“Eterna rinascita”. Il difficile sviluppo dell’identità urbana tra distruzione, ricostruzione e nuovi schemi formali. Il caso di Argenta (Ferrara, Italia) | “Eternal rebirth”. The difficult development of urban identity between destruction, reconstruction and new formal layouts. The case of Argenta (Ferrara, Italy)

The purpose of the paper is to draw critical assessments on regeneration and urban development phenomena that have addressed post-war reconstruction in agro-industrial contexts, of a community that boasts settlement continuity dating back millennia. The case study refers to the city of Argenta just a short distance from the city of Ravenna. The particular settlement conditions alongside the ancient branch of the Po River define what was once an essential inland navigation node. Argenta was destroyed and rebuilt several times throughout its very long history, thanks to the wilful roots of the population: after the destruction from the war in April 1945 the city was rebuilt in a very short time. A turbulent rebirth only allowed for the re-composition of fragments of the settlement and monumental heritage of great value: rethinking and reviewing the links, the fragments, the traces of a broken history reveals a possible path for a new vitality in the Third Millennium.