Abitare è anche passare da uno spazio all’altro (cercando il più possibile ci non farsi troppo male)

Within the town there are places that we perceive as unchangeable although time is indeed passing. If on the one hand we can witness the emergence of monumental complexes, on the other hand we can find some settlements excluded from large architectural changes. This process is sustained by the alteration of the infrastructural urban system that, periodically, actuates new structural processes and as a consequence creates new ways of living. Despite changes in the urban landscape, these settlements of historical foundation have kept, through little adjustments, the overall structure that characterizes them. For this reason, today it is possible to distinguish them and to identify them as a Abitare insieme. From the analysis of the characterising architectonical elements that have survived through time - such as Panier (Marseille), Fener and Balat (Istanbul) – appositely chosen for their heterogeneity and their cultural and social stratifications, we investigate how these places have been succeeding in preserving themselves over-time: this can be done by analysing the current public or private policies of development. Moreover, we can verify how the architectonic project can interpret the characteristics of the existing. Therefore, we observe the way the construction can be suitable to new requirements, by looking into the role of the pertinent space and the connection that it establishes with the public space. In order to verify it, we use the case studies of Panier of Marseille and Fener and Balat districts in Istanbul under the protection of the Patrimony of UNESCO. In addition, they are able to gather different cultures as a result of historical successions and stratifications: a constituent that leaves his footprints deep in the fabric of a city socially heterogeneous and heavily degraded. The observation of traditional patterns, by pausing upon the gradient of separation between the private and the collective dimensions, is functional to the discussion that the theme of Abitare insieme suggests, by making a critic and direct comparison with the present patterns.