Ruolo della temporaneità nei processi di rigenerazione delle aree-intervallo. Il caso Mediaspree

The main purpose of the present work is to investigate the relationship between time and space in the evolving urban realities, while reconsidering the incidence and the relevance of temporary uses in urban development project. More specifically, the contribution of this investigation is to define how temporary uses impact the evolution of under managed spaces. The problem of under managed spaces in the contemporary city is increasingly discussed, investigated, and analyzed, yet the term lacks conceptual clarity and definition. Furthermore, the functional aspects, the morphology and the opportunities of these spaces have not been clearly articulated. This research provides a new theoretical approach and introduces a new definition for this kind of spaces: the area-intervallo (gap areas). In dealing with such areas, it aims to suggest a different interpretative category: if lost spaces are voids within the urban fabric empty of meaning, lacking clear functions, where time seems to have stood still, they are spaces which lie in wait for something. So, they can be considered as opportunities waiting to happen, opportunities that urban planning has to recognize and develop in an urban regeneration point of view. Many researches have been carried out with regard to the debate on the contemporary public spaces. Most of them have paid attention to the under managed spaces, focusing the discussion on the causes and origins of the phenomenon. As a result, the literature on this kind of spaces is rich and many authors described these spaces with several interpretations, producing, as a result, semantic confusion. However, this literature does not capture one of the main topics that characterize the dynamism of the contemporary city and the essential transience of urban life: the temporariness. Against this background, the purpose of this research is to answer the research question: “How can temporariness become an opportunity for the regeneration of under managed spaces? Which kind of effect temporariness has on urban development?” This research has two objectives: to analyze the under managed spaces in a new perspective through the interpretation of temporariness (or of the temporariness concept) in the contemporary city and to verify how temporary and impermanent uses can be an incent to a bottom-up urban regeneration process. The investigation has been supported by a descriptive approach (analysis of the literature and the most significant experience) and the area-intervallo has been tested through a case study, used as benchmark to verify the theoretical approach. The work is structured in two parts. The first part is devoted to the description of the theoretical background required to better understand the role of the under managed spaces and the meaning of the temporariness in the contemporary city. The second part is focused on the analysis of the main example of temporariness’ application in urban development project. This part describes temporary uses in Berlin and critically illustrates the case of Media Spree project. The research intends to shed light on the approach adopted in Berlin’s most famous urban development project, in order to underline how temporary uses have been used to increase the socio-economic values. As conclusion, temporary uses in the aree-intervallo have a powerful effect on urban development, that should be taken into account during the urban policy’s construction.