Extraction landscapes: From active quarry to disused sites: methodological approaches and future scenarios of the porphyry territory in Trentino.

“...‘Landscape’ means an area, as perceived by people, whose character is theresult of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors; ... Acknowledging that the landscape is an important part of the quality of life for people everywhere: in urban areas and in the countryside, in degraded areas as well as in areas of high quality, in areas recognised as being of outstanding beauty as well as everyday areas ...”. The starting point for this research is the new landscape definition given by the “European Landscape Convention”. Landscape is - as per this definition - the degraded territory and the excavated sites created by the mining activity. This research is focused on the analysis and interpretation of the porphyry territory in Trentino in order to achieve a sustainable transformation. The natural scenery and the cultural features of the territory are deformed by the signs and over development that have unshaped the natural profile and morphology compromising the continuity and identity of the sites. The aim of this research is to find strategies to propose a new methodology for the quarry planning capable to develop at the same time both the excavation typology and the future reuse of the sites. In this perspective, negative topics as “refuse”, “recycling”, “scrap”, “wound” become occasion for rethinking and create landscapes. The general aim is to rethink the extraction landscapes in Trentino in order to obtain their sustainable development based on a balanced relation between social need, economy and environment. This study aims to find the linkage between the quarry activities and the tourist, cultural and social features, so that the degraded territory can be transformed in new “created landscapes”. This would appropriately fits the goals of the “European Landscape Convention”: “‘Landscape planning’ means strong forward-looking action to enhance, restore or create landscapes”.