City’s Drums: The Case of Catania

The ongoing doctoral research I am conducting at the University of Bari Aldo Moro as part of the Course in Patrimoni archeologici, storici, architettonici e paesaggistici mediterranei is centered on the layering of the city, the vertical growth on itself and how the below, the archaeological substrate, forces the shape of the above, the city we live in. The goal is the elaboration of a new way of representing the forma urbis, possible today also thanks to the most innovative tools of digital representation, no longer seen solely in its last visible layer but as an interlocking of “drums” overlapping in space and time. It is now widespread knowledge that the urban space we inhabit is only the most superficial layer of an invisible overlay of multiple layered cities. Taking this into account, the question underlying the research and this paper is: how can be drawn this extraordinary complexity? What representational tools are most appropriate to clarify a constructive principle that has always built the shape of the city?