ABSTRACT
A new collective interest in the town's configuration seemed to be at the base of an ever more precise topographic vedutismo; it nourished autonomy in representation, and variations in the viewpoint and angulation of the buildings organised exterior space. Markets and fairs come and go; the portus is a permanent 'exchange'. The built environment must be 'read' with tools that allow one to observe it through 'long-term abstraction' without neglecting what must be measured in the short term. In early modern Europe, a considerable number of cities that had long been centres for the circulation of wealth and sites of renowned and highly prosperous fairs witnessed the opening of exchanges and banks. Numerous projects attempted to establish restrictions on use and enclosed places, and to propose limits on designations and prospectival views. It was now part of an interrelated system and, from a formal–organisational point of view, it shaped a new and different topography for natives and out-of-towners alike.
