Lorenza Baroncelli on Earthquakes, Reconstruction, and the Future of Small Towns

Lorenza Baroncelli, an architect and curator, reflects on the relationship between technology, natural disasters, and urban reconstruction. She cites the book "L'era dei terremoti" by Shumon Basar, Douglas Coupland, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, which notes that the digital economy now uses 10% of the world's electricity, contributing to climate change and geological instability. Baroncelli argues that technology has become integral to human and natural systems, altering DNA, agriculture, and even the planet's crust. She emphasizes that reconstruction after earthquakes must consider climate change and the trend toward megacities. Referring to an article by Kanishk Tharoor in The Guardian, she notes that over 50% of the world's population lives in cities, projected to reach 75% by 2050. In Italy, 22 million of 60 million inhabitants live in 14 metropolitan cities, while small towns face abandonment. Baroncelli questions the future of these historic centers—whether they can become hubs of new economy, tourism, or technological experimentation. She sees the reconstruction of Amatrice, Arquata del Tronto, and Accumoli as an opportunity to transform destruction into a positive evolutionary process. The article was published on Artribune in September 2016.