The immaterial city An innovative look at the unrealized projects for 20th century Spoleto

The immaterial city. Unrealized projects for the twentieth-century Spoleto The proposed contribution intends to present the preliminary results of a research carried out by the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department of the University of Perugia, aimed at surveying and cataloguing architectural unrealized projects belonging to the Umbrian territory, which are the expression of an immaterial cultural heritage uncharted until now. In particular the research focused on the twentieth century that is linked, both in Umbria and in the national territory, to important urban and social aspects (like tourism promotion, viability optimization, hygiene issue, etc.), which assume very special significance in a strongly historical context. The study moves from the particular case of Spoleto city, because considered an example of the changes taking place in Umbria during the twentieth century. Through a dedicated documentary research, the investigation touches on the unrealized projects, testifying both wealth-creating and the complexity to intervene in a territory particularly characterized by historical, architectural and environmental landmarks. Looking into projects rather than building works, the study aims to furnish a methodology which makes it possible to compare in a critical way between what is, what has been and what might have been. In this sense, the research intends to give back to the community an unknown historical heritage, which is memory and identity and which is an indispensable knowledge instrument to serve anybody working on the management, recovery and transformation of the territory.