Architecture of/in the marginal spaces: A methodological approach for the territory of the low and medium mountain

Architecture of/in marginal spaces propose a reflection on “invisible†spaces, often not well known, that currently occupy a great proportion of territory. One generally attributes to the margin/marginality a negative connotation (what “is placed at the margin of something†or has “emigrated†there, a space of secondary importance which is not essential to the system, seeing as it has no role, a place of poor quality where waste is accumulated, the residual space in a state of abandonment, etc). This research proposes a new way of seeing certain aspects, in which the conceptual space of the margin is thought of in a positive way, from a methodological point of view within an operative design category. The evidence of the margin/marginality for a new contemporary project, is the theory that supports the research, a necessary approach given its consistency, production, accumulation of marginal space both in urban and in suburban territory. The many views, the definitions, the interpretations and the recognition of marginal spaces as a problem for the project are the “background noise†of an investigation that touches upon various disciplinary fields that, before architecture, have investigated the issue of marginality from art to literature, from music to architecture, from sociology to geography. The depth of study on the theme is in proportion to the built context of the territories in the low and medium areas of the mountains, in which, also in terms of the orographic complexity, the marginal spaces are related to the loss of the forests productive role, pastures and agricultural areas, the sites not considered by tourism for the disadvantaged low elevation or in which tourism produces settlements of poor quality such as second houses in fragile places, the areas to the exclusive use of the extraction activities. This research proposes formal strategic and tactic actions for the possible design consolidation/transformation of the coexisting marginal spaces within a geomorphological valley unit. The investigation in the Trentino case study of the Cembra valley unit, makes it possible to finalize the research to support strategic directives (future Community Plans) for the revaluation of marginal spaces, (now difficult to detect through the sectorial approaches), and the used methodological approach - in which the marginal spaces quality of emptiness became an instrument to building architectures and places of/on the transforming landscape - can then be extended to other similar cases.