Pietra, suolo, tracciato: il “mito mediterraneo”nei processi di rigenerazione urbana. [Studentendorf Oberwiesenfeld, München|1972]/Stone, soil, lay-out: The “Mediterranean myth” in urban retro-fitting and regeneration processes. [Studentendorf Oberwiesenfeld, München|1972] | 1972]

“Stone + soil + layout” is the formula that, beyond the philological interpretations of the polygenesis of architectural language, keeps intact its own evocative value: in fact, it reaffirms how processes of “identity construction” (Cardini 2007) take place “in continuity” and by the consolidation of the Western urban tradition. Nevertheless, it is worth noting how such experimentation develops far from the so-called matrix-places which originated it: the “New Mediterranean” is accomplished in the North-European urban reality, by proposing, simplified and miniaturised, archetypes and models of classical reference. In the design of new settlements, it is easy to recognize morphologic-typological recalls and echoes of Greek and Roman origin, as well as possible references to Ungers and the Italian Tendenza. Apart from the awareness level of such “recoveries”, it is interesting to analyse the reasons for which the “Mediterranean myth” is still able to exercise a constant influence on the German architectonic culture as well it may be the case to pose questions and, at the same time, verify the housing (and urban) efficacy of such building solutions (Akcan 2009). The Study Case: Four decades upon the conclusion of the XXth Olympic Games (Munich,1972), a large and ambitious plan of urban regeneration and energy retrofitting of the buildings of the Olympisches Dorf [project by E. Heinle + R. Wischer] is being carried out, with demolition and reconstruction interventions, on the very same soil, of about 800 residential units for student housing, [project by W. Wirsing,1971-’72 | reconstruction in 2008-'10 by Hofmann and Ritzer + Wirsing]. (Aschenbach, 2008). Off the very start, the high-density choice, the “existenzminimum” size of the flats – but also the historical models of the Begijnhof and the Hamburger Krameramtsstuben (Kramer-Witwen-Wohnungen) – have got typologically joined and combined while reproposing with minimum scale variations, Hippodameous installations on Mediterranean settlement models. Not an easy choice from the management perspective, a choice that has bet on the self-governing ability of the student population. An unpredictable juvenile; raises in the heart of the Muster Siedlung planned according to the patterns of the Sixties. A successful attempt to renew and upgrade housing districts within the socio-cultural complexity of the globalized city.