Heritage is the physical expression of the cultural identity of local communities and, in most cases, it is a key factor supporting the development of the local economy. Due to its own nature, heritage is a non-renewable resource to be preserved for the upcoming generation. The purpose of this paper is to describe reconstruction issues for urban conservation in historic cities, which have been led to destruction by accident, because of flooding, earthquakes, storm, fires, and also war, pointing out the associations between conservation and development. In so doing, the paper will focus on the case study of one city listed in the World Heritage List. A further matter concerns the controversial approach of reconstruction: while restoration, which involves damaged and incomplete objects in order to maintain or return their original state, reconstruction -instead- is accomplished on buildings that no longer exist or constituted of just limited ruins, sometime even involving the construction of a new building. After the Second World War the patrimony of the European historic cities was severely damaged, making the population aware of their loss of cultural and national identity and opening the international debate on the proper techniques and theories that should be applied. When it comes to historical cities, rather than a single monument, it does not involve just the physical appearance and the historical value but might allow to re-establish or regenerate the social‑economic condition and the cultural identity of a place after a period of decline.

Heritage and Reconstruction: Different perspectives

L. Petti
;
2016-01-01

Abstract

Heritage is the physical expression of the cultural identity of local communities and, in most cases, it is a key factor supporting the development of the local economy. Due to its own nature, heritage is a non-renewable resource to be preserved for the upcoming generation. The purpose of this paper is to describe reconstruction issues for urban conservation in historic cities, which have been led to destruction by accident, because of flooding, earthquakes, storm, fires, and also war, pointing out the associations between conservation and development. In so doing, the paper will focus on the case study of one city listed in the World Heritage List. A further matter concerns the controversial approach of reconstruction: while restoration, which involves damaged and incomplete objects in order to maintain or return their original state, reconstruction -instead- is accomplished on buildings that no longer exist or constituted of just limited ruins, sometime even involving the construction of a new building. After the Second World War the patrimony of the European historic cities was severely damaged, making the population aware of their loss of cultural and national identity and opening the international debate on the proper techniques and theories that should be applied. When it comes to historical cities, rather than a single monument, it does not involve just the physical appearance and the historical value but might allow to re-establish or regenerate the social‑economic condition and the cultural identity of a place after a period of decline.
2016
9783319680439
9783319680446
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11386/4701821
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