Drawing as a tool for urban regeneration. Application case: the Color Plan of the Egadi Islands

Abstract

The Egadi Islands, at the western end of Sicily, preserve a cultural and environmental heritage of extraordinary originality. Man’s work, over time, has transformed the landscape: the territory has been shaped by economic activities related to tuna fishing, stone extraction, agriculture. Today, the pressure of tourism threatens to upset this delicate balance built, in centuries, between people and environment. Therefore, the Municipal Administra- tion decided to adopt a Color Plan to manage, in cultural terms, the inevitable processes of territorial transformations. The University and the INBAR (National Institute of Bio-architecture) collaborate with the Municipality to define the Guidelines. Drawing is used as a fundamental tool for analyzing, knowing, interpreting and communicating the specific characteristics of the landscapes of Favi- gnana, Levanzo and Marettimo. The language of drawing is indispensable for the relief of architectures, traditional colors, intervisability relationships, connections with the landscape. The local population has been involved in this process; in particular, young people, middle school students, high school students and university students were asked to express, with their drawings, the perception of the current landscape and the expectations regarding the desired landscape.