Territorial Fragilities in Cyprus Planning and Preservation Strategies

In this book, the authors present a combination of research-by-design, place-based, and policy-oriented approaches to the territorial fragilities of Nicosia.

 Nicosia, in Cyprus, is a city divided. Since 1974, a 180 km long Buffer Zone has separated the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and the Republic of Cyprus (RoC). This "open wound" cuts through the city's historical center, crossing the Venetian walls, a key cultural heritage asset, and impacting the city's spatial and cultural identity.

 Outcomes of an inter-doctoral research initiative, this edited book documents the local realities of the divided city and tests scenarios and spatial patterns of intervention to cope with the partition through the enhancement of local cultural heritage.

The book targets an academic audience, architects, urban planners, heritage preservation professionals and policymakers, providing a transferable research method relevant to those approaching a complex, fragile, and contested "border territory".    

1. Crossing Borders / Building Bridges An Interdisciplinary and Research-by-Design Approach to Nicosia’s Territorial Fragilities.- 2. Moving on the Borderlines. Legacies and Long-term Perspectives of Academic Encounters.- 3. The Experience of the Nicosia Masterplan. Interview with Agni Petridou and Ali Güralp.- 4. Fragile Tangible and Intangible Constellations in a Divided City.Urban Planning and Architectural Preservation Perspectives in Nicosia.- 5. Shared “Values” in Divided Contexts. Some Reflections on the Role of Urban Heritage in Cyprus.

Alice Buoli (architect and PhD) is currently an Assistant Professor in Urban Design and Planning at the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano. Her academic and professional experience combines urban research within the Euro-Mediterranean context, African urbanism, borderland studies, creative practice research, and editorial and curatorial activities. Over the past years, she has been involved in different international projects and institutions, such as the MSC Initial Training Network “ADAPT-r - Architecture, Design and Art Practice Training-research” at the Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn (Estonia), the Tallinn Architecture Biennale TAB 2017 “BioTallinn”, and the “Boa_Ma_Nhã, Maputo!” project (recipient of the 2018 Polisocial Award) at Politecnico di Milano. Her most recent publications include "Territorial Development and Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Global South: A Study for the Maputo Province, Mozambique" (Springer, 2022), which she editedwith L. Montedoro and A. Frigerio. 

Oana Tiganea (architect and Ph.D.) is Assistant Professor in Architectural Preservation at Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano. One of her main research interests is the architecture dating the second half of the 20th century in Eastern Europe - its construction, transformation, and destiny while raising in debate its patrimonial acknowledge and enhancement. She was a postdoctoral fellow at “New Europe College” Institute for Advanced Studies in Bucharest during 2016 – 2017, experiencing the inter-disciplinary aspects and debates of the recent past historic narratives and research. She coordinated the cultural research project “Anina, Mine of Ideas” (2014 – 2018) funded by the Romanian Architects Chamber and focused on the industrial heritage from Anina (Romania). Currently she is focused on the architectural heritage fragilities within the larger international frame, while looking into methods and tools of preservation practice for its economic and sociocultural enhancement.