Cultural development in the Mediterranean basin as perceived by the shaping of built form
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Date
2016
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AESOP
Abstract
The Mediterranean basin, as a geographical, political and economic entity, has been the cradle for the development of the most infamous civilizations of mankind. It thus provided the ground for formal and informal networks to develop and become concretized in built form. Throughout the ages, people have been moving in and around the basin; shrines, castles and even entire cities have been founded, have flourished and at times have been left to deteriorate as migration of people and ideas have been pasting the Mediterranean, as indeed any other geographical entity, with consecutive layers of space and meaning. The paper attempts to provide a quick overview of some important yet not easily perceived aspects of the basin’s cultural development and especially the manner in which they are reflected on built form over the centuries. The aim of the approach is to deepen and improve the understanding of the man-environment relationship in a manner directly relevant to the intricacies of the Mediterranean basin.
From the very beginning it has been clear that although the sea may often be conceived as a barrier leading to isolation, many places along a coast may have been be more easily accessible by boat rather than by road. History has shown that maritime transport has proved to be at least equally if not more preferable for moving both people and goods. As early as before the 1st millennium BC, the Phoenicians followed by the Greeks, in search of new productive or simply commercial horizons, have been attracted by distant Mediterranean locations and have been interested in expanding their influence either by conquering existing settlements or by establishing new ones.
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Proceedings of the IV World Planning Schools Congress, July 3-8th, 2016 : Global crisis, planning and challenges to spatial justice in the north and in the south
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