The framework of the Italian restoration doctrine is based on the reception and transmission of the
memory of the past. However, interventions in modern architecture represent a radical drift in the
sense that they mostly consist of reconstructions, refurbishments, and renovations. Such work
disregards the sense of value acknowledgment that is implicit in architectural conservation and
neglects the importance of material conservation. The un even fortune of the School of Mathematics
at Rome's University Campus illustrates this situation. This predicament is similar to that of many
other modern buildings that have been declared “monuments” by mouth but are actually bent to
listless and insensible use, mistreated, and hardly maintained. The recent work carried out at the
School of Mathematics proves that interventions on modern buildings are mostly insensitive to their
true significance and are often carried out in extreme urgency for mere practical reasons, if not for
political opportunities.
Modern buildings can be true architectural monuments that express great esthetic potentials and
retain notable historical weight in the history of architecture; therefore, they should be regarded as
highly representative of our recent past and maintained as such
