La costruzione di un "paesaggio invisibile". I segni ambientali e architettonici costruiti dalla bonifica emiliana

Abstract

The “artificial” landscape of Po Valley is the result of the evolution of many elements which have contributed to its formation: water, soil, cultivations, structures of drainage, daily action and presence of man. If we read it “from above” we understand a map not only “real”, but also “cultural”: unicum composed of many identities. The ordinary routine of this horizontal landscape has unique characteristics in the Italian panorama, even though it is less recognizable than more "attractive" landscapes of the Bel Paese. Works and heritage together are the heart of the largest Institution that manages the water of this area (Consorzio di Bonifica dell’Emilia Centrale), whose history began centuries ago, dating back to the sixteenth century and to the first laws of the Kingdom of Italy (1864), extending for 3,113 sq kilometres and covering three regions, five provinces, sixty-five municipalities. The huge route project carried out by the Consorzio last year aimed at tracing the network of water and draining nodes which have contributed to the definition of this cultural landscape, updating roles and functions, disclosing its presence, always seen but never consciously perceived, through a conscious contemporary valorisation. The aim of this study is to take a census of the main structures of the heritage of the Consortium, named Consorzio di Bonifica dell’Emilia Centrale, in order to arrange a volume of documents which could be useful for future decisions. This will lead to a real knowledge of a wide area such as the one in Central Emilia. The cataloguing of the most significant drainage works (more than 50 buildings, 20 canals, 6 expansion chambers) started from these operative and informative bases, so as to make the district of the consortium a real “cultural and human site”, where culture stands for knowledge and participation. The mapping aimed at unambiguously identifying architectural structures (draining plants or other buildings used for drainage) or the portion of territory (canals and expansion basins) through some fundamental parameters such as: the direct analysis of the structure and its condition, the operative value with basic dimensional data, the significant elements, the environmental restrictions.