From ruins to resonance: What Gibellina and Harlow reveal about art and urban identity

On a recent holiday to Sicily, my long-suffering family and I visited Gibellina, a town I’d read about and, as a self-confessed built environment nerd, wanted to see for myself. What awaited us was a place unlike any other: vast boulevards, monumental sculptures, and modernist architecture scattered across a landscape that felt more like an open-air museum than a functioning town.

Gibellina was born from tragedy. After the original town of Gibellina was destroyed by an earthquake in 1968, the decision was made not to rebuild on the ruins but to construct a new town several miles away. In a bold gesture of cultural regeneration, artists and architects from across Italy were invited to contribute. The result was a town built around contemporary art and design – an ambitious attempt to turn destruction into creativity. The original town, known as Gibellina Vecchia, has also been transformed into a piece of art. The ruins were covered by Il Cretto di Burri, a monumental land artwork by Alberto Burri. Giant slabs of white concrete trace the footprint of the old streets, creating a haunting memorial that feels stark and unexpected in the heart of the Sicilian countryside.

Despite its artistic richness, Gibellina Nuova today feels eerily empty. If the town, located inland on Sicily’s western side, ever pulled tourists away from the beaches to explore its colossal art works, it doesn’t anymore. The streets are quiet, the buildings underused, and the town, like many across Sicily, struggles with depopulation, with many young people leaving for the cities of mainland Italy or further afield in search of work. Art, it turns out, cannot single handedly reverse economic decline. 

Gibellina is not the only place where art has been used to create a sense of place: from talking-point art installations in office receptions to anchoring new developments with landmark cultural facilities, art has a power to elevate, enrich and put a place on the map. There are even parallels with other entire towns, such as Harlow in Essex, built to provide housing for those displaced by bombing in the Second World War and rebranded as Harlow Sculpture Town in 2009.  Harlow’s master planner, Sir Frederick Gibberd, had a vision for a town that would be home not just to high-quality housing, public amenities and expansive green spaces, but also the finest artworks. He established Harlow Art Trust in 1953 with a mission to beautify Harlow by commissioning, siting and maintaining public art, with the town now incorporating over 100 sculptures by artists including Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.

Both Gibellina Nuova and Harlow were born from destruction; both sought to use art to shape a new identity; and both were guided by visionary planning. But Gibellina is unusual in putting the art first. The result is a town where the public art feels somehow detached from its local community. Grand works of art and daring architecture feel at odds with the town’s rustic setting and there is a sense that Gibellina Nuova may have been a place for artists and architects to outdo one another, rather than deliver a functioning town for its inhabitants.

Gibellina is a reminder of the need to put people first and that striking art and architecture alone can’t make a successful place. Cultural investment must be matched by economic opportunity, social infrastructure, and, crucially, authentic engagement with the people who live there.

Art can elevate a place, turning buildings into landmarks and streets into stories. But it must be part of a broader strategy; one that listens to communities, reflects their histories, and supports their futures. Without that, even the most beautiful sculpture risks becoming a monument to what might have been.