The abstract is included in the volume collecting the contributions (abstracts) selected for presentation at the seventh edition of the International Conference organised by ISUFItaly, a scientific and cultural association, on the theme of urban archaeology in the stratified city.The proposed paper reflects on the role of history and memory in the theory and practice of urban and architectural design, questioning how contemporary design can – or should – engage with the memory of places and forms, and emphasizing the need for a positive dialogue between past and present, permanence and innovation, conservation and transformation. “Project and Memory” is the thematic framework within which a teaching program has been developed during the 2025/2026 academic year, as part of the third-year Architectural Design course at the University of Salerno. The selected case study concerns the restoration and adaptive reuse of the ancient Castle of Maddaloni, in Campania. The design experiments address the project as an opportunity to reconstruct both the physical and symbolic relationships between the monument and the city, taking the pre-existing context as the foundation for the new intervention. The teaching program was conceived to explore the relationship between design practice and the dimension of time, history, and cultural heritage. In an era in which architecture is often called upon to respond to immediate urgencies, we believe it is essential to foster a space for reflection on the deeper meaning of building – understood not only as a functional response, but as an act capable of engaging in dialogue with the traces of the past, with what endures, with the memory of the city and its territory.
Design and Memory. Experimental Projects for the Castle of Maddalon
Felice DE SILVA
;Manuela Antoniciello
2026
Abstract
The abstract is included in the volume collecting the contributions (abstracts) selected for presentation at the seventh edition of the International Conference organised by ISUFItaly, a scientific and cultural association, on the theme of urban archaeology in the stratified city.The proposed paper reflects on the role of history and memory in the theory and practice of urban and architectural design, questioning how contemporary design can – or should – engage with the memory of places and forms, and emphasizing the need for a positive dialogue between past and present, permanence and innovation, conservation and transformation. “Project and Memory” is the thematic framework within which a teaching program has been developed during the 2025/2026 academic year, as part of the third-year Architectural Design course at the University of Salerno. The selected case study concerns the restoration and adaptive reuse of the ancient Castle of Maddaloni, in Campania. The design experiments address the project as an opportunity to reconstruct both the physical and symbolic relationships between the monument and the city, taking the pre-existing context as the foundation for the new intervention. The teaching program was conceived to explore the relationship between design practice and the dimension of time, history, and cultural heritage. In an era in which architecture is often called upon to respond to immediate urgencies, we believe it is essential to foster a space for reflection on the deeper meaning of building – understood not only as a functional response, but as an act capable of engaging in dialogue with the traces of the past, with what endures, with the memory of the city and its territory.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
