Discussion: Learning from Ascoli Piceno - A City Cast in One Mould
The catchphrases "archaic simplicity" and "concentrating on the essentials" have taken hold in architecture, but these themes can also be explored on the scale of the city: How many different materials can a city take? At what point do vitality and variety give way to confusion and chaos? In the 20th century, attempts were made to create an identity for new communities with a homogeneous material. Examples include EUR's travertine surfaces in Rome (1930s), Chandigargh (1950s), and the terra cotta facades on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin (1990s). While these examples were all erected in a short period of time, there is a city in central Italy that evolved over the course of 2000 years in a single material. Since the days of the Roman Empire, Ascoli Piceno's bridges, towers, theatres, churches and palaces have been erected in the porous, calcareous stone. Piceno's travertine has a neutral colour and its texture can be either open-pored or dense. Owing to the stone's neutral surface, the entire city is transformed by changes in ambient light.
