Torino, Borgo nuovo (1800-1839). Bastioni vs crescita urbana

June 23rd, 1800: Napoleon ordered the demolition of Piedmont's defensive systems for both strategic and symbolic reasons. Savoyan power had to be quickly dismissed especially in Turin, the capital of the newly created Department of Po and former capital of the late dukedom. The opening of the city gates initiated a gradual "domino effect" that led to the complete demolition of the fortified walls at the end of the 19th century. Indeed, in the 1820’s the permanence of some bastions in the southern part of Turin strongly conditioned the city by separating two areas of recent expansion. During the following decade professionals wondered about the problem of solving the orographic jump to patch up the building structure between the new Piazza di Po and Borgo Nuovo. The study of some of the plans for the "Ripari promenade", preserved in the Historical Archives of the City of Turin and recently identified, can now allow us to understand how the shape and volume of the modern fortified systems have influenced the growth rhythm and design of the city in the 19th century.