The aesthetic (urban) experience of the historic(al) city

Ontological and conceptual clarifications

Abstract

When asking what role, the historical city plays in the aesthetic experience of the contemporary city, it is important to clarify what do we mean by “historic(al) city” and what categories of urban aesthetic experience may be relevant in this context. From the hypothesis that the ontological structure of a city is itself historical in character, we need to disentangle what is historic about some cities or parts of cities. With the help of authors such as Riegl, Sitte, Giovannoni and Choay, we need to understand how notions like history, monument, museum and heritage reveal layers of meaning of the historic. Then, with categories such as "ruins" (an explicit category of the historicity, ephemerality and endurance of built environments), "rhythms" (an analytical tool for assessing the dynamics of urban flows), "atmospheres" (a phenomenological concept that allows for an understanding of the affective tonality of spaces or situations) and "cityscape" (in all its multisensory, multilayered and symbolic comprehensiveness) we briefly try to shed light on the aesthetic role of the historic(al) city in the general urban experience, keeping in mind a renewed notion of aesthetic experience that is situated, multisensorial and engaged with the city.