Remains, fragments and relics: the new materials of the contemporary urban design

In the urban transformation a growing attention is given to the issue of the land consume, and the disciplines of the urban planning seem to progressly move towards strategies of reuse and recycling. In this scenario the numerous abandoned buildings become a resource and a opportunity for the urban design practices. A specific conditiond of dismissed architectures appears in Italy: the remnants of the Late Modern italian architecture. These are public bulidings signed by renowed authors, built in Italy between 1960 and 1980, which are now abandoned, never finished od in the verge of demolition. The presence of these materials raises the issue of the managment of these ruins, and therefore the evaluation of the intervention strategies. These realities reveal the real need ti improve the reuse and recycling practices, both in terms of awareness and with a new legislation, able to regulate the operation on the existing.