Il recupero architettonico-urbano dei siti di estrazione: due esperienze di progetto in Puglia e in Sicilia

Abstract

This paper explores the cultural, spatial, and architectural significance of disused stone quarries in Italy, examining them as expressive landscapes marked by voids resulting from extractive processes. These sites, once centers of economic and artistic development, now pose environmental and planning challenges due to abandonment and regulatory inadequacies. Focusing on the quarries of Cutrofiano and Agrigento, the study investigates design strategies for their recovery. In Cutrofiano, a subterranean quarry becomes the setting for a performance space that integrates geological features with new architectural interventions. In Agrigento, a former open-pit quarry is reimagined as a pedestrian link between the urban center and the Valley of the Temples, integrating botanical and archaeological heritage. Using digital surveying methods, the projects propose reconciling material absence with spatial potential. The quarry is thus reframed not as loss, but as latent presence – an opportunity for dialogue between nature, memory, and contemporary architectural expression.