La Martella
La Martella: A Significant Urban Project and an Industrial Zone
La Martella is a village in the municipality of Matera, known for hosting a famous urban intervention in the 1950s, which was coordinated by Adriano Olivetti and involved numerous architects and intellectuals. This project saw the creation of a rural village aimed at restoring the "Sassi di Matera" districts within an agricultural restructuring plan. The surrounding area is home to one of the most important industrial zones in the city of Matera.
History and Description of the Village
In 1949, Matera was at the center of national and international attention with the publication of the novel "Christ Stopped at Eboli" by Carlo Levi and the beginning of popular struggles for land. UNRRA-CASAS, together with INU and the disciplinary commission formed by Olivetti, Gorio, and Gorio, initiated a study on the city and the countryside of Matera. Ettore Stella was tasked with drafting the project for the UNRRA CASAS village for the landless. After his death, the project was entrusted to the architect Quaroni along with other prominent architects.
The village, an exponent of the architectural realism of Italian rationalism, was designed to accommodate the first displaced persons from the "Sassi." One of the most interesting works in the village is the Church of San Vincenzo de' Paoli, designed by Quaroni in collaboration with Piero Maria Lugli, Federico Gorio, Michele Valori, and Luigi Agati. Inside, we find an impressive painted wooden crucifix by the artist Giorgio Quaroni and a ceramic majolica floor by the Cascella brothers. The bronze portal of the church is instead the work of Floriano Bodini.
Ecopolis and the Rebirth of the Village
In the 1990s, the village of La Martella underwent a radical transformation thanks to the creation of the Ecopolis residential complex, an autonomous urban aggregate composed of 312 housing units. This project was born from the demands of the inhabitants of La Martella, who were asking for a recovery of the urban decorum of the village. The Municipal Administration of Matera saw in this project the opportunity to revitalize the village, inserting redevelopment interventions that would best harmonize the modern settlement with the existing one.
Ecopolis is inserted into the landscape of the valley placed between Mount Igino on one side, and the Murgia plateau on the other. Thanks to this new urban work, La Martella has been reborn, welcoming new families and offering a unique mix of modernity and history.
In general, La Martella represents an example of how the renewal of urban areas must take into account the history of the territory and how collaboration between architects and the local community can lead to truly significant urban interventions.
