Urban morphology as a tool for the recomposition of public spaces in the historic city centre: case study of the Cathedral Square in Padua, Italy

Recomposition of public spaces in the medieval city compromised by war damage and speculative development. The working method is based on the belief that analysing the history of the city is fundamental to the study of urban morphology, clarifying the relationship between permanent structures on the one hand and temporary ones on the other. History becomes an indispensable tool with which to discover the underlying reasons for the development of the urban structure, which is an indelible reminder made in the image of the community. The methodology looks at the city as a product of functional systems (political, social, economic), but contemplates the overall urban form as a result of its spatial structure. The urban form is investigated in its physical specificity, which is the only method capable of finding the reasons for the special nature of the urban form in contrast to the social, economic, and political aspect that while certainly important, are insufficient. In fact, restoring not only a material but also a spiritual value to the city today is as indispensable as it ever has been. Consequently, a discussion can be held on the destiny of the city. The Architectural and Urban Composition 2 course at the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering of the University of Padua is based on fundamental 1960s studies about typological analysis (especially Aldo Rossi, L’architettura della città, 1966) specifically oriented towards the theme of public spaces and establishing relationships between these and private spaces. The spatial aspects and formal image of the transformations in the city are studied as a premise on which to base the design of the new architecture. One of the areas in Padua studied by the students is Piazza Duomo (Cathedral Square), used as an opportunity to reconfigure the lost unity of a very symbolic and representative place, which acts as a custodian of the history and identity of this city. Piazza Duomo has been affected by rapid post Second World War reconstruction that has resulted in the loss of the organic unity with surrounding parts of the city. The hierarchy and order of the elements that characterize the form of this old place has been compromised by speculation in the second half of the twentieth century. Piazza Duomo is now a squalid parking space but in previous centuries it was a reference point for religious life in the city. It is used as a case study with analysis and proposals for a new urban design.