Architecture serves as a medium for expressing idealistic values and socio-political contexts, encapsulating the essence of its time. Buildings, whether thriving or abandoned, act as historical and cultural relics that reflect the political and social systems of their creation. Even as ruins, they shape a city’s identity, evoking emotions and inviting reflection.

In southeastern Europe, particularly in Italy and Sicily, the past fifty years have seen a proliferation of unfinished public structures. These skeletal projects, often viewed as blemishes, stem from mismanagement, corruption, and economic failures. Yet some perceive a raw beauty in their imperfection, finding them to be poignant symbols of modernity’s ambitions and shortcomings. The Italian artist collective Alterazioni Video has documented these unfinished structures in their project Incompiuto Siciliano, proposing that they represent a new architectural style. Their work highlights the emotional and aesthetic resonance of these buildings, depicting them as “ruins of modernity” constructed during a time of economic optimism and exuberance.

Reinforced concrete, the “bone structure of modernity,” dominates these sites, which now stand as monuments to unrealized potential. The collective’s designs reimagine these ruins as spaces for revival and connection, inspired by the healing properties of water. A walkable aqueduct, both underground and fragmentary aboveground, runs through the landscape, connecting the ruins with a unifying water vein. This design aims to attract people and nature, fostering communal interaction while revitalizing these abandoned places. By intertwining the natural allure of water with the remnants of human ambition, the concept presents a utopian vision that celebrates the unfinished, transforming decay into opportunity and forgotten spaces into sites of renewal. 

Bachelor Thesis