Paesaggi industriali dello scarto. Azioni per la configurazione architettonica delle infrastrutture sanitarie e ambientali

The research explores, from an architectural and landscape design perspective, the theme of environmental and sanitary infrastructures and their integration into the territory. These types of infrastructures are operational spaces for the treatment and recycling of municipal solid waste and the purification of wastewater and are typically designed as technological plants, with a more significant emphasis on the punctual scale rather than the linear network. The nodal elements represent the most visible components and those around which the main criticalities emerge, particularly in terms of impact on the surrounding context. For these reasons the infrastructures under examination often arouse opposition from local communities, who perceive the potential effects on the territory, the environment and public health as extremely negative and dangerous. The thesis begins with an exploration of the debate and literature, revealing diverse viewpoints united by a shared recognition of the urgency for new strategies and approaches starting from the early planning phases of infrastructure projects. Citizens, administrators, and technical experts agree on the need to facilitate the integration of new infrastructures into the territory and to establish strong links with local communities, not only on a technical and productive level but also on cultural and landscape dimensions. It is essential to «develop new attitudes towards waste and invent new techniques so that attitude and action support each other», already in the 1970s, Kevin Lynch emphasized the need to address the urgent challenges of urban waste management on two integrated levels: the technical and the cultural. For change to occur, it is not enough to conceive of new technical solutions for sanitary treatment, but it is also necessary to foster the formation of a new imaginary, with its own system of references and meanings. «The discomfort we feel when dealing with waste is a product of our minds [...], our feelings [...] determine the way we handle change», Lynch further pointed out. Today, environmental and sanitary engineering, technically suitable and effective yet confined to operational practice, is insufficient to face the multifaceted challenges of constructing sustainable infrastructures integrated into their locations. Current criticalities demand a renewed approach to sanitary systems, based on the intersection of knowledge from both the fields of engineering techniques and architectural and landscape design disciplines. The literature stresses the importance of a process founded on establishing a relationship with the context, with architecture playing a key role as both an agent and a mediator. On the other hand, architects and architecture, often sidelined in decision-making processes related to structural changes affecting cities and territories, can find fertile ground in the design of sanitary and environmental infrastructures, an area that remains largely unexplored. The thesis addresses these themes by constructing an emerging knowledge framework based on the literature and specialist debate,followed by the identification and analysis of twenty case studies through architectural redesign and document comparison. The research outlines four design trajectories and twenty themes, whose understanding and mastery are crucial for the effective definition of advanced technological equipment integrated into physical, social, and cultural contexts. The goal is to clarify the methodologies and procedural steps in the architectural design of sanitary and environmental infrastructure. The appendix includes the case of the new wastewater treatment plant in Buggerru, in which the author was involved as part of the design team. This project addressed issues related to the site’s landscape, cultural, and environmental specificity, while highlighting the practical potential of this research, in relation to the dynamics of exceptional/ordinary of themes.