Urban Landscape and Multi-functioning Elements: Repositioning of Monumental Fountains in Messina After the 1908 Earthquake

Themonumental Baroque fountains placed in the public spaces of the city of Messina, before the earthquake of 1908, represented a typical multi-functioning element. Their main function was to supply water to the population. Furthermore, they constituted the visual focus of the square in which they were located, served as a place of rest, meeting and socialization, represented the economic, political and religious power of those who had built them, were a real object of urban design (to be appreciated both from a great distance and in terms of detail). The relocation of the fountains following the nineteenth-century plan for the reconstruction of the city gave them an even more ambiguous role, sometimes exalting their value, at other times reducing them to a useless element of street furniture. This essay aims to analyze the role of the urban landscape project in relation to pre-existing monuments, which were characterized by a multiple function from the outset and were further enriched with new values.