Participants:

Benas Vencevičius

Dominika Kopiarová 

Hechen Qu 

Léa Alapini 

Luuk Dehing 

Jacky Hiu Yeung Lee 

Janel Osmankulova 

Juulia Jääskeläinen 

Niek van der Gugten

Tutors:

Filip Geerts

Stefano Milani

Trieste was founded as a minor harbor city by the Romans. The city which is enclosed by the Karst ridge and the Adriatic sea witnessed a great development after joining the Austrian-Hungarian empire. Functioning as the port of Vienna, the city obtained great importance and caught the attention of the royal family. Trieste became the fourth largest city of the empire and developed itself to a cosmopolitan metropole.

After the first world war Trieste was annexed by Italy, cutting Trieste off of its hinterland. The city changed and a more industrial development took place. The upcoming fascism in Italy caused more tensions in the region and let to the Italianization of the city adding and changing the architectural language of the city. After the second world war the city became even more defined by the borders that were changed by the ones in power. Forming a special chapter in the history of the city. As port city along the iron curtain the city remained rather isolated with a border defining the city.

With the entrance of Slovenia to the European Union, the borders around the city became obsolete and Trieste got a new elan. Today we find a port that is one of the most important ones in Italy and in its region, serving its central European hinterland again. Further strengthening their development the Chinese (among others) are investing in the port as part of their Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Connecting the European market through the Suez canal route to the Chinese market, establishing a Chinese centered infrastructure on global scale.

Being trapped between the past and the present, the Karst and the port and the negligence of the city and the development of the port. Trieste presents itself as a palimpsest, trapped in-between.