EX-perience NATO. A regenerative and metabolic approach for re-establishing sustainability in cities

The selection of the former NATO Base in Bagnoli as a case study of the Laboratory of Urbanism (Lab), entitled Ex-perience NATO “A”, of the MAPA course of the DiARC, University of Naples, Italy, represented an opportunity to investigate sustainable transformations for the western area of Naples, and to reflect on the possible relationships between the consolidated historical fabric and the wider urban context. The former NATO base had various functions over time. The main one was a military one, in the end dismissed, which led to the creation of physical enclosures, social separation and wastefulness generating complex relationships with its broader urban context. The Lab (2020-2021) conducted research through a metabolic and multiscale approach. The regeneration of the former NATO neighbourhood and beyond, started from the definition and mapping of wastescapes, understood as neglected territories within and outside the Base which could became a design opportunity for socio-environmental regeneration. The Lab carried out an integrated design experience keeping together urbanism and landscape, investigating the reciprocal relationships between urban and rural, ecology and landscape protection, also related to water and waste cycles. Results have been student’s projects imagining lasting wealth and adaptive spaces over time and focusing on the potential of regenerative approaches in contemporary cities.