L’Aquila – A Tale of Destruction

L’Aquila, April 6th, 2009 – early in the morning, a magnitude 5.8 earthquake shook the town. 307 people were dead (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/28/pope-visits-earthquake-zone), and Mother Nature left a vast array of urban destruction.
Many of the town’s buildings, suffering from poor earthquake standards, crumbled to the ground.
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Gas Station

Roughly a year and a month later, planners and other interested Cornell in Rome students visited the town to take a glimpse at the town’s process of recovery. We met with Federico D’Ascanio, Ph.D., who represented the Urban Lab of L’Aquila (Laboratorio Urbanistico Aquila) and offered to give us a tour of the destruction.

City Center
City Center

While observing the sad state of the city center we happened to pass by a large-scale creation hung on the side of a government building. It was a visually-impacting model that seemed to show how the city would sprout up and grow once again.

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A Tree of Hope

We also visited the small town of Onna, which suffered considerably more from the earthquake. Most of the town was either partially or completely destroyed, and looking at the aftermath was a very grim experience.

The Town of Onna
The Town of Onna

Visiting L’Aquila was a fascinating experience and I wish the best of luck to all those involved in the city’s recovery!

The Group in L'Aquila
The Group in L’Aquila

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