3d Web-sharing for a new vision of the cities

The Italian island of Sicily takes origin from the tension that divided it from the European continent: a tough and fierce tear that torn it from the rest of the world, making Sicily an "island" in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea. The birth of that Fretum, named "terrible" by Seneca, granted independence to the island, leaving it alone but at the same time, giving Sicily the opportunity of having a “center”. Its heart beats exactly where this center is located: it seats in the town of Enna, where the Normans built an octagonal tower to indicate the midpoint of the island, naming the town: Ombelicus Siciliae. In the immediate surroundings, areas rich in history, as little known, are hidden: urban villages looking ideally at the Tower of Frederick II, as their main point of reference. The main purpose of this paper is to narrate a journey through the historical towns of Central Sicily, along an imaginary itinerary that spreads concentrically from the heart of the island and has its points of departure and arrival in the town of Enna. Walking through the ancient streets, pausing in the squares and living among the inhabitants, we have tried to capture the soul of such places, both by the traditional sketches and the photos (rectified and referenced), or through colored point clouds acquired by a digital sensor. Like the old architectural painters searched the most beautiful patches to represent their “ideal city”, as technicians of the new era, we wandered around, looking for the most secret and seductive corners: those architectural sites or elements able to communicate the true essence of the old island centers. We wanted this to be a journey of discovery, having, however, also objectives of critical understanding and effective cataloging. Therefore, on this trip, we used the classic, unchanging and always useful sketchbooks, although being, in addition, supported by innovative detection techniques. The traditional pencil, was in fact, combined with the electronic “eye” of the camera and the more advanced (lightest and fastest) 3D laser scanning instrument, able to permeate the material and grasp the true nature of the architectural artifacts and of their urban contexts. Our tour was then a critical travel among the architectural monuments of the most fascinating cities of Central Sicily, carried out by using several surveying techniques, both classic and modern. This, in order to allow a revival of these areas, in which their main “actors” are unfortunately, affected by urban pollution, congestion, and degradation phenomena.