A study for the conservation of the architectural Islamic complex of Xhemal in Delvina (Albania)

Water is a fundamental element for Islamic culture and the need to purify themselves before the prayer and religious celebrations is made in special baths - near mosques - called hammam. The hammam is usually a large public service building, but there are particular types of small dimensions and for the exclusive use of a wealthy family or, as in the case study here presented - related to the Islamic complex of Xhemal in Delvina (Albania) - an integral part of a religious centre. Characterised by a singular complexity, the monumental site of Xhemal is composed of some aboveground tombs, a mosque, a tekke, two türbe, a fountain and a hammam indeed, as well as of ancient tall plants (cypresses and plane trees). The building, already listed by the national Institute for Cultural Monuments of Albania, has been the subject of a study carried out by prof. Valter Shtylla at the end of the 70s and classed as a hammam from the medieval period. Provisionally measured only in its plan, it is today in a state of serious deterioration, while an example of great interest. For this reason and, along with the entire complex, since 2008 it has been an object of study by the University of Bergamo and Enna Kore, within the research group formed by the Milan Polytechnic and the University Ca' Foscari, in the framework of the program “Albania tomorrow” co-funded by the Cariplo Foundation, in collaboration with the municipality of Delvina. The complex has recently been subjected to a complete laser scanning survey in order to develop a well-planned preservation and valorisation programme

Integrated Methodologies for the Analysis and Conservation of the Old Bar (Montenegro): the Case Study of Doge’s Palace

The old town of Bar in Montenegro, a Byzantine settlement rebuilt on the remains of a more ancient town destroyed in the 3rd century during the Roman invasion of Dalmatia, ruled between 1443 and 1571 from the city of Venice and then by the Turks until 1878 is, today, a little over an abandoned village but, at the same time, an extraordinary monument from the past to protect and enhance. Traces of its most glorious past are still recognizable in the ruins and artifacts of daily life become known following recent archaeological excavations. Stari Bar is a site unique, a sort of miracle that fortunately survived the ravages of time and negligence of the men. However, it now runs the risk of being overwhelmed by a frenzy of "intervention" that leaves little room for reflection and that can produce errors, which cannot be remedied in the future. Rather than rebuild a fake medieval city or give way to immobility, risking that the culture of ruin prevail, it is necessary to pursue activities of knowledge, study and promotion allowing local communities (as well as those further afield) to re-appropriate the memory of those architectural and urban spaces, triggering new ideas for their possible regeneration. In this framework, this paper presents the case study of the "Doge's Palace", analyzing this important monument in depth knowledge, in order to formulate a proposal for its conservation and valorisation. The experience here reported responds to the initial phase of a more ambitious project aiming at producing a three dimensional “picture” of the site in its current state: a representation made both through the documentation of the town’s most relevant parts and the use of virtual tours and 3D modelling. This activity intends to support the nomination proposal submitted by Montenegro in 2010 to include Stari Bar in UNESCO’s World Heritage List

The difficult relationship between ruins and modernity: the case study of the Mother Church reconstruction in Salemi (Italy)

Located in the heart of Sicily, Salemi, a town of Arab origin and first capital of Italy, was devastated by the powerful earthquake that struck the Belice Valley in January 1968. From that moment on, its historic centre has long been abandoned; a few restoration works have been carried out as it was preferred to reconstruct affected districts in new sites. Nevertheless, Salemi has generally maintained its medieval structure, still preserving the original attractive landscape of perched village, resulting from security and control needs of an area based on agricultural and pastoral economy. At its highest point, next to the majestic Norman castle, re-erected in the 13th century by Frederick II of Swabia, stands the Mother Church, were acted the architects Alvaro Siza Vieira and Roberto Collova. Their project, drafted in the early 80's, can be considered as an emblematic case of architectural conservation and cultural preservation. Remains have been seen here in their profound value as a testimony to memory, turning them into charming and moving scenery for the new square created around. The designers considered the traumatic event has a starting point for an overhaul of the historic urban core of the city. They founded the project on the idea of "opening and offering" this sacred space to the town, accepting and integrating the earthquake effects into the architectural plans. Starting from this experience of consolidation and architectural restoration, recalling in its expression Ruskin's romantic memory, this work intends to highlight the historical and today's difficult relationship between ruins and modernity, improvement and destruction, conservation and new buildings design

Chapter I ‘Torresini da Polvere’ della Repubblica di Venezia: i depositi in via Beltrami a Bergamo e del forte San Felice a Chioggia

The 43rd UID conference, held in Genova, takes up the theme of ‘Dialogues’ as practice and debate on many fundamental topics in our social life, especially in these complex and not yet resolved times. The city of Genova offers the opportunity to ponder on the value of comparison and on the possibilities for the community, naturally focused on the aspects that concern us, as professors, researchers, disseminators of knowledge, or on all the possibile meanings of the discipline of representation and its dialogue with ‘others’, which we have broadly catalogued in three macro areas: History, Semiotics, Science / Technology. Therefore, “dialogue” as a profitable exchange based on a common language, without which it is impossible to comprehend and understand one another; and the graphic sign that connotes the conference is the precise transcription of this concept: the title ‘translated’ into signs, derived from the visual alphabet designed for the visual identity of the UID since 2017. There are many topics which refer to three macro sessions: - Witnessing (signs and history) - Communicating (signs and semiotics) - Experimenting (signs and sciences) Thanks to the different points of view, an exceptional resource of our disciplinary area, we want to try to outline the prevailing theoretical-operational synergies, the collaborative lines of an instrumental nature, the recent updates of the repertoires of images that attest and nourish the relations among representation, history, semiotics, sciences

The challenge of preserving contemporary architecture. Experiences at the MAXXI museum in Rome

[EN] The fate of contemporary concrete buildings has become a growing concern because of their rapid ageing. The procedures to be implemented for their material and structural preservation require a multidisciplinary approach since they are often the result of pioneering experiments and unique challenges, both morphological and technical-constructive. However, intervention procedures have to be based on a wealth of knowledge and on operational and theoretical principles, which unfortunately do not apply to the restoration of reinforced concrete. This article focuses on the experience of conservation of the MAXXI, the National Museum of the Arts of the XXI century, made by Zaha Hadid (1950-2016) in Rome, which prematurely encountered conservation problems, and on the complex maintenance work that the museum was recently subjected to.[ES] El destino de los edificios contemporáneos de hormigón se ha convertido en motivo de creciente preocupación debido al rápido envejecimiento de estas construcciones. Las actuaciones para su conservación material y estructural requieren varias disciplinas, dado que gran parte de ellos son resultado de experimentos pioneros y de desafíos singulares, tanto morfológicos como técnico-constructivos. No obstante, elegir cómo intervenir debe partir de un bagaje consolidado de conocimientos y de premisas operativas y teóricas, que lamentablemente apenas se aplican a la restauración del hormigón armado. Este artículo se centra sobre la experiencia de conservación del MAXXI, el Museo Nacional de las Artes del siglo XXI, realizado por Zaha Hadid (1950-2016) en Roma, envejecido prematuramente e intervenido recientemente con una importante actuación de conservación de sus superficies externas.Versaci, A.; Cardaci, A. (2021). La difícil conservación de la arquitectura contemporánea. La experiencia del museo MAXXI de Roma. Loggia, Arquitectura & Restauración. 0(34):86-107. https://doi.org/10.4995/loggia.2021.11947OJS86107034AVAGNINA M., GUCCIONE M., LA PERGOLA S. (ed.), MAXXI materia grigia: il racconto della costruzione, Milano: Electa, 2010.AVAGNINA M., FAZIO G. M., GUCCIONE M., LIGUORI F. R., VIRDIA E., Maintenance of Contemporary design: the case of MAXXI. Le nuove frontiere del restauro. Trasferimenti, contaminazioni, ibridazioni. Bressanone, 27-30 giugno 2017, Edizione Arcadia Ricerche, pp. 479-489.BOLOGNA, A., Il calcestruzzo: materia e superficie come aristocratici palinsesti. Archi, 3/2020, pp. 19-23.BORIANI M. (ed.), La sfida del moderno. L'architettura del XX secolo tra conservazione e innovazione, Milano: Unicopli, 2003.BORIANI M., Restaurare il 'moderno'? Difficoltà tecniche e teoriche di un tema di attualità. Costruire in laterizio, 59, 05/1997, pp. 392-397.BORIANI M., CAVALLERI F.B., GIAMBRUNO C. Il 'Restauro del Moderno' tra approccio teorico e conservazione materica delle fabbriche. Conservazione e vita residua delle opera in calcestruzzo: alcune riflessioni. In Ientile R., Architetture in cemento armato. Orientamenti per la conservazione. Milano: Franco Angeli, 2008, pp. 88-98.CARBONARA, G. (1997), Avvicinamento al restauro. Teoria, storia, monumenti, Napoli: Liguori.CARDACI A., VERSACI A., The MAXXI museum in Rome: an integrated survey experience for the restoration of contemporary architecture. International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing & Spatial Information Sciences, Vol. 42 Issue 5/W1, 2017, pp. 187-194. https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-5-W1-187-2017CHOAY F. (ed.). La Conférence d'Athènes sur la conservation artistique et historique des monuments [Paris 1931], Paris: Les Editions de l'Imprimeur, 2002.CIORRA P., GUCCIONE M. (ed.), L'Italia di Zaha Hadid, Macerata: Quodilibet, 2017.CONFORTI C., Zaha Hadid. Maxxi Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Roma, Casabella, 785, 01/2010, pp. 5-22.CORZO M. A. (ed.). Mortality Immortality? The Legacy of 20th-Century Art, Symposium Proceedings, Los Angeles: Getty Research Centre, 1999.CROCI, G., HERZALLA, A., MAXXI. Dalla progettazione strutturale esecutivo-costruttiva al cantiere. Geocentro, 10, luglio/agosto 2010, pp. 42-47.DEZZI BARDESCHI M., Per il futuro del Moderno: battaglie, sconfitte, proposte. Confronti. Quaderni di restauro architettonico, 1, 2012, pp. 91-101.DI BIASE C., ALBANI F., Alterations and decay in 20th-century architecture: A lexicon proposal. In Mazzolani F.M. (ed.), PROHITECH 09: Proceedings of the International Conference on Protection of Historical Buildings, Rome, Italy, 21-24 June 2009. CRC Press, Boca Raton, 2009, pp. 519-524.FACCIO P., Il calcestruzzo storico: conservazione o ripristino. In Ientile R. (ed.), Architetture in cemento armato. Orientamenti per la conservazione, Milano: Franco Angeli, 2008.FAVARETTO G., PRETELLI M., SIGNORELLI L., Il consolidamento dei calcestruzzi armati storici: contaminazioni e ibridazioni di esperienze tra nuove frontiere del restauro e tradizionali orizzonti della conservazione. Le nuove frontiere del restauro. Trasferimenti, contaminazioni, ibridazioni. Bressanone, 27-30 giugno 2017, Edizione Arcadia Ricerche, pp. 341-352.FORTY, A., Concrete and culture. A material history, London: Reaktion Books, 2012.FIORANI, D., Il lato tecnico del restauro: opportunità, limiti e contenuti. In S. Musso (ed.), Nuove tecniche di restauro architettonico, Milano: Wolters Kluver Italia, 2013, pp. 33-60.LE CORBUSIER, Vers une architecture, Parigi: Les Editions G. Crès et Cie, 1923.SALVO S., Restaurare il Novecento. Storia, esperienze e prospettive in architettura, Macerata: Quodlibet, 2016.VERSACI A., CARDACI A., Architettura contemporanea e conservazione nell'esperienza del museo MAXXI di Roma. Ananke, vol: GeoRes/2017, pp. 105-110

Identification and safeguarding of Central Sicily's forgotten vernacular heritage: elements of identity and memory

[EN] The coronavirus pandemic has created new challenges for rural areas already affected by chronic economic, social, and environmental problems such as depopulation, reduced service provision, ageing, the decline of agriculture income, inhibited accessibility. These problems are of great importance in Central Sicily. Here, the absence of adequate infrastructure, the limited presence of organizations for the promotion and marketing of agricultural products, and climate change have strongly affected the rural landscape. Numerous small towns, farms and extraordinary underground structures are on the verge of extinction, threatened by the ravages of time, forgetfulness, and vandalism. Although often unknown, these eloquent examples of the vernacular heritage of the interior of the island are no longer an integral part of the life of the region. However, if properly identified, studied, protected, re-used, and reconnected to the territory, they could help to reinforce the local cultural identities, and bring positive changes in the socio-economic conditions of the concerned peoples. This paper aims at exploring all these aspects, focusing on the territory of Enna. It also intends to present a pilot project aimed at identifying the most important elements of local rural architecture to promote sustainable methods of preservation and restoration.Versaci, A.; Cardaci, A. (2022). Identification and safeguarding of Central Sicily's forgotten vernacular heritage: elements of identity and memory. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 221-228. https://doi.org/10.4995/HERITAGE2022.2022.1488022122

The stone houses of Pino Pizzigoni: a rare case of vernacular architecture in the upper town of Bergamo (Italy)

Abstract. Pino Pizzigoni was an architect from Bergamo whose work was characterized by a constant search for integration between tradition and innovation. The 'stone houses' built in the second post-war period in the Upper Town at the foot of the Medieval fortress and close to the Venetian Walls – a UNESCO World Heritage Site from 2017 – are an example of modern popular housing conceived to adapt to the needs of rural families who moved to the town. Designed under the Fanfani Law, they were envisaged to give new lifeblood to the ancient fabric, while respecting the landscape and the city's skyline. Today, they can be considered one of the most significant post-war contributions to the cultural and architectural debate of the entire region. Their particular geographical position of the settlement has protected the complex because falling in an urban section marked by environmental constraints. However, to date, the asset has not yet been subjected to any protective restriction by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and so despite fifty years have passed since the architect's death and over seventy years since the construction. The large underground car parking, today under construction on the border of the building complex, in addition to compromising its structural stability, would cause dramatic changes on the landscape, transforming a place that resembled a mountain village in an area congested by traffic and deafened by the noise of cars and tourists

Approcci metodologici e indicazioni progettuali per il restauro del Palazzo del Doge ad Antivari, Montenegro.

The restoration project of an old building requires an approach based on the capacity of the designer to build a computational model that interprets its constructive history. The Doge’s Palace in Antivari a millenary citadel of Montenegro, results from several construction phases that cannot be properly explained only through the application of mechanics principles. The integrated survey and elevation’s stratigraphic study, important to the archaeologist and the architect for the reconstruction of the building’s evolutionary phases, are to the engineer a necessary tool for understanding the structure’s static and dynamic behaviour. This work addresses the issue of the protection of archaeological sites and investigates the means of intervention on buildings in a state of ruin, choosing to run a project of ‘authentic restoration’ that, by establishing structure’s collapse mechanisms, is oriented on non-invasive/removable solutions, designed to not alter the building’s identity

New studies for the knowledge of the vernacular characters of the ancient water mills in central Sicily

[EN] In the centre of Sicily, hidden in a rural landscape that has changed significantly in the last decades, remains the traces of an old economic and productive reality: that of traditional water mills. Even if, often in precarious conservation conditions, these vestiges show an unsuspected resilience. They embody tangible and intangible values worthy of being known, protected, valued, and shared. In this sense, the research that this paper introduces aims to identify and re-read the numerous structures that still exist, to find effective strategies to safeguard and promote this important vernacular heritage: a silent guardian of uses and customs, traditional methodologies, materials and building systems. All elements that show a wise use of native resources and are the result of functional choices aimed at optimizing production. The paper presents the first results of the study, namely the cataloguing activity carried out in the Gela River valley. The methodology used is based on the development of innovative systems of inventory and sharing on the web of the identified patrimony. The activities aimed to create a digital infrastructure capable of also improving the sustainable use of assets scattered throughout the territory.Versaci, A.; Cardaci, A.; Fauzìa, LR.; Russo, M. (2022). New studies for the knowledge of the vernacular characters of the ancient water mills in central Sicily. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 213-220. https://doi.org/10.4995/HERITAGE2022.2022.1492621322

Studi e riflessioni per la salvaguardia e valorizzazione della cripta di Sant'Eusebio a Pavia

Located in Pavia, in an area that owes its importance to the Longobards era, the crypt of St. Eusebius is today the only surviving evidence of an ancient Germanic Cathedral, perhaps dating from the reign of King Rotari. Cited by Paolo Diacono in his Historia Langobardorum, it was over time affected by various alterations, devastations and assaults, alternated with long and dusty periods of neglect, which inevitably affected its dignity. This important 'monumental ruin', for too long confined within a structure that prevents its correct perception and public enjoyment, has recently been interested by new multidisciplinary studies and investigations aimed at improving its critical knowledge and understanding and then at establishing necessary conservation and valorisation activities, able to underline its high monumental value, improve its accessibility and ensure its transmission to future generations