B006391 - INSTITUTES OF ARCHITECTURAL RESTORATION AND OF MONUMENTS

Italian

The course aims to clarify diachronically the meaning of architectural restoration, focusing on the relationship between theory and practice of conservation. It aims to provide adequate theoretical-methodological means to acquire critical competences in the field of protection, conservation and restoration of architectural heritage.

- STEFANO FRANCESCO MUSSO, Recupero e restauro degli edifici storici. Guida pratica al rilievo e alla diagnostica. IV edizione aggiornata e ampliata, EPC editore, Roma 2016;
- MARIA PIERA SETTE, Il restauro in architettura. Quadro storico, Utet, Torino 2001;
- B. PAOLO TORSELLO (a cura di), Che cos’è il restauro? Nove studiosi a confronto, Marsilio, Venezia 2005.
The mentioned texts will be used in whole or in part depending on the topics; further articles and essays will be provided during the course and categorised according to the topics covered in each lesson.

- Understand architectural structures, their articulation and functioning;
- Know the history of architectural conservation and its critical debate, from its origins to the present day;
- Interrelate the specialised knowledge of the conservation of the material with the methodologies linked to the preservation of the entire architectural apparatus;
- Recognise the main pathologies affecting architecture and monuments, clarifying their causes and possible remedies;
- Be familiar with the methods of representation related to the analysis of materials and degradation;
- Know the procedures for surveying the built heritage;
- Know tools for the communication of cultural heritage;
- Learn technical vocabulary;
- Develop a critical approach to cultural heritage conservation issues.

Basic knowledge of the history of architecture and construction is required in order to be able to critically read the material and immaterial signs of the buildings, placing them in their relative context.

The course is based on lectures and seminars, the latter connected with specific research by the students, in order to exercise the participants' critical and synthetical skills and the sharing of knowledge.

Non-attending students should consult the online material on Moodle or contact the teacher for information on the programme and examination procedures.

The examination consists of two parts: the writing of a critical report during the course, with a presentation to the class; a written test (multiple-choice and open-ended questions) covering the entire programme (lectures and bibliography). A supplementary oral test may be required for non-attenders.

The course aims to provide an essential overview of Architectural Restoration, its history and the basic concepts underlying a conservation project. Technical notions on the articulation of architecture and a standard vocabulary will be provided. A historical reading of interventions on pre-existing buildings will then be proposed, followed by an analysis of the thought on conservation from the 18th century (birth of the discipline) to contemporary orientations. The more pragmatic aspects of the subject will then be considered, namely the recognition of degradation and instability, understanding the causes and hypothesizing interventions to remedy them, familiarising with the graphic tools used to represent them. The methodological process of the architectural restoration project – divided into knowledge, intervention and enhancement – will also be clarified. The topic of publicising cultural heritage will also be addressed.