Paisajes volcánicos del Etna, entre la identidad y el proyecto. Hacia un ecomuseo del flujo de lava de 1669

While on the one hand Etna’s landscape is recognised as a World Heritage Site for the exceptional naturalistic value of its summit areas, in moving from the high-altitude landscapes to the lower slopes of the volcano there is a progressive and complex hybridisation between volcanic nature and the construction of the human world, leading to a trivialisation of peri-urban settlement and indifference towards the identity features of volcanic soils. However, it is possible to trace, through a circumstantial methodology based on the landscape, the traces of a volcanic urban nature in the lower Etnean region, whose recurring typological and morphological-spatial characters, due to their ability to recall the characters of Etna's monumental and naturalistic emergence, can be a driving force for the transformations of the surrounding anthropized areas, reawakening relationships and re-attributing meanings. Starting from the common premise that sees the landscape as a tool for design, two experiences of knowledge construction around elements of urban volcanic nature are examined. The first is a research project, which proposes an interpretative reading of Catania through the observation of the wrecks of natural volcanic soil that have remained trapped within its urban growth; the second is a didactic experience in which the design of an Ecomuseum of the lava flow of 1669 emphasises the unifying role of volcanic soil in generating surroundings that are identifiable and shared with the inhabitants.