“Strumenti” per lo sviluppo dell’attività ispettiva in aree archeologiche

One of the acquisitions of contemporary conservation philosophy is precisely this: you don’t restore the image but the matter of the work; restoration is first and foremost the conservation of the work’s authenticity. The task of conservation is not returning to an impossible past but rather enabling the work to be handed down to the future. From this standpoint, in today’s conservation language we speak of conservation: guaranteeing through our efforts that the work entrusted to us will still be available for the future, for ourselves and the generations to come, eliminating or slowing down the causes of deterioration that endanger it so that it can be enjoyed and used. The project, "Milan Archaeology for Expo 2015. Towards a valorization of the archaeological heritage of the city", intends - respect to these theoretical and methodological - to develop processes of knowledge and planned conservation of urban archaeological areas with coordinated maintenance actions, promotion and communication of the different sites present in Milan historic centre. All this sites will be connected in a network system built for a larger project that it will increase the accessibility and enhancement

LEARNING FROM THE BUILDING: DIRECT SOURCES FOR THE PRESERVATION PROJECT. THE EXPERIENCE OF BESOZZO'S TOWN HALL (VARESE, ITALY)

The Town Hall of Besozzo (Varese, Italy) is located in the city centre of the village and its first construction phase is dated back to the XIV-XV century. It shows a complex palimpsest which is the result of the numerous transformations occurred during its life: enlargements, super elevations, demolitions, inner spaces subdivisions and use changes. Currently a project has been issued for the reuse of the building which assigns new spaces for the town offices to the northern wing recently acquired. The aim of the research was to provide a diagnostic insight, useful for the development of the conservation project which will necessarily take into account the multitude of values registered on the building. Owing to a lack of meaningful archival documentation, the elevation's stratigraphic reading and the methods for dating historical buildings proved to be an invaluable resource for the comprehension of the building's transformations. Cross-referencing readings of indirect sources carried on the building with the results of the in-depth analysis made it possible to rebuild the growth of the structure from its origin to the present days. Such analysis includes: geometric survey, photographic rectifications of facade and inner sections, non-destructive diagnostic investigations, bricks, mortar and plaster chemical-physical analysis, mensiochronology, study of the building techniques and chronotypology which is a stylistic analysis performed both on the constructive (apertures) and decorative (shelves, graffiti, colourings traces) architectural elements. Blending the results of these dating techniques produced the complexity of the stratigraphic reading which has been conveyed with adequate hatching on the rectified images (U.S. – Stratigraphic Unity) while schematic 3D reconstructions exemplify the chronological sequence of the building activities. Individuation and comprehension of the building constructive phases made also possible to understand which were the different uses of each room inside this domestic architecture thus providing the client and the bodies in charge of protection with valuable data for the preservation project

Past Landscapes to shape future societies: research in the Horn of Africa.

The paper presents the experience achieved in the Horn of Africa thanks to the joint Eritrean-Italian archaeological project in the ancient area of Adulis, started in 2011. A first objective is the protection and management of the site with the creation of the National Archaeological and Natural Park of Adulis. The preservation of the cultural and natural heritage is linked to the study and enhancement of the traditional technological heritage, in order not only to contribute to local development, but also to increase awareness about mutual interdependency with regard to the worldwide challenges of drought, soil depletion and sustainable development

Dalla conoscenza alla conservazione: il territorio della Civita di Tarquinia

Forthcoming

LOMELLO. LA CONSERVAZIONE DEL COSTRUITO

Gli studi presentati in questo volume, sono il risultato di un incarico di ricerca da parte dell’Amministrazione Comunale di Lomello. Essi si pongono l’obiettivo di indagare gli ambiti paesistici, urbani e monumentali del territorio lomellino ed a riconoscerne i valori, storico documentari, le vocazioni e le potenzialità d’uso. Oggetto di tali ricerche non sono solo i singoli edifici di carattere storico-monumentale, ma anche il tessuto edilizio cosiddetto “minore”, nonché il paesaggio agrario tradizionale. Questi beni, acquisiscono il valore di risorsa, ma non di mero valore d’uso. In quanto beni culturali, essi acquistano anche un valore di documento capace di trasmettere a coloro che li vivono “sensi e significati”. Le attività svolte e le scelte progettuali, quindi, sono state finalizzate alla conservazione del costruito, in quanto “archivio di storia materiale ed immateriale”. I metodi e le tecniche proposti suggeriscono prassi di intervento sull’edificato che siano tali da rispettare, far comprendere ed esaltare ogni testimonianza del lavoro degli uomini nella consapevolezza che uno sviluppo futuro non può che prendere le mosse dalle solide basi del nostro passato