Construction of coastal landscape in Italy, between the 19th and 20th century. The case study of the ligurian seaside colonie.

Among the architectures that contributed to the process of urbanization and transformation of Italian coastal landscape, in the period between the end of the 19th and the 1970s, those dedicated to the care, education and holiday of childhood constitute an important part of the history of the architecture, still inadequately known. Seaside colonie were the first modern buildings, together with the hotel and touristic facilities, that defined the modern urbanization process of the Italian coasts. Since the middle of 19th century, the presence of these two different tourist phenomena, one dedicated to the élites tourists and the other one to the sick children, has defined radical transformations to the coastal landscape. In fact, until then, the coastal landscape was barely inhabited and predominantly depending on an agricultural economy. Among the most important transformations, the improvement of the transports (roads and railroad), the modification of the local flora and the construction of hotels, differed from the traditional constructions of the small seaports. Furthermore, in Liguria, one of the first Italian regions to be interested by the phenomenon of seaside colonie and tourism, the presence of these buildings contributed to the well-known Italian Riviera prestige, characterizing its landscape. This paper aims to deepen the historical reconstruction of the Italian coasts' urbanization through the point of view of the seaside colonie's phenomenon and an insight into the Italian Riviera case. Moreover, the paper intends to analyze these architectures that are considered part of the Italian architectural heritage of the 20th century.