Once the tragic events that struck Italy in August, spreading death and destruction, once again drew worldwide attention, dramatically and violently, to the beauty and to the extreme vulnerability of our land.
The brutal earthquake that killed people and destroyed homes, was also however a heartrending cry from the earth itself, an unappealable act of accusation against the nation. Against politics, but also against communities, institutions and administrators; and in reality, against each and every single one of us. The painfulness of what happened sparked an immediate, incommensurable and deeply moving act of human solidarity. In the face of such harrowing destruction it meant, first of all in a manifestly physical, material and visible endeavour, to concentrate solely on rescuing the people still buried alive and then gradually, with the utmost pity, on recovering the bodies of victims. The people engaged in saving the lives that hung by a thread from their arms and from their desperate efforts, their toil and sweat, turned the whole upheaval into a togetherness, an extraordinary collective deed; the first grand gesture of comfort and closeness to the living, the survivors, and to the whole community now forced to resist the aftermath in order to carry on their lives. These early stages were followed by others that were more to do with news and information. Thus day after day we listened to and read numerous reflections on the tragedy.
But are there really people out there who still think that reconstruction is simply a technical matter?
What to do and why, at this moment, is much more important than how
What is the idea of a home that best matches the expectations of the social class to which it belongs, to what idea of living does all this answer