Riflessioni sullo spazio pubblico. Proposte per la nuova piazza della chiesa di Sant'Antonio da Padova nel borgo di Noventana, Italia

This work concerns Noventana, a village located in the Veneto region, Italy, and it specifically refers to the Church of Saint Anthony of Padua. The idea of restoring the central area of the village where the Church stands has long been the object of discussion on the part of local authorities. The village of Noventana is one of the subjects recently investigated by our students at the ‘Architectural and Urban Composition 2' course taught on the master’s degree in Architectural Engineering at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering of the University of Padua. The working method is based on the belief that, in the study of urban morphology, is basic to analyse the history of the city, clarifying the relationship between permanent structures on the one hand and temporary ones on the other. The history becomes an indispensable tool to know the deep reasons of the urban structure which is the memory and the image of the community. The methodology looks at the city as a product of functional systems (political, social, economic), but overall contemplates the urban form as a result of its spatial structure. The life of the urban form is investigated in its physical specificity, the only one able of giving reason of its special nature over every social, economic and political aspect. The centre of the village of Noventana was thought by our students as an opportunity to configure the unity of this symbolic and representative place.