My PhD research develops taskscape-based cartography as a tool to read and reactivate degraded water infrastructures within Emilia-Romagna’s agrarian landscapes and territorial structures. Approaching landscapes as dynamic fields of activities, rhythms and skills, it reveals layered constructions where labour, social relations and ecological processes co-produce space through everyday practices and technical systems, embedded in historical land divisions, water networks and crop rotations like hemp cultivation.
This cartographic method centers on maceri—small basins for historical hemp retting—now abandoned remnants overlooked in planning. Yet it uncovers their persistence within broader hydrological systems, connected to canals, drainage grids and Roman centuriation, highlighting latent potential for reuse.
Methods integrate archival research, historical mapping, GIS and field surveys. Multi-scalar maps—temporal, task-based and typological—trace basin life cycles from construction to obsolescence, classify morphologies and connectivities, and situate maceri in European retting contexts influenced by local hydrology and governance.
The atlas maps transformations from productive agrarian elements to ecological opportunities, reframing maceri as low-tech networks for water retention, biodiversity and adaptation. Ultimately, it positions cartography as an operational bridge between heritage interpretation and contemporary territorial planning.
Pepa Morán, Anna Zahonero, Valentina Piliego, Ruth Domènech, Marc Castellnou, (2025) O que arde, in “Obradoiro”, n.35, p. 204-211, ISBN 978-96712-78-2
Piliego Valentina (2023), Come un paesaggio, strategie e scenari per la significazione delle infrastrutture adibite allo smaltimento dei rifiuti, in “Giovani progettisti tra ricerca e innovazione: il premio italiano architettura sostenibile”, a cura di Marcello Balzani e Luca Rossato, Maggioli Editori s.p.a., p.90-9, ISBN: 978-88-916-6122-7
Artiagoitia M.P., López Carrillo K.P., Piliego V., Schmidtler S., The “macero” as a structuring element of the ancient agricultural landscape of Rimini. (2019) In the proceedings of the international conference “Changing cities IV: Spatial, Design, Landscape & Socio-economic Dimensions”. Chania Crete Island, Greece, 24-29rd of June 2019, p 462-471. ISBN: 978-960-99226-9-2
Rodrigo García M., Giobando M.J., López Carrillo K.P., Piliego V., Schmidtler S. (2018), Balancing Landscapes. A management proposal for the forest of Alba/Valladares, Galícia. In the proceedings of the international conference “CO-Habitation tactics: Imagining future spaces in architecture, city and landscapes. TAW2018 International Scientific Conference. Tirana, Albania, 20-23rd of September 2018, p. 121-129. ISBN: 978-9928-4459-6-4
Emanueli L., Lobosco G., Piliego V., Vaccaro C. (2017), Strategie e scenari per la significazione dei paesaggi infrastrutturali legati alla gestione dei rifiuti nel ferrarese. In the proceedings of the national conference “XX Conferenza Nazionale Società Urbanisti Italiani”, Rome, 12-14th of June 2017, p.1121,1126. N. ISBN: 978-8899-2371-2-7