L’Aquila dieci anni dopo: ancora senza progetto

After 10 years from the earthquake which hit L’Aquila, it is time to evaluate its reconstruction from a qualitative point of view. Its historic centre as an irreproducible identity nucleus risks being compromised by interventions not intended to safeguard material authenticity. On the opposite, they are supported by anachronistic hopes of “recovery of the ancient splendour”, as well as by actions that reveal uncertain cultural presuppositions and a misunderstood “continuity” with the past. This leads to a falsification which also undermines the identity renewal linked to its material counterpart, sometimes causing its exploitation. The reconstruction of L’Aquila as “it was” before the earthquake appears as an act of memory manipulation, which pretends the earthquake never happened, forcing the time to recede ten years.