Distance becomes a problem in the regeneration of neighbourhoods built in the second half of the twentieth century both from the viewpoint of form and the use of spaces, where the measurements expand in the open intervals and in the shape of the built structures. The hypothesis formulated in the design research project on Tor Bella Monaca is that even those parts of the city built in the second half of the twentieth century can become consolidated, starting from their measurements and rhythms and from the broad intervals that created the basic design, but which must be transformed at the same time to respond to contemporary uses and needs. Remeasurement of the space is therefore a task of interpretation for architectural designers in order to recognise the intrinsic qualities of marginal urban housing designs to support redevelopment strategies which hinge on densification, subtraction, addition and infrastructures for the urban fabric, without trivialising the reconstitution of the proximity and the contact space in a historically anachronistic perspective.

Smallsettlementsincountrysideareascallforagrowingnumberofchallengesagainst the backdrop of global rural-urban transition. In this paper, we focus on the processes of depopulation and building abandonment in rural areas of China and Italy. We consider two similar experiences taking place in different contexts, and suggest useful design tools for strategies of architectural requalification. In China, we study a small village in Fujian Province as a paradigmatic example of the well-known phenomenon of “hollow villages.” The word hollow refers to the emptying of dwellings in the central parts of rural settlements, while, paradoxically, their fringe areas are the object of residential land expansion. This notion was coined in the early 1990s to describe the spatial, social and economic consequences of the combination of a rural exodus and a rampant urbanisation. In Italy, we consider a case study in the Province of Trento, where the evacuation of village central cores follow the sprawling towards the village’s outskirts. Even though the recent trends show that the demographic haemorrhage away from the village is declining, the abandonment of old houses in favour of the construction of new ones seems relentless. Such issues gather a growing interest by cultural, political and academic institutions. Never the less, little attention has been paid to the similarities of architectural experiences across national boundaries. Aiming to bridge this gap, we compare the results of our studies on the architectural requalification of rural settlements in both China and Italy. Our methodology embodies a graphic representation of our fieldwork, examines the relationships between the built form and its natural framework and analytically assesses the physical condition and use level of the existing buildings. Despite local specificities, there are significant overlaps from which these and other cases can gain insight. We observe that similar transnational issues can be stimulated by global transition processes driven by local forces and context-related patterns of spatial transformation. More specifically, the intensity and the extent of hollowing of Chinese villages stimulates the broad testing of a spectrum of methodologies and knowledges. These can be both inherited from other contexts or experimented with as innovative approaches. From this perspective, the Italian experience, where the abandonment dates backwards in time, is a fruitful source of comparison.

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La ricerca progettuale che il testo introduce affronta la questione del grado di trasformabilitŕ dei tessuti, della loro demolizione, manutenzione, costruzione, consolidamento. Si intende argomentare la possibilitŕ di operare tramite una pratica di rigenerazione del margine urbano ‘aperta' e integrabile, sorretta da una consapevole e orientata descrizione del contesto a cui ancorare puntuali scritture progettuali. Gli interventi dei Dottorandi in Progettazione Architettonica e Urbana propongono alcuni modi di interpretare il tema della rigenerazione e alcune soluzioni parziali da cui muovere verso approfondimenti e comparazioni. Si tratta di strategie di intervento architettonico puntuali e tra di loro integrabili applicate al margine Ovest di Milano, dove si intende ricostituire tramite inedite connessioni la tessitura del costruito, degli spazi aperti, delle tracce preesistenti.