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1.1 Deconstructing Reconstruction

2017
Made Labs, Siracusa – led by Sabine Marcelis
Series of artifacts

Deconstructing Reconstruction is the outcome of Made–Labs workshop in Syracuse. It questioned the impact of reconstruction plans of towns that were destroyed by earthquakes in Sicily.

Three typologies of rebuilding took place: move the town to a new site, rebuild at the same site with a completely new town plan or rebuild using the existing town plan. When is it appropriate to start over again from scratch? How do we preserve authenticity within reconstruction? When is the erosion or partial demolition more iconic or important than the original state? Which memory takes priority? How can homage be payed to an existing notion when starting over from scratch?

Alongside the discussion on the matter, we extracted and applied the key notions to a variety of material explorations, in a collaborative creation and exchange of artifacts.