, the artist Alberto Burri created a huge commemorative sculpture from the remains of the town.  The sculpture / site is a literal Nolli map, where the streets are void and the buildings are entirely poche.  It's a surreal place - a fossilized city that no one can ever inhabit again.

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