Conservando El Pasado Proyectando El Futuro

CONSERV
CONSERVANDO
CONSE
CONSER
NS VANDO EL PA
PASADO
PROYECTANDO
PROYECTA
P R CT EL FUT
FUTURO
Tendencias en la restauracin
monumental en el siglo XXI
PRESERVING THE PAST

PROJECTING THE FUTURE
Tendences in 21st century
monumental restoration
Coordinacin
Ascensin Hernndez Martnez
COLECCIN ACTA S
Son muchas las disciplinas que participan en el
caleidoscpico mundo del patrimonio histrico,
aportando visiones complementarias y enriquecedo-
ras acerca de los problemas de tutela y gestin del
mismo, los criterios de conservacin y restauracin,
la tica y deontologa profesional, la percepcin
social y el disfrute de los bienes culturales y tantos
otros aspectos que han suscitado una ingente
produccin bibliogrfica. Es, precisamente, en este
contexto de intercambio disciplinar de experiencias,
de conocimientos y de ideas, desarrollado en el
mbito acadmico de la universidad, de donde
surge esta publicacin como producto, desarrolla-
do y ampliado, del seminario internacional
Conservando el pasado, proyectando el futuro.
Tendencias en la restauracin monumental en el
siglo XXI, celebrado en Zaragoza los das 11 y 12
de abril de 2013, con la participacin de
profesores y expertos de universidades espaolas y
extranjeras, con las que la Universidad de
Zaragoza mantiene relaciones institucionales y
acadmicas desde hace aos.
El objetivo de este encuentro fue plantear los retos
del futuro de la restauracin monumental, un mbito
clave de la cultura contempornea que trata con
aspectos fundamentales como la historia y la
memoria, a travs del anlisis de su situacin actual,
profundizando en las tendencias, problemas y
debates surgidos en los ltimos aos. Como
resultado de este fructfero intercambio, el libro
rene diez visiones sobre nuestra disciplina de
expertos con una larga trayectoria investigadora y
profesional, que aportan miradas diversas sobre la
gestin, conservacin y restauracin del patrimonio
cultural, haciendo hincapi en las tensiones,
contradicciones, lmites y dificultades de este
fascinante mbito.
Motivo de cubierta: edificio Capitol de Madrid

Diseo de cubierta: Lettera
Conservando el pasado, proyectando el futuro
Tendencias en la restauracin monumental en el siglo XXI
Preserving the Past, Projecting the Future

Tendences in 21st century monumental restoration
COLECCIN ACTAS
ARTE
Conservando el pasado, proyectando el futuro
Tendencias en la restauracin monumental en el siglo XXI

Coordinadora
INSTITUCIN FERNANDO EL CATLICO

Excma. Diputacin de Zaragoza
ZARAGOZA 2016
Publicacin nmero 3511
de la Institucin Fernando el Catlico
Organismo autnomo de la Excma. Diputacin de Zaragoza
Plaza de Espaa, 2 50071 Zaragoza (Espaa)
Tels. [34] 976 28 88 79
ifc@dpz.es
www.ifc.dpz.es
Los autores
De la presente edicin, Institucin Fernando el Catlico
Texto ntegro traducido al ingls
Traduccin al ingls de la presentacin del libro y de los textos de M Pilar Biel Ibez,
Jos Castillo Ruiz y Ascensin Hernndez realizada por Juan Jos Larraz Pache
ISBN: 978-84-9911-419-4
Depsito legal: Z 1647-2016
Preimpresin: Lettera
Impresin: Huella Digital S.L.
IMPRESO EN ESPAA-UNIN EUROPEA
PRESENTACIN
Son muchas las disciplinas que participan en el caleidoscpico mundo del pa-
trimonio histrico, aportando visiones complementarias y enriquecedoras acerca
de los problemas de tutela y gestin del mismo, los criterios de conservacin y
restauracin, la tica y deontologa profesional, la percepcin social y el disfrute
de los bienes culturales y tantos otros aspectos que han suscitado una ingente
produccin bibliogrfica. Es, precisamente, en este contexto de intercambio dis-
ciplinar de experiencias, de conocimientos y de ideas, desarrollado en el mbito
acadmico de la universidad, de donde surge esta publicacin como producto,
desarrollado y ampliado, del seminario Conservando el pasado, proyectando el
futuro. Tendencias en la restauracin monumental en el siglo XXI, celebrado en
Zaragoza los das 11 y 12 de abril de 2013, con la participacin de profesores y
expertos de universidades espaolas y extranjeras, con las que la Universidad de
Zaragoza mantiene relaciones institucionales y acadmicas desde hace aos.
El objetivo de este encuentro era plantear los retos del futuro de la restaura-
cin monumental a travs del anlisis de su situacin actual, profundizando en las
tendencias, problemas y debates surgidos en los ltimos aos.. Como punto de
partida, conviene recordar que la restauracin del patrimonio monumental tiene
ya una larga historia como disciplina moderna, ligada al surgimiento del mismo
concepto de patrimonio como una nocin heredada de la Ilustracin, de la apa-
ricin de una conciencia histrica respecto al pasado, un rasgo que caracteriza
la contemporaneidad. La restauracin monumental es, por tanto, una disciplina
fundamentada histrica y crticamente, que se nutre de las aportaciones de la
arquitectura, de la historia, de la tecnologa y de la ciencia contemporneas, que
reconoce unos valores culturales en el objeto a restaurar, que son los que motivan
su conservacin, y que tiene una metodologa y criterios bsicos consensuados
(sobre todo en los documentos que denominamos Cartas Internacionales, ade-
ms de las normas legales concretas de cada pas). Estos criterios-marco o crite-
rios gua, como los denomina el profesor Giovvani Carbonara, son un horizonte
hacia el cual debe tender la restauracin: la notoriedad visual, la reversibilidad,
la mnima intervencin, el respeto hacia la autenticidad; si bien estos conceptos
responden claramente a una tendencia (la restauracin crtica) frente a la cual no
todos los profesionales estn de acuerdo.
Como sostiene la profesora Stella Casiello: Sobre todo es necesario conservar
todo cuanto sea posible, ya que el monumento constituye un documento material
[5]
M PILAR BIEL IBEZ Y ASCENSIN HERNNDEZ MARTNEZ
que contiene en s mismo un bagaje de conocimiento notable; cualquier interven-

cin sobre la preexistencia debe, por tanto, comportar la mnima prdida material
y orientar decisivamente su transformacin fisiolgica. Al mismo tiempo, la apro-
ximacin de la intervencin debe ser una aproximacin crtica, basada sobre el
profundo conocimiento de la obra, en la que las estratificaciones realizadas en el
tiempo y la misma degradacin asumen significados muy complejos de aadidos
o de destruccin de la materia1 y, prosigue: la intervencin de restauracin,
entonces, debe fijarse unos deberes: restituir el equilibrio perdido, desvelar los va-
lores escondidos all donde con una mnima prdida material se pueda hacer ms
comprensible un texto material de otra manera comprometido, ejecutar discretas
adaptaciones funcionales dictadas por principios de orden tico, y ralentizar la
degradacin salvaguardando la autenticidad de la obra2.
Lo cierto es que la restauracin es un tema clave de la cultura contempornea
que trata con aspectos fundamentales como la historia y la memoria, sobre el
que, en el fondo, no parece haber una unidad conceptual. Tenemos dificultades
para evaluarlo, definirlo, y en su aplicacin apreciamos criterios antitticos (de
la reconstruccin a la mera conservacin). Es un rea contradictoria y compleja
que se mueve por antinomias: materia/forma, nuevo/antiguo, verdadero/falso,
produccin/reproduccin, etc., y que merece sin duda nuevas aproximaciones.
Y qu sucede en la actualidad? En este momento se est produciendo una
extraa paradoja, como sealaba el arquitecto italiano B. Paolo Torsello: aumen-
tan las inversiones y la atencin sobre el patrimonio histrico, pero en las ltimas
dcadas ha decado el inters por la elaboracin terica, cuando toda Europa se
declara comprometida con la defensa y puesta en valor de la arquitectura, del
paisaje y de los objetos de arte y cultura3. Ms an, prosigue Torsello: El mbito
de la restauracin, que antes era escasamente frecuentado, es ms se miraba has-
ta con desinters, ahora est repentinamente poblado. Las voces que habitan el
mundo de la tutela son cada vez ms numerosas, y al mismo tiempo divergentes y
conflictivas, por el hecho de que cada quien persigue objetivos especficos de sus
ocupaciones () Hoy podemos decir que la conservacin del patrimonio histri-
co-artstico apela a una pluralidad de sujetos y temas, pero con una contradictoria
pluralidad de intereses y de fines4. Y lo que es un peligro: Los objetos, que una
vez sufran por falta de atencin, hoy corren el peligro de ser arrollados por un
exceso de atencin, sobre todo por la heterogeneidad de las aproximaciones y la
confusin de los lenguajes que se ejercitan sobre su frgil materia5
1 Torsello, B. P., Che cos il restauro?, Venezia, Marsilio, 2005, p. 31.

2 Torsello, B. P., Che cos, op. cit., p. 32.
3 Torsello, B. P., Che cos, op. cit., p. 10
[6]
PRESENTACIN
En este contradictorio escenario aparecen entonces, al menos, dos exigen-

cias. La primera es aparentemente de naturaleza lingstica y tiene que ver con
la terminologa utilizada en el campo de la restauracin que, de un lado, deriva
de diversos contextos (la historia, la esttica, la arquitectura, la construccin, la
tecnologa) y por otro, produce significados diversos. La terminologa circula
en un territorio transversal que implica muchas disciplinas, cayendo a menudo en
la ambigedad y la confusin, de ah la necesidad, en primer lugar, de clarificar
bien los trminos, para luego entrar en los criterios, en los contenidos. El tema
no es banal en absoluto, puesto que en la restauracin monumental aparecen
trascendentes cuestiones, como el papel de la historia, el rol desempeado por la
memoria, las consecuencias que tiene la ampliacin del concepto de patrimonio,
y aspectos ms formales como el significado de la restauracin como proyecto
arquitectnico, la relacin entre arquitectura nueva y preexistente, la influencia de
la esttica, del gusto y las prcticas artsticas contemporneas en la restauracin.
Debe tenerse presente, como han sealado ya muchos autores (en Italia, Gio-
vanni Carbonara, el mismo B. Paolo Torsello, entre otros; en Espaa, Ignasi Sol
Morales), desde finales de los 70, con la llegada del posmodernismo, la historia se
ha convertido en un objeto de consumo y la misma arquitectura ha perdido capa-
cidad de autorreflexin terica, salvo excepciones puntuales que se inclinan hacia
reflexiones sociolgicas y estticas de carcter global como las realizadas por Rem
Koolhas (Delirious NY)6. Por tanto, parece ms pertinente que nunca una reflexin
sobre la restauracin, que es la que nos ha conducido hasta este momento. Una
ocasin (la de esta publicacin) que nos permite reunir la visin desde diferentes
disciplinas, la historia del arte y la arquitectura, complementarias, que se ayudan
y necesitan mutuamente, y desde dos perspectivas culturales, la italiana y la espa-
ola, con una interesantsima aportacin desde Latinoamrica, que tienen muchos
puntos en comn, pero muchas diferencias tambin. De hecho, la peculiar situa-
cin de nuestro pas, en el que la restauracin ha sido conducida con una gran
libertad creativa, ha llevado a numerosos autores a hablar de una restauracin
a la espaola, que a menudo provoca la perplejidad (y a veces la envidia) de
colegas de otros pases.
El libro rene diez visiones sobre nuestra disciplina de expertos con una larga
trayectoria investigadora y profesional. Comienza con una serie de trabajos en los
que se reflexiona sobre cuestiones generales y de contexto con la intencin de
introducir al lector en un panorama general de la situacin. La primera contribu-
cin analiza la relacin entre restauracin y tutela del patrimonio monumental,
a cargo de Jos Castillo Ruiz, historiador del arte y profesor de la Universidad de
Granada, quien plantea que la restauracin arquitectnica debe comprenderse
como una actividad ms dentro del conjunto de acciones que conforman la tutela
[7]
del Patrimonio Histrico, por lo que considera imprescindible acudir a esta para
poder valorar adecuadamente las tendencias de la restauracin en el presente.
Para ello se centra en aquellos aspectos de la tutela que considera ms relevan-
tes, bien por tratarse de seales que marcan la direccin futura de esta (tenden-
cias), bien por constituir importantes retos a superar (desafos) o, finalmente,
por ser generadores de ilusin (esperanzas). A continuacin, Ascensin Hernndez
Martnez, historiadora del arte y profesora de la Universidad de Zaragoza, re-
flexiona en torno a la terminologa utilizada en la restauracin arquitectnica en
la actualidad, al constatar cmo en los ltimos aos existe una tendencia a evitar
el uso del trmino restauracin a favor de otros como transformacin, reciclaje,
reutilizacin, recualificacin, apropiacin o mutacin. En opinin de la autora,
este cambio terminolgico pone en evidencia un rechazo a algunos de los crite-
rios asumidos en el campo de la restauracin de edificios histricos, en pro de
una mayor libertad a la hora de intervenir en los monumentos, lo que amenaza
la transmisin de los valores histricos y culturales del patrimonio. Y desde la
Universidad de Sao Paulo (Brasil), la arquitecto y profesora Beatriz Mugayar Khl
ofrece un ms que necesario artculo sobre la tica en la conservacin del patri-
monio cultural, considerando que debemos analizar los motivos que conducen
a una sociedad a conservar su patrimonio, puesto que estos son la base de los
principios tericos que fundamentan la praxis de la restauracin. En su opinin,
es fundamental e imprescindible trabajar con criterios coherentes y una slida
metodologa, evitando y rechazando intervenciones arbitrarias, sujetas a intereses
particulares y sectoriales. Estos parmetros deberan guiar los principios ticos y
la deontologa de los profesionales implicados en nuestra disciplina, para que los
bienes culturales continen siendo documentos fidedignos, transmisores de los
valores culturales, y, como tales, soportes efectivos del conocimiento histrico y
de la memoria colectiva.
Entrando en la praxis profesional, Luis Franco Lahoz, arquitecto y profesor de la
Universidad de Zaragoza, reflexiona sobre el papel del arquitecto en la interven-
cin contempornea, una actividad compleja en la que diferentes disciplinas tra-
bajan transversalmente para alcanzar un consenso interpretativo sobre las claves
formativas y el sentido ltimo de cada monumento, en relacin con su metamor-
fosis, su soporte material y constructivo y los valores que le otorga la condicin
monumental. Para el profesor Franco Lahoz, el proyecto de intervencin arquitec-
tnica ha retomado una consideracin disciplinar que busca sumarse al devenir
del monumento sin estridencia y manteniendo una cierta sintona con lo antiguo,
sin renunciar por ello a su contemporaneidad. En este mismo marco, el anlisis de
la restauracin desde la perspectiva de la arquitectura, se sitan los dos artculos
siguientes. El arquitecto y profesor Riccardo Dalla Negra, de la Universidad de
Ferrara (Italia), analiza la situacin de la arquitectura monumental frente a la cual
se han planteado dos actitudes: la cultura del proyecto, tendente a considerar
[8]
PRESENTACIN
legtimo intervenir con el lenguaje contemporneo con independencia de la arqui-

tectura preexistente, y la cultura de la conservacin, consciente de la distancia
entre pasado y presente y por tanto de la necesidad de conservar las huellas de la
historia. El debate entre ambas posiciones ha creado no pocos equvocos y con-
tradicciones que son analizados en el texto del profesor Dalla Negra. A continua-
cin el arquitecto y profesor Claudio Varagnoli, de la Universidad de Chieti-Pesca-
ra (Italia), profundiza en el uso y el consumo del patrimonio construido en Italia
en el siglo XXI, a travs de una seleccin de edificios significativos restaurados en
los ltimos aos. Entre ellos se encuentran las intervenciones de Tadao Ando en
la Punta della Dogana y Renzo Piano en la Fondazione Vedova, en Venecia, o la
de Emmanuele Fidone en San Pietro, Siracusa. El profesor Varagnoli se plantea en
su anlisis no una optimista aceptacin de lo sucedido, sino una crtica tentativa
de comprender qu aportan a la disciplina de la restauracin monumental estos
casos, conectndolos con aportaciones tericas recientes que intentan superar las
posiciones consolidadas hace tiempo, salvando las conquistas intelectuales de
la disciplina de la conservacin.
Completando las aportaciones realizadas desde Italia, la arquitecto y profesora
Simona Salvo profundiza en un campo concreto de la restauracin monumental
desde la perspectiva de la cultura italiana: las intervenciones realizadas en la ar-
quitectura del siglo XX, subrayando la circunstancia de cmo esta ha suscitado la
creencia de que, dadas sus peculiaridades, no podan aplicarse en este campo los
criterios tradicionalmente aceptados en el mbito de la restauracin monumental.
De hecho, la profesora Salvo constata cmo han sido numerosas las operaciones
de ripristino, y muchas menos las de restauracin. Similar situacin se verifica en
el arte contemporneo, razn por la cual nos resultaba de gran inters establecer
las pertinentes relaciones con las artes plsticas. En esta lnea se sita la aporta-
cin de Carlota Santabrbara Morera, historiadora del arte y restauradora, que ana-
liza en su tesis doctoral la conservacin del arte contemporneo (Universidad de
Zaragoza), fruto de la cual es el trabajo publicado en este libro, en el que, a partir
del anlisis de restauraciones de importantes obras de arte en diferentes museos e
instituciones a nivel internacional, compara los criterios de intervencin aplicados,
lo que le conduce a reflexionar sobre la disparidad de criterios y el evidente en-
frentamiento producido en la actualidad entre las teoras italiana y alemana de la
restauracin, con especial atencin al cuestionamiento de las ideas del historiador
y terico Cesare Brandi
El patrimonio construido presenta, asimismo, nuevos campos que deben ser
atendidos con igual atencin por nuestra parte, como son el patrimonio industrial
y la vivienda social, y con ellos se cierra esta publicacin. M. Pilar Biel Ibez,
profesora de la Universidad de Zaragoza, aborda precisamente la situacin del pri-
mero en el siglo XXI, relacionndolo con la nueva condicin de la ciudad en este
milenio. El cambio de modelo econmico, uno de cuyos pilares es la explotacin
[9]
de los valores patrimoniales y culturales de la ciudad, es el contexto en el que la

profesora Biel sita la conservacin de este patrimonio que en un nmero eleva-
do de actuaciones, tiene por objetivo convertir la fbrica histrica en un bien de
consumo por encima del inters de preservar su valor histrico. Por ltimo, Noelia
Cervero Snchez, arquitecto y profesora de la Universidad de Zaragoza, plantea
cmo conservar los conjuntos de vivienda social, sobre todo ante el dilema de
conciliar las condiciones de habitabilidad de estos, reducidas en numerosos casos,
con su inters reconocido en la actualidad por sus mltiples valores (histrico,
arquitectnico y urbanstico, social, etc.). Qu estrategias de intervencin deben
desarrollarse en estos casos? han de tratarse como versiones actualizadas que se
integran en la ciudad y generan vida? O, por el contrario habra que aplicar pol-
ticas ms radicales de remodelacin urbana? Estas son algunas de las reflexiones
aportadas por la profesora Cervero.
Expuestos los contenidos en lneas generales, esta presentacin no puede
concluir sin los indispensables agradecimientos. En primer lugar a la Institucin
Fernando el Catlico, que ha recogido siempre con extraordinaria generosidad
todas nuestras iniciativas acadmicas desde hace aos atrs, y adems tenemos
que agradecer la contribucin de los siguientes proyectos de investigacin: El
Patrimonio Agrario. La construccin cultural del territorio a travs de la actividad
agraria, dirigido por el profesor Jos Castillo Ruiz, de la Universidad de Granada
(Proyecto I+D+i, referencia: HAR2010-1589 C02-C01, 2012-2013), Museos y barrios
artsticos: arte pblico, artistas, instituciones, dirigido por el profesor Jess Pedro
Lorente Lorente (Proyecto I+D+i referencia: HAR2012-38899, 2013-2015), Indica-
dores de sostenibilidad en la rehabilitacin de la vivienda social y la regeneracin
urbana, dirigido por Belinda Lpez Mesa de la Universidad de Zaragoza (Pro-
yecto I+D+i, referencia: UZ2012-TEC-03, 2013, Proyectos de Investigacin con el
mecenazgo del Banco de Santander). Sin ellos esta publicacin no hubiera sido
posible ya que, en especial han permitido la difusin a nivel internacional de los
resultados de investigaciones, a travs de la traduccin de todos los textos al in-
gls, lo que constituye la segunda parte de este libro, porque nuestra vocacin es
dar la mxima difusin posible a un tema clave: la conservacin de nuestro patri-
monio cultural, en el que todas las reflexiones y anlisis son necesarios, para crear
un foro de debate, un espacio de anlisis comn, que nos permita hacer avanzar
el mximo posible esta disciplina. Esta es la tarea que nos compete como acad-
micos y cientficos implicados en la tutela y preservacin de nuestro patrimonio
cultural, abiertos al debate y comprometidos como ciudadanos responsables con
este cometido que compete tambin al conjunto de la sociedad.
M Pilar Biel Ibez y Ascensin Hernndez Martnez

Departamento de Historia del Arte Universidad de Zaragoza
[10]
EL PATRIMONIO CULTURAL DEL SIGLO XXI: TENDENCIAS,
DESAFOS Y ESPERANZAS. SU EFECTO SOBRE
LA RESTAURACIN MONUMENTAL
JOS CASTILLO RUIZ*
Resumen: La restauracin arquitectnica debemos entenderla como una activi-

dad ms dentro del conjunto de acciones que conforman la Tutela del Patrimo-
nio Histrico, por lo que resulta imprescindible acudir a esta para poder valorar
adecuadamente las tendencias que manifiesta la restauracin en el presente. Este
es el cometido de nuestro trabajo. Para ello hemos optado por centrar nuestra
mirada en aquellos aspectos de la Tutela que consideramos ms relevantes en
la actualidad, bien por tratarse de seales que marcan la direccin futura de esta
(tendencias), bien por constituir importantes retos a superar (desafos) o, final-
mente, por ser generadores de ilusin (esperanzas).
Palabras clave: Patrimonio Histrico. Proteccin. Tipos de Bienes Culturales. Res-
tauracin. Participacin Ciudadana.
1. Introduccin. La legitimidad de los criterios de restauracin instituidos

desde la tutela
La restauracin arquitectnica, como dice Antoni Gonzlez, es una disciplina

simultneamente tcnica, cientfica, creativa y social1, de ah que a lo largo de la
historia se hayan sucedido tantos posicionamientos tericos y metodolgicos, tan-
tos como momentos presentes (en palabras de Cesare Brandi) haya habido que
reconocer y enjuiciar en los monumentos. Pero esta historicidad de la restauracin
no podemos confundirla con autonoma o independencia cientfica y disciplinar
(aunque haya sido una aspiracin constante de la misma), ya que la restauracin
no deja de ser un procedimiento de valoracin y actuacin sobre los contenidos
* Profesor Titular de Historia del Arte. Universidad de Granada. jcastill@ugr.es

1 Gonzlez Moreno-Navarro, A., La restauracin objetiva (mtodo SCCM de restauracin monumental),
Barcelona, Diputacin, 1999, p. 12.
[11]
JOS CASTILLO RUIZ
y significados de un tipo de bienes culturales, el patrimonio arquitectnico (o los

monumentos), de ah que su aportacin a este reconocimiento no pueda desligar-
se del realizado de forma global por la disciplina2 propia de los monumentos, la
Tutela del Patrimonio Histrico3.
Descifrar, entonces, los principios, objetivos o pulsiones que sustentan la res-
tauracin monumental en estas primeras dcadas del siglo XXI, no puede hacerse
sin acudir a los que caracterizan de forma general la tutela de los bienes cultura-
les. No obstante, presentar de forma sucinta un panorama general de esta resulta
muy difcil, de ah que hayamos optado por centrar nuestra mirada en aquellos
aspectos que consideramos ms relevantes en la actualidad, bien por tratarse de
seales que marcan la direccin futura de la tutela (tendencias), bien por consti-
tuir importantes retos a superar (desafos) o, finalmente, por ser generadores de
ilusin y posibilidades (esperanzas).
Antes de ello, s queremos hacer mencin a un principio que consideramos
irrenunciable derivado de esta imbricacin y/o subordinacin de la restauracin
a la tutela: la legitimidad de los principios (preceptos o criterios de interven-
cin) instituidos por esta (es decir, establecidos normativamente nacional o
internacionalmente y, por tanto, de obligado cumplimiento) a la restauracin
arquitectnica. Tanto los establecidos en las diferentes Cartas de restauro, como
los incorporados por las diferentes legislaciones nacionales, deberan observarse
no como injerencias del legislador en un determinado campo del saber cientfico
sino como la fijacin de una serie de principios que se consideran consustan-
ciales a la Tutela del Patrimonio Histrico. Nos referimos a principios como la
autenticidad, el respecto a la verdad histrica o la necesidad de trasladar a las
generaciones venideras los bienes culturales y que tienen su trasunto tcnico en
criterios de restauracin como prohibicin de las reconstrucciones, distincin
entre antiguo y nuevo, defensa de los aadidos histricos o utilizacin de mate-
riales compatibles.
Es, por tanto, desde esta perspectiva de la defensa del inters general de to-
dos los ciudadanos (que es lo que subyace en los principios de la tutela) como
debemos observar los criterios de restauracin instituidos legalmente, lo cual,
adems, permite dotar a la ciudadana de instrumentos para reclamar y exigir su
cumplimiento en aquellos casos (por desgracia bastantes abundantes) en los que
2 Castillo Ruiz, J., Los fundamentos de la proteccin: el efecto desintegrador producido por la considera-
cin del patrimonio histrico como factor de desarrollo, en Patrimonio Cultural y Derecho, n. 8, 2004,
pp. 11-36.
3 Reivindicamos en este texto la utilizacin del concepto de Patrimonio Histrico, ya que entendemos
que la amplitud de bienes materiales e inmateriales que acoge el concepto de cultura (y que justifica
que se utilice de forma mayoritaria el trmino Patrimonio Cultural) son perfectamente asumibles por el
concepto de historia, hacindolo adems desde una perspectiva histrica (pasada o reciente), que es la
esencia ineludible del Patrimonio (se llame Histrico o Cultural).
[12]
EL PATRIMONIO CULTURAL DEL SIGLO XXI: TENDENCIAS, DESAFOS Y ESPERANZAS
Figura 1. Manifestacin (29/1/2011) de la Asociacin Amigos de la Alcazaba de Almera contra la restauracin de la

muralla de Jayrn. Autor: Asociacin Amigos de la Alcazaba de Almera.
las decisiones de los profesionales y las instituciones son manifiestamente perju-

diciales para la preservacin de los valores monumentales [figura 1].
2. Tendencias. Los nuevos patrimonios emergentes (y perifricos)
La Tutela del Patrimonio Histrico es una disciplina, y una prctica cientfica,

muy asentada, slida y de una larga trayectoria histrica, que le ha dotado de un
corpus terico, cientfico, metodolgico muy slido y estable. No obstante, como
cualquier otra disciplina social est sujeta a la historicidad, por lo que esta solidez
y estabilidad no es incompatible con los cambios o su evolucin.
El mbito de la Tutela donde nos encontramos un mayor grado de avance e
innovacin es en el del concepto de Patrimonio Histrico, el cual, y siguiendo una
constante a lo largo de toda la historia del mismo, no deja de crecer o expandirse,
dando cabida constantemente a nuevos valores o bienes hasta entonces carentes
de reconocimiento. En la actualidad, los aspectos que mejor definen esta evolu-
cin del concepto de Patrimonio Histrico son dos:
La fusin o interrelacin de masas patrimoniales de diversa naturaleza y
valor (bienes naturales y culturales, materiales e inmateriales) en un mbito
territorial determinado. Para caracterizar y formalizar esta fusin de masas
patrimoniales se estn elaborado diferentes conceptos. Algunos, los menos,
[13]
JOS CASTILLO RUIZ
con la intencin holstica de identificar el conjunto de bienes susceptibles

de proteccin: aqu tendramos conceptos como el de Patrimonio (sin ad-
jetivacin), Patrimonio Territorial4 y, en menor medida el de Paisaje5. Y
otros, los ms, con la finalidad de dar cobertura a nuevos tipos de bienes
de carcter territorial, como es el caso de los conceptos de Paisaje Cultural
(y las derivaciones que, ms o menos formalizadas, empiezan a surgir: Pai-
saje Urbano Histrico, Paisaje Agrario, Paisaje Industrial), Itinerario Cultural,
Zona Patrimonial, Sitio Histrico, etc. [figura 2].
El reconocimiento de nuevos valores y tipos de bienes. Si bien son muchos
los valores que a lo largo de los ltimos aos se han ido incorporando al
Patrimonio Histrico (paisajstico, industrial, tecnolgico, lingstico, audio-
visual, etc.), lo ms interesante de esta importante ampliacin de bienes
y valores lo constituyen estos dos grupos: el Patrimonio Inmaterial, cuya
poderosa irrupcin en el mbito tutelar podemos considerarla como una
verdadera revolucin, cuyos efectos sobre los principios y fundamentos
del Patrimonio Histrico an desconocemos. Y los bienes vinculados con
actividades humanas: al ya plenamente asumido Patrimonio Industrial [fi-
gura 3], debemos unir muchos otros en proceso de formalizacin legal o
institucional: el Patrimonio Agrario6 [figura 4], Minero, Educativo, Militar,
4 En el mbito historiogrfico y administrativo (no tanto en la normativa internacional) encontramos

numerosas reflexiones o propuestas sobre estos conceptos. Destacamos al respecto: Ortega Valcrcel,
J., El patrimonio territorial: El territorio como recurso cultural y econmico, en Ciudades: Revista del
Instituto Universitario de Urbanstica de la Universidad de Valladolid, n. 4, 1998, pp. 33-48; Martnez
Yez, C., Patrimonializacin del territorio y territorializacin del patrimonio, en Cuadernos de Arte
de la Universidad de Granada, n. 39, 2008, pp.251-266; lvarez Mora, A., (dir.), Patrimonio y Territo-
rio, Valladolid, Instituto de Urbanstica de la Universidad, 1998; Verdugo Santos, J., El territorio como
fundamento de una nueva retrica de los bienes culturales, en PH, Boletn del Instituto Andaluz del
Patrimonio Histrico, n. 53, 2005, p. 95.
5 De la numerossima bibliografa al respecto quisiera destacar dos publicaciones: Zoido Naranjo, F., El
paisaje un concepto til para relacionar esttica, tica y poltica, en Scripta Nova, Vol. XVI, n. 407, 10
de julio de 2012, pp. 1-19. Disponible en http://www.ub.es/geocrit/sn/sn-407.htm (Consultado el da 22
de julio de 2013) y Mata Olmo, R., La dimensin patrimonial del paisaje. Una mirada desde los espacios
rurales, en Maderuelo, J., (dir.), Paisaje y Patrimonio, Madrid, CDAN, Abada Editores, 2010, pp. 31-73.
6 A modo de ejemplo queremos aportar la definicin de Patrimonio Agrario que hemos elaborado desde
el Proyecto Pago (del cual somos su Investigador Principal) y que se ha formalizado en el documento
denominado Carta de Baeza sobre Patrimonio Agrario. El Patrimonio Agrario est conformado por el
conjunto de bienes naturales y culturales, materiales e inmateriales, generados o aprovechados por la
actividad agraria a lo largo de la historia. A partir de esta definicin el nmero y variedad de bienes que
pueden ser considerados como integrantes del Patrimonio Agrario es muy amplio. Podemos distinguir
si seguimos la clasificacin de bienes utilizada habitualmente en la normativa patrimonial entre
bienes muebles (utensilios, aperos o herramientas utilizados para la labranza, transporte, almacenaje y
manufactura de los cultivos y el ganado, documentos y objetos bibliogrficos, etc.), bienes inmuebles
singulares (elementos constructivos considerados singularmente: cortijos, huertas, centros de transfor-
macin agraria, graneros, cercados, eras, etc.), bienes inmuebles de conjunto o lineales (paisajes, asenta-
mientos rurales, sistemas de riego, agroecosistemas singulares, vas pecuarias, caminos, etc.), patrimonio
inmaterial (lingstica, creencias, rituales y actos festivos, conocimientos, gastronoma y cultura culinaria,
[14]
Figura 2. Sitio Histrico de la Alpujarra Media y la Taha (Granada). Autor: Jos Castillo Ruiz.
Figura 3. Vacies de las Minas de Alquife (Granada). Declarado Lugar de Inters Industrial en 2010.
Autor: Jos Castillo Ruiz.
Universitario, etc. Aunque menos perceptibles que en el caso anterior, las

consecuencias para la tutela derivadas de la incorporacin de estos tipos de
bienes tambin van a ser importantes.
tcnicas artesanales, tesoros vivos, etc.) y patrimonio natural y gentico (variedades locales de cultivos,
razas autctonas de animales, semillas, suelos, vegetacin y animales silvestres asociados, etc.). Castillo
Ruiz, J., (dir.), La Carta de Baeza sobre Patrimonio Agrario, Sevilla, UNIA, 2013.
[15]
JOS CASTILLO RUIZ
Figura 4. Huerta del Tamarit. Vega de Granada. Autor: Jos Castillo Ruiz.
Uno de los efectos ms claramente perceptibles de estas tendencias en la evo-

lucin del concepto de Patrimonio Histrico es la confusin y controversia que
se est generando en torno a los criterios utilizados para determinar cundo un
determinado bien puede ser o no Patrimonio. Esta confusin se produce en varios
sentidos:
En la dimensin territorial7. La incorporacin cada vez ms importante de
la dimensin territorial del Patrimonio Histrico est planteando numerosos
interrogantes en torno a los criterios utilizados para su identificacin formal
y valorativa, confusin esta extensible tambin a la proteccin. Podemos
identificar varias situaciones problemticas.
La primera de ellas es la confrontacin que se est generando entre el
modelo de proteccin (y de reconocimiento patrimonial) difuso instituido
a travs de los instrumentos de ordenacin y planificacin territorial (y
avalado por el Convenio Europeo del Paisaje del 2000)8 y el derivado de
la legislacin de Patrimonio Histrico, basado en la declaracin de bienes
territoriales concretos a travs de figuras como la de Paisaje Cultural o, en
el caso de Andaluca, la Zona Patrimonial y, por lo general, con el mximo
nivel de proteccin, el de BIC.
7 Castillo Ruiz, J., La dimensin territorial del Patrimonio Histrico, en Castillo Ruiz, J., Cejudo Garca, E.
y Ortega Ruiz, A. (eds.), Patrimonio histrico y desarrollo territorial, Sevilla, UNIA, 2009, pp. 26-48.
8 Zoido Naranjo, F., El paisaje y su utilidad para la ordenacin del territorio, en Zoido, F. y Venegas,
C. (coord.), Paisaje y Ordenacin del Territorio, Sevilla, Consejera de Obras Pblicas y Transportes y
Fundacin Duques de Soria, 2002.
[16]
La segunda, es la dificultad que existe para delimitar los bienes territoria-

les declarados Patrimonio Histrico. Aunque desde el punto de vista de
la valoracin cultural del territorio esta delimitacin no debera suponer
mayores problemas, la aplicacin sobre el mismo del incisivo y poderoso
rgimen de proteccin derivado de la declaracin de BIC est provocando
que se replanteen los criterios de delimitacin para minimizar los efectos
de la declaracin, reduciendo los lmites lo mximo posible, lo cual supone
subvertir la esencia de los bienes territoriales.
La ltima cuestin controvertida en relacin a esta dimensin territorial
comentada es la confusin que muchas veces se produce entre bienes
territoriales de carcter objetivo y tutelar y otros de carcter instrumental
y coyuntural. Sucede mucho con las rutas culturales o los programas de
gestin patrimonial de carcter local donde la inclusin de un bien u otro
depende de cuestiones circunstanciales (propiedad del bien, existencia
de recursos tursticos, partido poltico que gestiona el lugar, presin ur-
banstica, etc.), y por lo general van asociados a la creacin de productos
tursticos culturales o a sistemas de gestin viables econmica o poltica-
mente.
En la dimensin temporal. Una de las vas de ampliacin del concepto de
Patrimonio Histrico es a travs del acercamiento cada vez mayor de sus l-
mites hacia el presente. Sucede con el patrimonio industrial, la arquitectura
contempornea pero, sobre todo, con aquellos patrimonios vinculados con
la cultura popular o considerados vivos (incluidos los relacionados con las
actividades antes comentados). En este caso, su ineludible recreacin per-
manente (o pervivencia) en el presente genera mucha confusin sobre los
lmites temporales del Patrimonio Histrico. Superados los mtodos abstrac-
tos pero muy objetivos (y de una gran seguridad jurdica) de la antigedad
(50, 60 o 100 aos), resulta imprescindible establecer otros que permitan
objetivar la prctica patrimonialista. Desde nuestro punto de vista los cri-
terios a considerar para clarificar estos lmites temporales deberan ser los
siguientes:
Distincin entre pasado y presente9. Debe existir una ruptura significati-
va entre el contexto originario del bien y el presente. Esta puede ser de
muy diferente tipo: abandono o cambio radical del uso, obsolescencia
funcional, material o tecnolgica, modificacin irreversible de la situa-
cin jurdica o urbanstica, prdida definitiva de las connotaciones ideo-
lgicas asociadas, etc.
9 Como dice Franoise Choay, el Patrimonio Histrico est constituido por la acumulacin continua
de una diversidad de objetos agrupados por su comn pertenencia al pasado. Choay, F., Alegora del
Patrimonio. Barcelona, Gustavo Gili, 2007, p. 7.
[17]
JOS CASTILLO RUIZ
Existencia de graves amenazas de deterioro o destruccin.

Reconocimiento social de la relevancia de los significados que aporta el
bien.
Adems de la concordancia con los principios ticos del presente que
ahora comentaremos.
En la dimensin tica. Hasta la irrupcin especialmente del Patrimonio In-
material, el Patrimonio Histrico estaba determinado por dos factores que
impedan la necesidad de emitir juicios histricos o ticos sobre el mismo:
la condicin de pasado (lo que someta la calificacin de la Historia a la re-
latividad del momento histrico en el que se produca el hecho a preservar)
y su prevalente naturaleza material (lo que reduca su valoracin a criterios
materiales, tcnicos o artsticos). Sin embargo, con la aparicin de los bie-
nes intangibles, junto con muchos otros de los que estn expandiendo los
lmites del Patrimonio Histrico, esta dimensin tica aparece con fuerza y
bajo muchas dimensiones. Destacamos las ms importantes:
Reconocimiento de la diversidad cultural10. Aunque en realidad de lo
que se trata es de un avance en los ya reconocidos derechos culturales,
existe en este caso un deseo de la sociedad internacional por defender
culturas y grupos sociales amenazados por la homogeneizacin y globa-
lizacin social, econmica y cultural, de ah que en su defensa exista un
posicionamiento tico sobre el desarrollo del mundo.
Defensa del desarrollo sostenible. En este sentido, resulta muy interesan-
te y controvertida la caracterizacin de aquellos bienes culturales rela-
cionados con actividades humanas que han tenido y tienen un impacto
medioambiental muy importante. Deben protegerse prcticas mineras,
industriales, agrarias o pesqueras (tambin infraestructuras) que hayan
supuesto o estn suponiendo un grave impacto o deterioro medioam-
biental? En el caso del Patrimonio Agrario, este punto ha sido uno de
los que ms debate ha generado en la elaboracin de la Carta de Baeza
sobre el Patrimonio Agrario, a raz de la confrontacin tan importante
que existe en el mundo agrario entre las prcticas de manejo tradiciona-
les (las defendidas por la agroecologa) y las instauradas a partir de la
denominada Revolucin Verde. La decisin final tomada ha sido la de
decantarnos por los principios que sustentan las prcticas tradicionales
como valores del patrimonio agrario (y que se concretan en un apro-
vechamiento sostenible y dinmico de los recursos naturales, en una
10 El referente doctrinal ms importante al respecto es la Convencin sobre la proteccin y la promocin de

la diversidad de las expresiones culturales (UNESCO, 2005), donde se reconoce a la diversidad cultural
como Patrimonio Comn dela Humanidad.
[18]
adecuacin respetuosa a las condiciones naturales del medio fsico y, fi-

nalmente, en la mnima afeccin a las condiciones medioambientales de
dicho territorio), aunque dejando la puerta abierta a cualquier otro bien
que, vinculado con la agricultura industrializada, pudiera ser una gran
aportacin a la historia de la cultura o la ciencia humana (maquinaria,
variedades modificadas genticamente, sistemas de cultivo o de riego,
etc.).
Acontecimientos histricos deplorables. La necesidad de rendir tributo a
todas las personas que sufrieron, especialmente, los terribles aconteci-
mientos de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y el horror del nazismo ha dado
lugar al surgimiento por toda Europa de diferentes iniciativas (museos,
centros de interpretacin, declaracin de lugares, etc.)11 con un objetivo
inequvoco de repulsa de lo sucedido y reivindicacin y recuerdo de las
personas afectadas (posicionamiento tico). A ello hay que unir la in-
tencionalidad pedaggica de no volver a repetir lo sucedido. En el caso
espaol, esta situacin tambin se ha producido aunque con una impor-
tante diferencia: la recuperacin de la memoria histrica relacionada con
la Guerra Civil y la Dictadura de Franco se est basando (adems de en
el reconocimiento de quienes padecieron persecucin o violencia, que
es el objetivo principal) en la retirada de los edificios y espacios pblicos
de todos aquellos smbolos y monumentos de exaltacin, personal o
colectiva, de la sublevacin militar, de la Guerra Civil y de la represin
de la Dictadura12 [figura 5]. Si bien la emisin de estos juicios ticos
est siendo justificada en el mbito patrimonial por tratarse de aconte-
cimientos histricos y bienes todava vivos en el presente (de nuevo el
problema de los lmites temporales antes comentados), el peligro de esta
actitud tica es que pueda servir de coartada para su extensin a otros
acontecimientos del pasado (y que ya no estaban activos en el presente),
cuyo revisionismo pueda provocar importantes problemas patrimonia-
les. Los ejemplos que se pueden poner son muchos. En el caso espaol,
por citar algunos: la prdida de la condicin religiosa y de resistencia
contra los musulmanes del Camino de Santiago, la exaltacin del na-
cionalismo espaol en los levantamientos populares contra la invasin
francesa, la ocultacin o revisin del descubrimiento y ocupacin de
Amrica, etc.
11 Ver al respecto Poulot, D., Le muse dhistoire de la France : une culture nationale en voie de dispari-
tion?, en e-rph. Revista electrnica de Patrimonio Histrico, n. 2, junio 2008. (http://www.revistadepa-
trimonio.es/revistas/numero2/institucionespatrimonio/estudios/articulo.php). (Consultado el da 15 de
julio de 2013).
12 Ley 52/2007, de 26 de diciembre, por la que se reconocen y amplan derechos y se establecen medidas en
favor de quienes padecieron persecucin o violencia durante la guerra civil y la dictadura. Art. 15.
[19]
JOS CASTILLO RUIZ
Figura 5. Monumento a Jos Antonio Primo de Rivera (Granada). La negativa del Ayuntamiento de Granada a su retirada
ha sido denunciada en los tribunales. Autor: Jos Castillo Ruiz.
Respeto a los derechos fundamentales del hombre y los animales. Uno

de los pronunciamientos ms importantes contenidos en la Convencin
sobre Patrimonio Inmaterial de 2003 es la restriccin establecida en la
definicin de Patrimonio Inmaterial, al sealar que a los efectos de la
presente Convencin, se tendr en cuenta nicamente el patrimonio cul-
tural inmaterial que sea compatible con los instrumentos internacionales
de derechos humanos existentes y con los imperativos de respeto mutuo
entre comunidades, grupos e individuos y de desarrollo sostenible. Si a
esto unimos el consenso alcanzado en las reuniones preparatorias13 para
excluir cualquier referencia a la religin, nos encontramos con que los
principios ticos (y religiosos) se convierten en un factor de seleccin
patrimonial de primer orden, por lo que resulta inevitable que los mis-
mos acaben extendindose al conjunto del Patrimonio Intangible (y, por
qu no, al resto del Patrimonio Cultural). Adems, otro problema que se
puede plantear es entre la comunidad depositaria del bien (a la que la
UNESCO le reconoce plena legitimidad y responsabilidad sobre el mis-
mo, hasta el punto de depender de ellos la decisin de declararlo o no)
y el resto de ciudadanos (o pertenecientes al mismo grupo) que puedan
observar en esas prcticas protegidas actitudes, comportamientos o valo-
res contrarios con los derechos humanos (y animales, los cuales no son
13 Brugman, F., La Convencin para la salvaguardia del Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial, en Carrera Daz,
G. y Dietz, G. (coords.), Patrimonio Inmaterial y gestin de la diversidad, PH Cuadernos n. 17, Sevilla,
IAPH, Consejera de Cultura de la Junta de Andaluca, 2005, p. 62.
[20]
Figura 6. Desfile militar acompaando al Pendn Real en la Fiesta de la Toma de Granada (Granada).
Autor: Jos Castillo Ruiz.
reconocidos en la Convencin) actuales. El principal ejemplo en Espaa

es el de la fiesta de los toros14, pero hay muchos otros casos relacionados
con la igualdad15, la diversidad cultural16, la infancia, el medioambiente
o la libertad religiosa [fig. 6].
14 Al margen de los numerossimos espectculos pblicos ms all de las corridas que se realizan con
los toros en Espaa (y que quizs tenga en el Toro de la Vega de Tordesillas, Valladolid, su smbolo ms
conocido), el principal conflicto que se ha generado en Espaa en relacin a la fiesta de los toros ha
sido el provocado a raz de la prohibicin de la misma por parte de Catalua (en vigor desde el 1 de
enero de 2012). Esta propici que varias Comunidades Autonmicas como Madrid, Castilla la Mancha
o Murcia procedieran a declarar la misma como Bien de Inters Cultural. Quizs lo ms interesante de
estas declaraciones sea la orientacin ideolgica de las mismas, ya que si analizamos el articulado de
estos decretos tan slo nos encontramos con grandilocuentes declaraciones de principios de escaso
efecto jurdico concreto sobre los bienes (que no se precisan) que conforman este BIC. Ver al respecto:
Hurtado Gonzlez, L., Cuestiones competenciales sobre la fiesta de los toros: a propsito de su posible
declaracin legal como bien de inters cultural, en Administracin de Andaluca. Revista Andaluza de
Administracin Pblica, n. 83, 2012, pp. 13-47.
15 El ms interesante para nosotros es el ya largo conflicto generado en torno a la celebracin del Alarde
de Hondarribia (Guipzcoa), donde las mujeres han conseguido legalmente su derecho a participar en
los desfiles en igualdad de condiciones que los hombres (lo hacen a travs de la compaa mixta de
Jaizkibel) aunque eso le ha deparado la repulsa, ofensivamente manifestada cada ao por todo tipo de
medios (paraguas negros, mscaras de Mickey Mouse, bolsas de basura, etc.), de sus vecinos. Pero junto
a este caso se podran poner muchos otros como los pasos de Semana Santa (donde la participacin de
las mujeres sigue siendo mal considerada), las representaciones teatrales como el Misteri dElx, donde
las mujeres son interpretadas por hombres, etc.
16 El caso ms interesante es el de la fiesta de Moros y Cristianos tan extendida por todo el Levante espa-
ol y donde la tradicional victoria de las tropas cristianas a veces se adorna con innecesarias y crueles
humillaciones de los vencidos. Tambin se podra citar la conflictiva celebracin en Granada cada 2 de
enero de la conmemoracin de la Toma de Granada por parte de los Reyes Catlicos.
[21]
JOS CASTILLO RUIZ
3. Desafos
Los desafos que tiene planteados en la actualidad el Patrimonio Histrico son

numerossimos y afectan a todas las dimensiones de la tutela, empezando por el
primero, el de garantizar la conservacin de los mismos (sobre todo a raz de la
enorme amplitud adquirida por este en los ltimos aos). De todos estos, quisi-
ramos centrarnos en uno que tiene que ver con la propia esencia del Patrimonio
Histrico y que fue magistralmente enunciado por Vctor Hugo en 1825 en su fa-
moso panfleto por la salvaguardia de los Monumentos, Guerra a los Demoledores.
En l sentenciaba que hay dos cosas en un edificio: su uso y su belleza. Su uso
pertenece al propietario y su belleza a todo el mundo, destruirlo es entonces so-
brepasar un derecho17. Con estas palabras (luego transformadas legalmente por
Ginanni en el concepto de propiedad dividida18), se instituye un principio bsico
de la proteccin: la necesidad de armonizar el inters particular con el inters
general que subyace en cualquier tipo de bien cultural. Para nosotros, esta difcil
convivencia entre lo colectivo, lo social, lo general y lo privativo o particular si-
gue siendo uno de los principales retos planteados al Patrimonio Cultural y cuya
resolucin (o simple desarrollo) resulta muy compleja. Entre otras razones por las
mltiples dimensiones que tiene esta relacin. Nosotros vamos a hacer referencia
a varias:
La principal, desde nuestro punto de vista, la del acceso pblico fsico e
intelectual a los bienes histricos. Garantizado por la Constitucin Espao-
la (art. 46) y sancionado y desarrollado por todas las leyes de Patrimonio
Histrico existentes en Espaa, su aplicacin prctica sigue siendo residual
y, lo que es ms grave, ignorada y, por tanto, no reclamada ni por los ciu-
dadanos ni por las administraciones. El derecho a la visita pblica gratuita
contenida en las leyes espaolas debera estar en el frontispicio de todas las
instituciones pblicas de tutela.
La distorsin que est produciendo en relacin a esta cuestin de la ar-
monizacin entre pblico y privado la consideracin (casi indiscutible,
por indiscutida) del Patrimonio Histrico como un factor de desarrollo. Esta
consideracin est propiciando la puesta en marcha de todo tipo de inicia-
tivas tendentes a la puesta en valor de ese patrimonio (rutas, centros de in-
terpretacin, instalacin de usos hoteleros y similares en edificios histricos
emblemticos, reordenaciones urbanas, etc.). La consecucin a travs de
estas iniciativas de un supuesto inters general (el de la creacin de puestos
17 Hugo, V., Guerre aux dmolisseurs, en Revue de Deux Mondes, 1 marzo de 1832, p. 26 Disponible en
http://www.revuedesdeuxmondes.fr/user/details.php?author=HUGO&subject=&title=&month1=1&-
year1=1829&month2=7&year2=2013&content=&code=28148. (Consultado el 30 de julio de 2013).
18 Giannini, M. S., I beni culturali, en Rivista Trimestrale di Diritto Pubblico, anno XXVI, 1976, pp. 3-38.
[22]
de trabajo y la generacin de riqueza en general) est legitimando actuacio-

nes de dudosa validez patrimonial, lo que supone una confrontacin con
el inters general (y el derecho colectivo) contenido en la necesidad de
conservar los bienes culturales. Desde luego asistimos a una confrontacin
(y suplantacin) de intereses generales que puede ser muy perjudicial para
la salvaguardia del Patrimonio Histrico.
La irrupcin de un nivel intermedio entre el inters general y particular, el
de la comunidad o grupo social. La vinculacin con la sociedad o poblacin
local donde se sita el bien objeto de proteccin siempre ha estado pre-
sente en el Patrimonio Histrico. Sin embargo, la aparicin del Patrimonio
Inmaterial ha supuesto el reconocimiento de derechos a las comunidades
locales o grupos sociales que de forma consuetudinaria han generado el
patrimonio objeto de proteccin. Estos derechos todava estn por definir
formalmente, aunque se abre una lnea muy interesante relacionada con la
propiedad intelectual, que es la va que se est explorando en un mbito
muy cercano a este como es el de la biodiversidad cultivada. En este ltimo
caso, lo que se reivindica es el derecho de los agricultores, las comunidades
locales y los pueblos indgenas a que se reconozca su propiedad intelectual
sobre los conocimientos tradicionales asociados a las variedades locales y
razas autctonas19 y, por tanto, el derecho de explotacin comercial de las
mismas.
Menor preocupacin (terica, que no personal) nos causa, sin embargo,
una tendencia cada vez ms consolidada (sobre todo en los pases medi-
terrneos, y que se est viendo acrecentada por la crisis econmica) y que
genera bastante alarma social. Nos referimos a la privatizacin (o definitiva,
a travs de la venta, o temporal a travs de la cesin a patrocinadores) de
bienes culturales pblicos20. Si el principio de armonizacin entre inters ge-
neral y particular (articulado a partir de la obvia preponderancia del inters
general) fuera efectivo no sera muy relevante la condicin pblica o priva-
19 Al margen del reconocimiento de estos derechos en el Convenio sobre la Diversidad Biolgica (ONU,
1992) o el Tratado internacional sobre los recursos fitogenticos para la alimentacin y la agricultura
(FAO, 2001), existe un Comit Intergubernamental sobre Propiedad Intelectual y Recursos Genticos, Co-
nocimientos Tradicionales y Folclore, creado por la Organizacin Mundial de la Propiedad Intelectual
(OMPI) para analizar y regular todo lo referido a los derechos de propiedad de los conocimientos tradi-
cionales asociados a los recursos fitogenticos. La opcin que toma la UNESCO sobre esta cuestin en
la Convencin sobre Patrimonio Intangible de 2003 es la de reconocer el derecho de pertenencia de los
grupos y comunidades (a los que no define) sobre su patrimonio (de hecho, los criterios para determinar
qu es patrimonio o no depende de ellos y no de unos parmetros que evalen su excepcionalidad de
forma comparada), aunque sin reconocerles el derecho de propiedad intelectual y dejando en manos
del Estado la responsabilidad de salvaguardar ese patrimonio.
20 En Italia es donde esta cuestin se ha planteado de forma ms virulenta y con ms antelacin. Ver al
respecto: Capelli, R., Politique e poietiche per larte, Milano, Electa, 2002 y Settis, S., Italia S.p.A., Lassalto
al patrimonio culturale, Torino, Einaudi, 2002.
[23]
JOS CASTILLO RUIZ
da del titular. El evidente fracaso de esta armonizacin es lo que produce

la alarma ciudadana (y de los profesionales), ya que un bien extrado del
patrimonio de las administraciones pblicas tiene muchas menos posibili-
dades de que cumpla con su destino social.
Y una ltima cuestin. No es admisible que las restricciones sobre el dere-
cho de propiedad impuestas a los particulares derivadas de la declaracin
(sea de mayor o menor nivel) de su bien como Patrimonio Histrico se
observen indefectiblemente por parte de estos (y de la sociedad en general)
como una intromisin ilegtima que merece contraprestacin por parte de
las administraciones pblicas. Esta especie de excepcin cultural debera
erradicarse ya que estas limitaciones son similares (y a veces menos gravo-
sas para un propietario) a las impuestas por mltiples motivos (control ali-
menticio, seguridad ciudadana o vial, derechos laborales, respeto al medio
ambiente) a cualquier otro bien (una casa, un coche, una discoteca, una
granja de gallinas) y que no responden ms que al principio, sancionado
en nuestra Constitucin, de la funcin social de la propiedad.
4. Esperanzas
Aunque pueda sonar a iluso voluntarismo en tiempos tan oscuros, creemos

que el Patrimonio Histrico acoge y transmite muchas e ilusionantes esperanzas.
Aun circunscritos a nuestro pas, podemos sealar algunas de las muchas que
existen. Son estas:
Una de ellas, la riqueza, variedad, diversidad, relevancia y equilibrio territo-
rial del Patrimonio Histrico Espaol. Esto est permitiendo el desarrollo de acti-
vidades y acciones de muy diversa escala y dimensin sobre los bienes culturales,
lo que les convierte en un caudal cultural, social, econmico, educativo, etc.,
importantsimo, muy presente, adems, en la dinmica social cotidiana. A esto
hay que unir un grado de conservacin de estos bienes que en general podemos
considerar como satisfactorio.
Otra, el enorme desarrollo que ha tenido durante la etapa democrtica la ac-
tuacin en el Patrimonio Histrico, producindose un crecimiento exponencial
respecto a la situacin preexistente tanto en relacin a las declaraciones de bienes
como en lo relativo a las actuaciones de todo tipo realizadas sobre ellos (multipli-
cando por tanto tambin la financiacin). Hay que hacer mencin a la importancia
que ha tenido el Patrimonio Histrico en la rpida asimilacin por parte de la
sociedad espaola del Estado de las Autonomas21.
21 Ver al respecto Castillo Ruiz, J., La defensa y conservacin del Patrimonio heredado, en Rico, F., Gra-
cia, J., y Bonet, A. (eds.), Literatura y Bellas Artes. Coleccin Espaa siglo XXI. Vol. 5, Madrid, Editorial
Biblioteca Nueva, Instituto de Espaa, Fundacin Sistema, 2009, pp. 450-490.
[24]
Pero, sobre todo, para nosotros, la principal esperanza es la gente, la ciuda-

dana. Aunque podamos considerar que el nivel de concienciacin (y de conoci-
miento) en Espaa sobre el Patrimonio Histrico no es el deseable, en los ltimos
aos asistimos a un grado de organizacin y movilizacin de la sociedad espaola
en defensa del Patrimonio (de su Patrimonio) que nos hace albergar muchas
esperanzas sobre la adecuada conservacin y tutela del mismo en el futuro. En
este sentido, es muy reveladora la informacin arrojada por el primer estudio de
opinin realizado en Espaa sobre el Patrimonio Histrico y que ha sido promo-
vido por la Fundacin Caja Madrid. De las muchas conclusiones que se pueden
extraer de l22, quera resaltar las referidas al alto grado de concienciacin ciuda-
dana existente en relacin a la necesidad de conservar y mantener los elementos
patrimoniales, la mayoritaria consideracin de que son las administraciones pbli-
cas las que deben tener la responsabilidad de cuidar el Patrimonio o la ms que
aceptable implicacin ciudadana en la conservacin del mismo.
Al margen de estos datos, de nuestro particular anlisis de la realidad patrimo-
nial espaola a travs del Observatorio del Patrimonio Histrico Espaol (OPHE)-
23
concluimos que tambin hay motivo para la esperanza, primero por la prolife-
racin de asociaciones de todo tipo y dimensin (sobre todo en el mbito local),
segundo, por la rpida respuesta ciudadana (a travs de plataformas sociales)
que suelen tener las agresiones a bienes culturales y, finalmente, por la cada vez
mayor profesionalizacin y capacidad de estos movimientos ciudadanos, especial-
mente manifestada a travs de las acciones judiciales emprendidas (y sostenidas)
por muchos de ellos24 [figura 7].
Esto no significa que no existan contradicciones, limitaciones, carencias o equi-
vocaciones en relacin a la participacin pblica en materia de Patrimonio Hist-
rico. Nos gustara analizar al respecto algunas cuestiones:
La primera de ellas es la referida a la legitimidad de la participacin pblica.
Ms concretamente a la identificacin de los grupos sociales o ciudadanos que
22 Morate Martn, G., (dir.), Conocimiento y percepcin del Patrimonio Histrico en la sociedad espaola,
Madrid, Caja Madrid, 2012.
23 http://www.ophe.es/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=69. (Consultado el 30 de
julio de 2013)
24 Para nosotros el principal smbolo de esta nueva era de la participacin social es el movimiento ciuda-
dano generado en torno a la destruccin del barrio histrico del Cabanyal en Valencia. La diversidad de
acciones emprendidas, la escala nacional e internacional dada a su reivindicacin, la variedad de colec-
tivos implicados (residentes y no residentes), la consistencia y permanencia de su reclamacin judicial o
los xitos conseguidos (entre otros, la primera declaracin como expolio por parte del gobierno central
de una actuacin patrimonial promovida por una Comunidad Autnoma) son algunas de la muchas
razones que explican la ejemplaridad de este movimiento. Ver al respecto: Herrero Garca, L. F., y Sol-
devilla Liao, M., La plataforma Salvem El Cabanyal: doce aos de lucha ciudadana, en e-rph. Revista
electrnica de Patrimonio Histrico, n. 6, junio 2010. Disponible en http://www.revistadepatrimonio.
es/revistas/numero6/iniciativas/experiencias/articulo.php. (Consultado el da 30 de julio de 2013).
[25]
JOS CASTILLO RUIZ
Figura 7. Manifestacin (25/4/2004) en defensa del Cabanyal (Valencia). Autor: Betoret Rams.
disponen de legitimidad para participar, reclamar, disfrutar o aprovecharse del

Patrimonio Histrico.
En este sentido, un principio irrenunciable del Patrimonio Histrico es su con-
dicin de bien de inters general, lo que nos remite a todas las personas (con
independencia de su cultura o nacionalidad) como depositarias y destinatarias
del mismo. A partir de este incuestionable principio, los bienes culturales tienen
muchas otras dimensiones valorativas (nacionales, regionales, comarcales, locales,
etc.) y, sobre todo, muchos efectos sociales y econmicos, por lo que las personas
afectadas empiezan a diversificarse y diferenciarse segn la dimensin o efecto
que sealemos. Por lo tanto, partiendo de la prevalencia del inters general, de-
bera intentarse buscar la armonizacin entre todas estas dimensiones sociales. No
obstante, las situaciones conflictivas que se plantean son muchas. Una de ellas
es la referida al papel que debe desempear la poblacin afectada (propietarios
de inmuebles, residentes, usuarios, trabajadores, etc.) por la proteccin, especial-
mente como BIC, de un determinado bien. Desde nuestro punto de vista, el pro-
tagonismo que debe tener esta poblacin debe ser importante (sobre todo debe
quedar garantizada su participacin efectiva y continua), pero no determinante
ni desde luego excluyente, sobre todo, en el proceso de declaracin. Si bien las
declaraciones que se realizan contra las poblaciones afectadas suelen ser muy
contraproducentes, no podemos obviar que estas se hacen para salvaguardar los
valores culturales de inters general presentes en el bien objeto de proteccin, los
cuales deben trascender el inters concreto de estos ciudadanos.
Otra de las carencias de la implicacin social en el Patrimonio Histrico es la
escasa participacin de los jvenes en los movimientos ciudadanos (lo cual con-
[26]
Figura 8. Debate (12/5/2011) sobre la proteccin de la Vega de Granada en la acampada organizada por el 15M en la
Plaza del Ayuntamiento de Granada. Foto: Gloria Prez Crdoba.
trasta con lo que sucede en el mbito del Medio Ambiente o en otros mbitos
sociales o asistenciales). Una de las razones que explica esta situacin (al margen
de la escasa e inadecuada presencia de los temas patrimoniales en el currculum
escolar) es la excesiva vinculacin de las acciones de defensa ciudadana (y sobre
todo de las asociaciones) con el pasado, el conocimiento y los objetivos conserva-
cionistas. Si queremos conseguir un mayor compromiso de la juventud, es necesa-
rio incorporar a estos movimientos ciudadanos aspectos como los del desarrollo
sostenible, integracin social, diversidad cultural, lucha contra la especulacin y la
globalizacin, autenticidad, vinculacin con la naturaleza, etc. Contenidos todos
ellos muy cercanos a las expectativas vitales de las personas ms jvenes y que
las encontramos en muchas actividades tutelares: rehabilitacin de viviendas en
un centro histrico, defensa de inmuebles y espacios amenazados de destruccin
por la especulacin urbanstica, defensa del modelo de desarrollo sostenible con-
tenido en el patrimonio rural, etc. [figura 8].
5. Efectos sobre la restauracin monumental
La necesaria integracin de la restauracin dentro del proceso tutelar hace que

todas estas tendencias, retos y esperanzas tengan su trasunto en el mbito de la
restauracin, justificando o explicando criterios o comportamientos en relacin a
la intervencin sobre la materialidad del bien inmueble. Por sealar algunas:
La inadecuada armonizacin entre la extensin del concepto de Patrimo-
nio Histrico, en particular el patrimonio inmueble, y la formulacin de los
criterios de restauracin. En los ltimos aos, como se expone en varios
captulos de este libro, la Arquitectura ha fijado sus ojos en los edificios con
memoria, los preexistentes, generando proyectos de una gran brillantez
esttica y simblica a partir de la libre y casi incondicionada utilizacin de
[27]
JOS CASTILLO RUIZ
las claves culturales del inmueble25. En la mayora de los casos, estos edifi-
cios con pulso suelen pertenecer a esos nuevos patrimonios emergentes
o perifricos que en estas ltimas dcadas han empezado a asomarse al
Patrimonio Histrico. Esta situacin, en cierta forma, est propiciando un
cuestionamiento de los principios o criterios instituidos de la restauracin
debido a la efectista capacidad para generar nuevos smbolos urbanos o
territoriales, difciles de impugnar por ninguna disciplina o principio tutelar.
Urge clarificar conceptos, desactivar estrategias de confusin, invalidar acti-
tudes pseudocientficas.
La restauracin es una prctica muy asentada y definida, con unas exigencias
metodolgicas muy contrastadas y asimiladas que no pueden obviarse cuando
se interviene en un edificio histrico. Otra cosa diferente son los proyectos ar-
quitectnicos sobre inmuebles histricos en los que an no est formalizado su
reconocimiento patrimonial (es decir no estn declarados o lo estn de forma
somera y poco fundada). Eso no puede confundirse con la restauracin, aunque
intente asemejarse a la misma para apropiarse de su alto significado cientfico
y cultural. Pero eso no significa tampoco que deban invalidarse, ya que en mu-
chos casos estos proyectos sirven para avanzar en la construccin patrimonial,
ya no tanto de ese bien como del tipo de bien (industrial, agrario, etc.) al que
pertenecen.
La traslacin a la restauracin de los efectos de la nueva finalidad producti-
va de la tutela. La orientacin mayoritaria de la tutela hacia la generacin de
riqueza est propiciando que los recursos, proyectos y voluntades se orien-
ten mayoritariamente hacia actividades de puesta en valor, donde tiene un
papel muy destacado todo lo relacionado con las recreaciones virtuales y
reales (comidas, acontecimientos histricos, formas de vida, etc.), dada su
alta capacidad para aumentar la capacidad de disfrute (y por tanto de atrac-
cin) de visitantes y turistas que acuden a los destinos monumentales. Gran
parte de estas actuaciones son de gestin y no requieren una actuacin
directa sobre el recurso patrimonial, pero son tan poderosas que el mtodo
cientfico de intervencin sobre esa realidad, la restauracin, no puede sus-
traerse a la potencia y dimensin social de las mismas. Desde luego, decir
que existe una clara concordancia, por ejemplo, entre estas ambientaciones
y recreaciones de monumentos o espacios histricos y la cada vez menos
denostada y reprimida aceptacin de la reconstruccin de monumentos por
parte de la restauracin (tanto real como legal) no resulta nada descabella-
do [figura 9].
25 De los muchos ejemplos que se analizarn en este libro, la intervencin que a nosotros nos resulta ms
representativa de esta situacin es la transformacin del edificio de la antigua Estacin Elctrica del Me-
dioda realizada por Jacques Herzog y Pierre de Meuron para la construccin del Caixaforum de Madrid.
[28]
Figura 9. Fortaleza de la Mota (Alcal la Real, Jan). Ejemplo importante de confluencia entre los criterios de restauracin
y de interpretacin. Autor: Jos Castillo Ruiz.
La difcil incorporacin de la participacin pblica en el proceso de restau-

racin. Antoni Gonzlez ha demostrado suficientemente a lo largo de su
brillante y dilatada trayectoria como director del SPAL de la Diputacin de
Barcelona que la participacin continua de los ciudadanos en los proyectos
de restauracin, adems de necesaria, es factible y muy provechosa. Pero
no siempre la participacin de la sociedad es posible ni beneficiosa para
el proyecto de intervencin, generndose conflictos de importancia. Aqu
tenemos que considerar algunas variables: la restauracin requiere de un
alto grado de conocimiento tcnico, histrico y cientfico, lo que limita el
entendimiento de la misma. Existe una clara decantacin de la sociedad
por todos aquellos tipos de intervencin relacionados con la reconstruccin
y la ambientacin26, lo que dificulta el entendimiento, en general, de los
modelos conservacionistas. Existe as mismo un generalizado rechazo por
la ciudadana a la incorporacin de formas y materiales contemporneos
en los edificios y espacios histricos, lo cual no revierte necesariamente en
un mayor conservacionismo, que es como generalmente es observada esta
actitud. Todo esto hace difcil mantener un equilibrio entre las exigencias
cientficas y tcnicas, la legtima actuacin de la administracin de cultura
(intrprete del inters general que debe respetarse en toda intervencin) y
26 A pesar del diferente contexto histrico y cultural en que se enunci, no deja de ser igualmente vlida
la argumentacin utilizada por Alos Riegl para explicar este irreprimible impulso ciudadano: el valor
artstico de novedad. Riegl, A., El culto moderno a los monumentos Caracteres y origen. Madrid, Visor,
1987.
[29]
JOS CASTILLO RUIZ
Figura 10. Manifestacin de rechazo (helipuerto) ante la intervencin en un mirador en el Albaicn diseado a partir de
la suma de exigencias vecinales. Autor: Jos Castillo Ruiz.
el sentir de la poblacin. Desde luego, la solucin no es la minusvaloracin

de la opinin ciudadana, sino que debe ser la de generar un sistema conti-
nuo y creble de explicacin y participacin de la sociedad, en la lnea ya
experimentada por la restauracin objetiva y reforzada por el gran hallazgo
del abierto por obras de la Catedral de Vitoria27 [figura 10].
27 Lasagabaster, I., La restauracin democrtica. La Catedral de Santa Mara de Vitoria, en Henares Cullar,
I., (ed.), La proteccin del Patrimonio Histrico en la Espaa democrtica, Granada, Universidad, Caja
Madrid, 2010, pp. 183-214.
[30]
RESTAURACIN, TRANSFORMACIN, RECICLAJE. LA DERIVA DE LA
DISCIPLINA MS ALL DE LOS CRITERIOS CONSOLIDADOS
ASCENSIN HERNNDEZ MARTNEZ*
Resumen: En los ltimos aos se constata en el mbito de la restauracin arqui-

tectnica una tendencia a evitar el uso del trmino restauracin a favor de otros
como transformacin, reciclaje, reutilizacin, recualificacin, apropiacin o mu-
tacin. En opinin de la autora, este cambio terminolgico pone en evidencia un
rechazo a algunos de los criterios asumidos en el campo de la restauracin de edi-
ficios histricos, en pro de una mayor libertad proyectual a la hora de intervenir
en los monumentos, con el consiguiente peligro para la transmisin de los valores
histricos y culturales del patrimonio. Se analizan como base para exponer estos
argumentos intervenciones recientes en diversos pases**.
Palabras clave: Patrimonio Histrico. Restauracin. Transformacin. Reciclaje.
Arquitectura.
Nuevos trminos para nuevos conceptos?
En enero de 2013, la revista espaola Arquitectura Viva cambiaba su formato

con un nmero monogrfico dedicado a lo que tradicionalmente se habra deno-
minado restauracin monumental, pero que de manera significativa se anunciaba
como Transformaciones. La segunda vida de los edificios. En la presentacin
de este nmero, el director de la revista, el prestigioso crtico y arquitecto Luis
Fernndez-Galiano1, no hablaba de valores sino de capitales, tampoco usaba
el trmino edificios restaurados sino arquitecturas transformadas, como si estas
* Profesora Titular de Historia del Arte. Universidad de Zaragoza. ashernan@unizar.es

** Esta investigacin se desarrolla en el marco del proyecto Museos y barrios artsticos: arte pblico, artistas
e instituciones (referencia HAR2012-38899-C02-0, 2013-2015), financiado por el Ministerio de Economa
y Competividad (Espaa) y desarrollado en la Universidad de Zaragoza, del cual es investigador princi-
pal el profesor Jess Pedro Lorente Lorente.
1 Fernndez Galiano, L., Transformaciones, en Arquitectura Viva, n. 148, 2013, p. 3.
[31]
ASCENSIN HERNNDEZ MARTNEZ
palabras (valores, restauraciones) implicaran algo obsoleto, anticuado, inservi-

ble. No deja de ser relevante que Fernndez Galiano utilice trminos claramente
ligados al mundo de la economa como es capital, acompandolos de adjetivos
como termodinmico, informativo y simblico, en vez de hablar de valor mate-
rial, valor histrico y valor social de la arquitectura. Y no es el nico que usa es-
tas palabras. De hecho sorprende la reiteracin de trminos como reutilizacin,
recualificacin, reciclaje2 (este es el preferido porque es citado hasta la saciedad
en numerosos artculos y textos editados en Espaa en los ltimos aos!3), pala-
bras que precedidas por el prefijo re- suponen una intensificacin, un refuerzo,
un nfasis que debera conducirnos a pensar que algo est sucediendo en el
mundo de la conservacin del patrimonio monumental, dado que a juzgar por
las intervenciones sobre arquitectura histrica a las que se aplica, a veces estas se
encuentran muy lejos de lo que venimos considerando como restauracin. Otras
palabras empleadas en la actualidad proceden del campo del arte contempor-
neo (apropiacin), del diseo de interiores (alteracin4) e incluso de las ciencias
(mutacin).
Esta variedad terminolgica es un sntoma de un cambio en la disciplina? Es
difcil saberlo todava, sin embargo la tarea propia del historiador es indagar estas
cuestiones, pensar crtica e histricamente qu revelan. Quizs esto no sucede
en otros pases como Italia, donde la cultura de la restauracin arquitectnica es
centenaria y aparentemente slida, mientras en el resto de Europa y en particular
en Espaa, la situacin es muy compleja y sobre todo llamativa en cuanto se evita
el uso del trmino restauracin. De hecho, existe una clara conciencia en nuestro
medio profesional de que la reflexin en torno a la restauracin se circunscribe
sustancialmente a Italia, hasta tal punto que se utiliza incluso la expresin res-
tauracin a la italiana, puesto que en el resto de Europa las controversias se
centran ms en aspectos tcnicos que en tericos5, siendo numerosos los autores
que subrayan la ausencia en nuestro pas de un verdadero debate en torno a los
criterios y a la teora de la restauracin6.
2 Las cursivas utilizadas en este texto son de la autora.

3 Entre ellos destaca el nmero monogrfico RECLAIM. Remediate Reuse Recycle, de la revista a + t, n.
39-40, 2012.
4 Scott, F., On altering architecture, London & New York, Routledge, 2008.
5 Torsello, B. P. (ed.), Che cos il restauro? A. Bellini, G. Carbonara, S. Casiello, R. Cecchi, M. Dezzi Bar-
deschi, P. Fancelli, P. Marconi, G. Spagnesi Cimbolli, B.P. Torsello, Venecia, Marsilio Editori, 2005, p. 9.
6 Sobre esta situacin pueden consultarse: Rivera, J., Restauraciones arquitectnicas y Democracia en
Espaa, en BAU (Revista de Arquitectura, Urbanismo, Arte y Diseo), Revista del Colegio Oficial de
Arquitectos de Castilla y Len Este y Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Castilla-la Mancha, Ao II, n. 4
(1990), Valladolid, pp. 24-41; Grassot, L., El azaroso paso del Rubicn de la restauracin monumental
en Espaa, en Informes de la Construccin, vol. 44, n. 427, sept-octubre 1993, pp. 5-15; Jimnez Mar-
tn, A., Rememorando 25 aos de intervenciones en el patrimonio histrico, en 25 aniversario de las
Jornadas Internacionales de Intervencin en el Patrimonio Histrico-Artstico, Actas de las XIII Jornadas
[32]
RESTAURACIN, TRANSFORMACIN, RECICLAJE. LA DERIVA DE LA DISCIPLINA
Pero, qu hemos entendido por restauracin hasta hoy? Al margen de las

discrepancias puntuales (lgicas, por otro lado en cualquier disciplina) puede
decirse que desde hace dcadas existe un consenso sobre qu es la restauracin:
un proceso que debe mantener un carcter excepcional, cuyo objetivo es con-
servar y revelar los valores formales e histricos del monumento, fundamentado
sobre el respeto a la sustancia antigua y a la documentacin autntica () que
debe pararse cuando empiezan las hiptesis7, y sobre ciertos aspectos de la
misma: la restauracin debe servir para prolongar la vida de la obra de arte en
su consistencia fsica, con todos los medios tecnolgicos disponibles a nuestro
alcance; la restauracin debe asegurar la permanencia de las huellas del tiempo
que caracterizan el monumento en su configuracin general y en sus mnimas
partes, independientemente de cualquier juicio o preferencia de naturaleza estti-
ca o histrica; por ltimo, la restauracin debe asegurar la posibilidad de utilizar
el monumento en los casos en que se puedan asumir con lgica estas formas y
funciones, sin contradecir los puntos anteriores8. De la misma manera, existe una
metodologa de la disciplina consensuada y compartida que sirve como garanta
de una correcta restauracin: la lectura previa (el anlisis del monumento, de sus
circunstancias y de los problemas que hay que resolver en todos los aspectos
posibles histricos, materiales, arquitectnicos, simblicos), el planteamiento de
los objetivos a alcanzar, el proyecto arquitectnico, la ejecucin de la obra y la
difusin de la actuacin.
Sin embargo, como hemos afirmado, hoy se est evitando de manera conscien-
te el uso del trmino restauracin a favor de otros como transformacin, reciclaje,
reutilizacin, recualificacin, apropiacin o mutacin9, vocablo este que se aplica
tambin a la arquitectura contempornea para explicar los profundos cambios
producidos en la disciplina con motivo de la crisis de la burbuja inmobiliaria, el
alejamiento de los edificios icnicos y el retorno a cuestiones como la sostenibili-
dad, la humildad, la contencin, la arquitectura como un hecho social y cultural10.
Como ejemplo concreto de esta actitud, el famoso arquitecto holands Rem
Koolhas rehuye el trmino restauracin, prefiriendo el de preservacin. En una
provocativa conferencia dada en 2004 en la Universidad de Columbia11, Koolhas
de intervencin en el Patrimonio Histrico-Artstico. En el umbral de la memoria (Logroo, 3 al 6 de

noviembre de 2005), Logroo, Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de La Rioja, 2007, pp. 23-77.
7 Esta es la definicin de restauracin en la Carta del Restauro de 1972, cfr. (Torsello, op. cit. p. 142).
8 Torsello, B. P., Che cos , op. cit., p. 142.
9 Linazasoro, J. I., Mutaciones del patrimonio, en Arquitectura Viva, n. 148, 2013, p. 7.
10 Arquitectura Mutante. Regreso a la esencia de una profesin tocada por la crisis, en Babelia, suple-
mento cultural del diario El Pas, n. 1.091, 20.10.2012.
11 Koolhas, R., Preservation is overtaking us, en Future Anterior. Journal of Historic Preservation, 2004,
vol. I, n. 2, pp. 1-3; Otero-Pailos, J., Suplemento al manifiesto de preservacin de OMA, en Quaderns,
n. 263, 2011, pp. 41-52.
[33]
reflexionaba sobre la situacin del patrimonio cultural, lanzando unas incitantes

ideas que aos ms tarde materializara en Cronocaos, una exposicin organizada
en el marco de la Bienal de Venecia de 201012. Mirando hacia atrs en el tiempo,
Koolhas sostena que nos encontramos en un momento absurdo en el que la pre-
servacin nos ha sobrepasado, en el que el excesivo conservacionismo presidido
por lo que l denominaba el lobby de la autenticidad, antigedad y belleza, se ha
convertido en una epidemia que est destruyendo nuestras ciudades, entre otras
cuestiones porque provoca la gentrification (el fenmeno de desplazamiento de
la poblacin local de menor poder adquisitivo a favor de los turistas y de los
habitantes con mayor status econmico), aadiendo que cuando preservamos un
edificio lo convertimos en algo artificial.
La exposicin Cronocaos era especialmente virulenta contra movimientos e
instituciones como la UNESCO, a las que Koolhas criticaba por su excesivo pro-
teccionismo, proponiendo de hecho restringir la indiscriminada lista de edificios
a proteger; ms an, de manera provocativa Koolhas planteaba la necesidad de
confeccionar una lista de edificios-basura a demoler (Convention Concerning the
Demolition of World Cultural Junk13) como complemento a la famosa Convencin
sobre la proteccin del patrimonio mundial firmada en Pars en 1972.
Es obvio que la actitud de Koolhas responde a una visin polmica y limitada
de la restauracin, pero est teniendo mucho eco dada su posicin privilegiada
como una de las personalidades ms preeminentes de la arquitectura contempor-
nea. El trmino preservacin, que en realidad procede del mundo de la ecologa,
ha sido recogido ya en numerosos medios, que alertan (no sin cierta parte de
razn) de cmo a menudo la restauracin enmascara la mercantilizacin de la
historia y de la memoria colectiva, y la transformacin de la arquitectura histrica
en un mecanismo de reclamo y consumo14.
De manera similar y sin plantearla como derivada de la opinin del holands
sino como sntoma de la opinin del medio profesional, el arquitecto espaol An-
drs Cnovas, del estudio Amann, Cnovas y Maruri, sostiene que: Los trminos
rehabilitacin y conservacin se presentan como grapas que fijan las actuaciones
a una realidad sobre lo existente: devolver la construccin a su estado original
como si esto fuese deseable o posible o, en su caso, aplicarle el cloroformo
de la estabilizacin15, y rechaza el trmino conservacin prefiriendo el de in-
tervencin, que considera ms excitante, o reciclado, este ltimo de enorme
intensidad potica segn Canovas. De hecho, Cnovas destaca las ventajas que
12 Stoppani, T., Altered States of Preservation. Preservation by OMA/AMO, en Future Anterior. Journal of
Historic Preservation, 2011, vol. VIII, n. 1, pp. 97-109.
13 Stoppani, T., Altered States , en op. cit.
14 Avils, P., Preservacin, ideologa y cultura, en Quaderns, n. 263, 2011, pp. 13-16.
15 Cnovas, A., Despus de la industria, en Arquitectura Viva, n. 148, 2013, p. 21.
[34]
presenta desde este punto de vista la arquitectura industrial obsoleta, ya que

ofrece ms posibilidades de intervencin. De esta manera, el patrimonio es con-
siderado como un contenedor de energas latentes y aprovechables, un objeto a
apropiar y transformar creativamente, a reciclar para producir algo nuevo. Parece
evidente, por tanto, que la lgica imperante hoy no es tanto conservar el pasado,
como apropiarse de l.
Por su parte, Anatxu Zabalbescoa, historiadora del arte y crtico de arquitectu-
ra, subraya precisamente cmo una de las tendencias en alza en la reutilizacin
de los edificios histricos es la recuperacin, una actitud cercana a una esttica
povera segn Zabalbescoa, en la que los edificios han pasado a hablar desde
su estructura, desde su verdad, y eso implica liberar y no encubrir el pasado.16
Una nueva esttica de la sobriedad y la austeridad como respuesta a los tiempos
de crisis y en rechazo a la ostentacin y espectacularidad de aos atrs17, a la que
responderan numerosos ejemplos actuales.
En la misma lnea Paul Goldberger, el crtico norteamericano del prestigioso
diario The New York Times, prefiere el trmino reparacin a rehabilitacin o
restauracin, en un intento por pasar pgina en relacin a esa arquitectura,
contagiada por el ritmo frentico de la sociedad de consumo, que ha invadido
impunemente nuestras sociedades.18 Concebida de esta manera la intervencin
en el patrimonio histrico, la reparacin dara la oportunidad a la arquitectura de
recuperar su perdido rol social y cultural.
Algunos casos de estudio
Entre los casos espaoles a mencionar destaca el conjunto de actuaciones

emprendidas en el Matadero de Madrid19, un monumental y unitario complejo
de gran inters arquitectnico y urbanstico de casi 150.000 m2, diseado por
el arquitecto Luis Bellido entre 1908 y 1925, en uso hasta 1996, calificado como
bien catalogado en el Plan General de Ordenacin Urbana de 1997. Desde el
ao 2000, este significativo testimonio de la arquitectura industrial madrilea est
16 Zabalbescoa, A., La esttica povera impone su criterio moral, en El Pas, 3 enero 2013.
17 Zabalbescoa, A., Arquitectura en tiempos de crisis (2 febrero 2011). Consultado el 29 agosto 2013, en
la edicin digital http://blogs.elpais.com/del-tirador-a-la-ciudad/.
18 Editorial, en On Diseo, n. 330, 2013, monogrfico Arquitectura y rehabilitacin, p. 43.
19 Sobre la historia y transformaciones actuales de este edificio puede consultarse: Bellido, L., El nuevo
matadero y mercado de ganados. Memoria explicativa del edificio, Madrid, Imprenta Municipal, 1910;
Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos, ed. El Matadero Municipal de Madrid - La recuperacin de la memoria,
Madrid, Ayuntamiento de Madrid, 2010; Hernndez Martnez, A., El museo como reclamo turstico de
la ciudad. Caixa Frum Madrid y el Matadero de Madrid, en Integracin y resistencia en la era global.
Evento terico X Bienal de la Habana, La Habana, Bienal de La Habana y SEACEX, Ministerio de Asuntos
Exteriores y de Cooperacin, 2009, pp. 133-146.
[35]
inmerso en un relevante proceso de rehabilitacin, dentro de una estratgica pol-

tica municipal, para el que se dise el Plan Especial de Intervencin, Adecuacin
Arquitectnica y Control Urbanstico-Ambiental de usos en el mbito del antiguo
Matadero Municipal en 200520, que inclua la introduccin de nuevos usos para
convertirlo en una ciudad de la creacin, un nuevo polo cultural al sur de la
capital en la lnea de las fbricas de la cultura que han proliferado en todo el
mundo en las ltimas dcadas21.
Los criterios de intervencin incluidos en dicho plan se basaban en la reversibi-
lidad, la flexibilidad y el respeto mximo a las estructuras originales, establecien-
do la preservacin de la envolvente de las naves, y tambin la reversibilidad,
de modo que los edificios puedan ser fcilmente devueltos a su estado original.
Asimismo se consideraba que se deban respetar expresamente todas las huellas
del pasado para reforzar el carcter experimental de las nuevas instituciones que
alojan22.
A partir de este momento, el Matadero se convierte en un activo laboratorio
experimental tanto en el campo de la creacin y la gestin cultural como en la
restauracin monumental23. Un espacio donde conviven diversas instituciones (el
Ayuntamiento de Madrid, el Teatro Espaol, la Central de Diseo, la Fundacin
Ruiprez, entre otras), promotoras a su vez de la conservacin de diferentes partes
del complejo con diversos criterios de intervencin, lo que lo convierte en un fas-
cinante caso de estudio, revelador de algunas de las tendencias y contradicciones
actuales en materia de conservacin del patrimonio histrico.
Entre las intervenciones ms interesantes, hay que mencionar la Cineteca
abierta en 2011 [figura 1], una pionera institucin dedicada en exclusiva al cine
documental24. El proyecto se debe al estudio ch+qs (arquitectos Jos Mara Chur-
tichaga y Cayetana de la Quadra Salcedo), que ha transformado cuatro de las
naves en dos salas de proyeccin, un plat de grabacin, un archivo, un patio
para cine de verano y una cantina25. El resultado ha sido calificado por la crtica
internacional como un espacio futurista26 propio de un escenario de Metrpo-
20 Documento incluido en http:/www.mataderomadrid.org/una-nueva-arquitectura-para-los-nuevos-tiem-

pos.html/, pgina web consultada el 12 marzo 2013.
21 Lucas, A, Un matadero para el arte de vanguardia, en El Mundo, Madrid, 14 de marzo de 2006,
p. 53.
22 Documento incluido en http:/www.mataderomadrid.org/una-nueva-arquitectura-para-los-nuevos-tiem-
pos.html/, pgina web consultada el 12 marzo 2013.
23 Sobre el conjunto de las intervenciones puede consultarse: Centro de Creacin Matadero, Madrid, en
AV Monografas, n. 159-160, Espaa 2013, pp. 28-53.
24 http://www.mataderomadrid.org/cineteca.html, pgina web consultada el 26 agosto 2013.
25 Cineteca y archivo de creadores, Madrid, en Arquitectura Viva, n. 140, 2011, pp. 82-85.
26 Wildman, S., From neglect to cultural nucleus, en International Herald Tribune, weekend 2-3 february,
2013, pag. 16.
[36]
Figura 1. Auditorio de la Cineteca del Matadero de Madrid (2015). Foto de la autora.
lis27, una arquitectura inspiradora28, considerada como uno de los diez mejores
espacios interiores en nuestro pas29. Definida acertadamente como una operacin
de reciclaje de una construccin histrica30, las claves de la misma han consisti-
do en la experimentacin con materiales inusuales como mangueras industriales
con las que se ha revestido el interior del archivo y las salas de proyeccin, y el
tratamiento de la luz, con un sistema de leds ocultos para crear unos espacios
mgicos y sorprendentes segn el crtico Lltzer Moix31, evocadores de los cines
de los aos 30 y 40.
Igualmente espectacular desde el resultado visual, pero controvertido desde
el punto de vista de los criterios de intervencin, es la Casa del Lector, una ins-
titucin gestionada por la Fundacin Ruiprez dedicada al fomento y promocin
de la lectura, inaugurada en 2012. Instalada en las naves 13, 14, 17 b y 17 c, con
una superficie total superior a 8.000 m2, el proyecto ha sido realizado por En-
samble Studio (arquitecto Antn Garca Abril), vencedor del concurso restringido
realizado en 2006. En la intervencin destacan las gigantescas vigas de hormign
pretensado de cuarenta toneladas cada una, insertadas transversalmente en los
huecos de las naves 13 y 14, que introducen un nuevo orden perpendicular a
27 Lpez, A., Madrids Killer Cinema, en The New York Times, 4 abril 2012, http://www.chqs.net/archivos/
publicaciones/documento_80_0703_nyt_120404_all.pdf, consultado el 26 agosto 2013.
28 En Voyage, China, october 2012, pp. 80-81.
29 Parafianowicz, L., Top 10: Spaces in Spain, en Frame, 26 junio 2012, http://www.chqs.net/archivos/
publicaciones/documento_85_0703_120626_frame_top+10+spaces+in+spain.pdf , pgina web consulta-
da el 26 agosto 2013.
30 Trovato, G., Madrid Matadero Cinemateque, en Compasses (Emiratos rabes), n. 17, 2013, pp. 82-89.
31 Moix, L., Cistells i mnegues de cinema. Crtica dArquitectura, en La Vanguardia, 14 junio 2013,
p. 32.
[37]
Figura 2. Interior de una de las naves del Matadero de Madrid ocupada por las instalaciones efmeras de la Red Bull
Academy (2013), donde se aprecia la estructura original del edificio. Foto de la autora.
la disposicin basilical original32 [figuras 2 y 3]. Las objeciones que se podran

plantear a este proyecto son bsicamente dos: si la introduccin de estas vigas
respeta la tipologa original del edificio y sus valores espaciales, y si se trata de
una operacin fcilmente reversible como exiga el Plan Especial de Intervencin.
Otro de los espacios interesantes de este conjunto es la Nave 16, inaugurada
en junio de 2011. Se trata de un verstil espacio expositivo dedicado a sala de
conciertos, exposiciones y reuniones, de casi 6.000 m2 gestionado por el Ayunta-
miento, cuya rehabilitacin ha sido llevada a cabo por los arquitectos Alejandro
Virseda, Jos Ignacio Carnicero e Ignacio Villa Almazn, y seleccionada como
finalista de los Premios FAD de Arquitectura 201233. En este caso la intervencin,
descrita por los propios autores como reciclaje de la arquitectura preexistente con
el propsito de revalorizar la memoria del lugar, afecta a dos naves y consisti en
la introduccin de una estructura flexible de hierro pintado de negro, a manera de
un gigantesco mueble o caja adaptada a las dimensiones de la nave central, que
con paneles mviles permite diversas posiciones con ms o menos luz y superfi-
cie segn las necesidades. La estructura de las columnas de hierro originales fue
pintada de gris oscuro y en los muros se eliminaron los revocos existentes para
dejar la fbrica de ladrillo a la vista, con su textura rugosa que se consideraba ms
atractiva por contraste con el acabado metlico de la estructura original y de la
parte nueva aadida [figuras 4 y 5].
32 Casa del Lector, Madrid, en Arquitetura Viva, n. 148, 2013, p. 22.

33 On Diseo, n. 327, junio 2012; informacin consultada el 12 de marzo de 2013 en la pgina web de la
revista: http://www.ondiseno.com/proyecto.php?id=1965.
[38]
Figura 3. Interior de una de las naves de la Casa del Lector, en el Matadero de Madrid, al concluir las obras (2012).
Fuente: http://hicarquitectura.com/2012/07/ensamble-studio-casa-del-lector-en-matadero-madrid/.
Otra de las intervenciones fue la adecuacin de parte de la Nave 17 como sede

de la Central de Diseo, gestionada por la Fundacin Diseo Madrid, que abri
sus puertas en 2007. En este caso el arquitecto Jos Antonio Garca Roldn dej
intacto el edificio, con los muros y pilares parcialmente descompuestos y los revo-
cos perdidos, a la vez que introdujo materiales reciclados como el policarbonato
luminoso en las estructuras de cerramiento, bandejas industriales de parachoques
reutilizados en el suelo y hierro galvanizado para dividir y adecuar el espacio
expositivo.
Pero sin duda la actuacin ms llamativa y publicitada de todo el conjunto es
la realizada entre 2004 y 2006 bajo la direccin de los arquitectos Arturo Franco y
Fabrice van Teeslar, en la nave 17 donde qued instalada Intermediae, una oficina
del Ayuntamiento de Madrid concebida como plataforma para el intercambio de
experiencias entre pblico y artistas. Esta institucin desarrolla diferentes lneas de
actuacin entre las que se incluyen la ayuda a la creacin (el puntero programa
Abierto por obras fomenta la creacin de obras de artistas especficas para el anti-
guo frigorfico instalado en la nave 14), acciones e intervenciones, exposiciones,
y otras actividades de educacin y sociales [figura 6].
Desde el punto de vista de los criterios de restauracin, la actuacin de Fran-
co y Van Teeslar ha llamado poderosamente la atencin en el panorama espaol
e internacional34 por su radicalidad, por su voluntad austera y minimalista de
34 Franco, A., Lesperienza dei limiti [Exploring the limits], en Domus, n. 8, 2007, pp. 12-19; Ib., Inter-
media Matadero. Paseo de la Chopera, 14. Nave 17C. Antiguo Matadero Legazpi, Madrid: reinterpreta-
cin constructiva de un espacio degradado, en Pasajes de la Construccin, 2007, n. 34, p. 23.
[39]
Figura 4. Vista exterior de la Nave 16 del Matadero (2015). Foto de la autora.
Figura 5. Vista interior de la Nave 16 del Matadero (2015). Foto de la autora.
[40]
Figura 6. Agujero Negro Cignus X-1 (2015), instalacin del artista Bjrn Dahlen en la antigua nave frigorfica del
Matadero de Madrid, dentro del proyecto Abierto por Obras. Foto de la autora.
no intervenir en la arquitectura preexistente; de hecho, la crtica la ha definido

como una manera nueva de acercarse a la rehabilitacin, una actitud radical
que respeta escrupulosamente el patrimonio histrico reduciendo al mnimo la
intervencin, una visin expresiva de lo nuevo y lo viejo35. En palabras de los
propios arquitectos: Asumimos el proyecto como una oportunidad para explorar
las posibilidades de la rehabilitacin. Se trat de aportar una nueva postura ante
la actuacin en el patrimonio histrico, una postura radical, una experiencia sobre
los lmites de la no-actuacin36.
Una actitud en la que la intervencin se ha reducido de manera consciente
al mnimo, que responde al gusto por lo informe, por lo crudo, por una cierta
esttica premeditadamente pobre, quizs desagradable para segn qu cnones,
frente al culto a lo nuevo que durante aos se ha impuesto en el gusto social. Los
muros, los suelos, los techos han quedado como estaban, los arquitectos no han
realizado prcticamente modificaciones excepto por la insercin de una caja de
vidrio y acero donde se instalan las oficinas y unos bloques de acero donde se en-
cuentran los baos. El resto del espacio aparece tal y como se encontraba despus
35 Fernndez Bermejo, R., Desnudar la historia. Arturo Franco y Fabrice Van Teslaar. Centro cultural Mata-
dero Madrid, en Diseo Interior, Madrid, n. 183, 2007, octubre, pp. 170-177, en especial p. 136.
36 Centro Cultural Matadero Madrid: Arturo Franco y Fabrice van Teeslar, en Diseo Interior, n. 183,
2007, pp. 170-177.
[41]
de veinte aos de abandono. No slo esto, se ha potenciado la expresividad del

lugar utilizando para los escasos elementos nuevos necesarios (puertas, ventanas,
mamparas divisorias, el mostrador de recepcin, etc.), materiales como el hierro
y el hormign pulido que conectan con la sensibilidad de lo industrial. Incluso se
ha ido ms all de lo que sera la conservacin mnima, ya que en un provocador
gesto contemporneo, se ha subrayado el aspecto de ruina artificial picando los
revocos de los muros y soportes hasta media altura y abriendo irregulares abertu-
ras en el muro para crear pasos de acceso entre las naves, en las que se insertan
unas cajas de hierro a modo de puertas, pero que semejan esculturas. El efecto
es un espacio lgubre de gran impacto en el espectador y que conecta con una
esttica povera a la moda, que causa tendencia entre las instituciones culturales de
vanguardia como se comprueba en espacios similares: el Palais de Tokio en Pars,
abierto en 200137, y el MUDE, Museo do Design e da Moda de Lisboa, inaugura-
do en 200938. El ejemplo ms reciente en esta misma lnea seran los Tanks, un
espacio dedicado a la performance y al arte de accin instalado en unos antiguos
tanques de petrleo, inaugurado en la Tate Modern en julio de 201239.
Estas intervenciones representan un tipo de restauracin mnima, en la que el
edificio se conserva congelado en su estado de deterioro, evidenciando una vo-
luntad mnima de actuacin, con un uso consciente de los acabados imperfectos
de las superficies y con una premeditada negacin a ocultar el paso del tiempo
por la obra. Ms an, en muchos casos existe un exhibicionismo casi impdico
de las instalaciones, de los deterioros, en una actitud que en mi opinin, se
debe a una contaminacin entre las prcticas artsticas y sociales contemporneas
y el mundo de la restauracin40. De hecho en la obsesin por las superficies ero-
sionadas e imperfectas evidente en muchos proyectos de restauracin actual, se
advierte la presencia sutil e inconsciente del informalismo pictrico, sin olvidar la
enorme trascendencia en el arte actual de movimientos como el arte povera que
atrajeron la atencin hacia materiales humildes y a menudo reciclados. Al mismo
37 Lacaton & Vasal, Centro de arte en un pabelln de 1937, Pars, en AV Monografas, n. 98, 2002, pp.
104-108; Ayers, A., Fun Palais; Architects: Lacaton & Vassal, en Architectural review, vol. 231, n. 1384,
2012 June, p. 44-51. Hemos estudiado este proyecto en Hernndez Martnez, A., De museos, antimuseos
y otros espacios expositivos en el siglo XXI, en Artigrama, n. 28, 2013, Departamento de Historia del
Arte, Universidad de Zaragoza, pp. 29-54.
38 Cohn, D., Museum of Design & Fashion, Lisbon (Ricardo Carvalho + Joana Vilhena Arquitectos), en
Architectural record, vol. 197, n. 9, 2009 Sept., p. 66-71.
39 Garca, ., Arte en los tanques de petrleo, en El Pas, 17 julio 2012.
40 Sobre este tema pueden consultarse: Salvo, S., Il restauro dellarchitettura contemporanea come tema
emergente, en Carbonara, G., Restauro Architettonico, Primo Aggiornamento, Torino, UTET, 2007, pp.
265-336; Hernndez Martnez, A., Lo cutre es cool. Esttica, arte contemporneo y restauracin monu-
mental en el siglo XXI, en Arce, E. et alt. (editores), Simposio Reflexiones sobre el gusto, Zaragoza, Insti-
tucin Fernando el Catlico, 2012, pp. 477-504; y Hernndez Martnez, A., Lestetica del deterioramento
e dellimperfezione: una tendenza in crescita nel restauro architettonico, en Palladio: rivista di storia
dellarchitettura e restauro, n. 51, 2013, pp. 89-106.
[42]
tiempo, la generalizacin de nuevos materiales escultricos como el acero corten

presentes en tantas obras de artistas actuales desde el americano Richard Serra
hasta el espaol Eduardo Chillida, han servido para acostumbrar al espectador a
una esttica diferente a la del arte tradicional, un factor que, junto con el anterior,
sin duda influye en la aceptacin y el xito de restauraciones que parecen obras
inacabadas, en las que abundan los muros agrietados, las paredes desconchadas,
los suelos de cemento, las vigas de hierro al descubierto
No es la primera vez que se pone de manifiesto esta relacin entre esttica,
arte y restauracin. De hecho en 1954, la famosa escritora francesa Marguerite
Yourcenar escriba un delicioso texto Le temps, ce grand sculpteur41, en el que
haca referencia a la influencia de los cambios en el gusto en la apreciacin del
arte antiguo y la trascendencia que esta circunstancia tena en la restauracin de
obras de arte.
El arte actual se apropia del patrimonio y lo restaura!
Por otro lado, la bsqueda de espacios alternativos e inusuales como esce-

narios ms apropiados a las obras de arte actual, ha conducido a la localiza-
cin y restauracin de lugares tan extraos como crceles42, bases submarinas43
o bnkers de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Se mezcla en ellos la fascinacin que
producen estos hermticos y a la vez desafiantes edificios, una difcil y controver-
tida herencia de la historia, con la bsqueda de la novedad; sin olvidar que estos
proyectos persiguen enfrentar de una manera distinta la historia, desactivando
ideolgicamente construcciones realizadas por los nazis en Alemania, Austria y
Francia, a travs de la introduccin de usos culturales.
Entre otros pueden citarse dos singulares ejemplos: la Contemporary Art
Tower, CAT, de Viena (2001) y la Coleccin Boros instalada en un bnker en
Berln (2008)44. En ambos casos nos encontramos frente a obras monumentales
realizadas por orden de Hitler entre 1942 y 1945, que se imponen visualmente en
41 Yourcenar, M., Le temps, ce grand sculpteur, en La Revue des voyages, n. 15, 1954, pp. 6-9.
42 Manifesta 8_2010 Murcia, tambin conocida como la Bienal Europea de Arte Contemporneo, es una
actividad itinerante por diversos lugares del continente y que en esta ocasin recalaba en Espaa, utili-
zando como una de sus sedes la prisin de San Antn, en Cartagena. Revuelta, L., Manifesta <okupa>,
en ABC cultural, Madrid, 31 julio 2010, p. 31.
43 LIFE, Lieu International des Formes Emergentes en Nantes (Francia). Mart, O., Una base de submari-
nos para las formas emergentes. El LIFE de Saint-Nazaire insufla vida cultural a un lugar que simboliz
la destruccin de la ciudad, en Babelia, suplemento cultural del peridico El Pas, Madrid, 29 de di-
ciembre de 2007, pp. 30-31; Transformacin del bnker Alvole 14, en Arquitectura COAM, Madrid,
n. 356, 2 Trimestre 2009, pp. 35-39.
44 Hemos estudiado estos dos edificios en Hernndez Martnez, A., Can Contemporary Art change the fu-
ture of conflicting heritage? The case of Nazism architecture, en Garca Cuetos, M. P., y Varagnoli, C.,
Heritage in conflict. Memory, history, architecture, Arriccia, Aracne Editrice, 2015, pp. 173-200.
[43]
el espacio pblico y que estn asociadas a episodios dramticos para austracos

y alemanes.
La Contemporary Art Tower (CAT), fue en origen una de las seis torres de
defensa antiareas construidas por el arquitecto Friedrich Tramms en Viena. Por
su situacin (estratgicamente situada en el centro de la ciudad), materiales (una
imponente masa de hormign que constituye sin duda un precedente nico del
brutalismo arquitectnico), dimensiones (50 metros de alto, 9 pisos al interior, mu-
ros con un grosor de hasta 3,5 m) e historia, es un edificio singular. Fue utilizado
no slo con funciones militares (para proteger el espacio areo de la capital aus-
traca de los bombardeos aliados), sino tambin como refugio para la poblacin
civil, incluso como hospital y estacin de radio. En la mente de sus autores estaba
convertirlo tras el fin de la contienda en memorial a los soldados alemanes cados,
forrando los speros muros de hormign con placas de mrmol. El ejrcito rojo
(sovitico) intent sin xito su demolicin, imposible por la solidez y resistencia
de la fbrica de hormign y por la proximidad de numerosas viviendas. En la ac-
tualidad las seis torres estn protegidas como monumentos y son propiedad del
Estado austraco y del Ayuntamiento de Viena.
La iniciativa para dar nueva vida al edificio corresponde a Peter Noever, di-
rector del Museo de Artes Decorativas (MAK), una activa y prestigiosa institucin
artstica austriaca, quien solicit al estado en 1994 utilizar una de las torres en
desuso como almacn de su coleccin de arte contemporneo. El CAT naci po-
cos aos despus, en 2001, y prevea la ejecucin de un proyecto arquitectnico y
artstico de Jenny Holzer y James Turrell que modificaba parcialmente la estructu-
ra, sobre todo al exterior y en su parte posterior donde se construiran dos nuevos
pabellones de vidrio, una obra que por circunstancias diversas todava no se ha
ejecutado45 [figuras 7 y 8].
La adecuacin del bnker como sede complementaria del MAK ha resultado
sencilla ya que las transformaciones del edificio han sido mnimas, utilizndose tal
y como se encontraba en 1994, es decir, prcticamente en su situacin original. La
estrategia utilizada ha consistido en ocupar el edificio sin modificarlo, invitando
a artistas contemporneos a crear obras especficas para el mismo, tal y como se
lleva haciendo en numerosos lugares desde los aos 70 en otros pases (en este
sentido es especialmente significativo como antecedente el caso de PS1, en Nue-
va York46). Artistas actuales tan famosos como Atelier Van Lieshout, Ilya Kabakov
o Anish Kapoor han dejado ya all sus creaciones, provocando un sorprendente
45 http://www.mak.at:80/en/the_mak/sites/expositur/mak-tower_2.
46 Sobre esta institucin puede consultarse: http://momaps1.org/, y Smith, R., More spacious and gracious,
yet still funky at heart, en The New York Times, 31 october 1997, consultado en la edicin digital 28
agosto 2013 http://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/31/arts/art-review-more-spacious-and-gracious-yet-still-
funky-at-heart.html.
[44]
Figuras 7 y 8. CAT, Contemporary Art Tower, Viena (Austria), vistas exterior e interior. Fotos de la autora.
[45]
dilogo entre el arte actual y los espacios opresivos y estticamente impactantes

de la torre de defensa antiarea. Es esta, sin duda, una iniciativa pionera en el
mundo para mostrar el arte contemporneo en un contexto nico, a la vez que
intenta afrontar de una manera diferente la relacin entre la poblacin local y
un elemento vinculado a un decisivo hecho histrico, que provoca un recuerdo
doloroso e inevitable.
En la misma lnea respecto a la introduccin de un uso cultural en un lugar
insospechado, pero con notables diferencias respecto a los criterios de interven-
cin, hay que mencionar la Coleccin Boros47, instalada en el bnker construido
en 1942 en Reinhardstrasse, en el centro de Berln, en Mitte, uno de los barrios de
moda de la capital alemana. El proyecto ha sido realizado por el estudio berlins
Realarchitektur (Jean Casper, Petra Petersson y Andrew Strickland) y tena como
objetivo la transformacin del bnker nazi en un museo privado y una vivienda
de lujo de 450 m2 (un moderno loft de aires miesianos y cuidado mobiliario de
diseo), instalada en el tico aadido a la construccin original. Aqu ya no se
trata de una iniciativa pblica como en el caso del CAT austraco, sino de un par-
ticular, el publicista Christian Boros, propietario de una importante coleccin de
arte contemporneo que incluye a los ms famosos artistas actuales desde Damian
Hirst, Olafur Eliasson, Santiago Sierra, etc.
Boros compr el bnker en 2003, aadiendo una nueva etapa como museo
privado a la radical e inslita vida del mismo, todo un singular testimonio de la
propia historia alemana. Esta se inicia con su construccin bajo el nazismo, tras el
fin de la 2GM fue utilizado como crcel por el ejrcito sovitico, sirvi como exti-
co almacn de frutas tropicales bajo el gobierno de la RDA y su ltimo destino fue
discoteca de msica techno y club sadomasoquista tras la reunificacin alemana.
El edificio original es un macizo refugio antiareo de planta cuadrangular,
construido en 1943 por el arquitecto Karl Bonatz, sensiblemente menor que el
CAT de Viena, de 18 m de altura (5 pisos), si bien con gruesos muros de 3 m de
espesor de hormign. En este caso el criterio de intervencin ha sido la elimina-
cin de partes sustanciales del edificio, porque las 120 habitaciones originales de
techos muy bajos destinadas a refugiar a 3.088 berlineses no se adecuaban bien
a las necesidades expositivas de la coleccin. Por esta razn, los arquitectos han
derribado muros y techos para crear una laberntica estructura de 80 espacios de
diversas dimensiones (algunos de doble y triple altura) y 3.000 m2 de superficie
expositiva. Hay que subrayar que en este edificio ha sido la naturaleza de la co-
leccin, las caractersticas de las obras de arte y la opinin de los mismos artistas
respecto a su exhibicin, las que han condicionado las decisiones tomadas en la
restauracin. Algunas salas han sido creadas especficamente para mostrar obras
47 Sachs, N., Boros collection and residence (Realarchitektur), en Industria delle costruzioni, vol. 45, n.
417, 2011 Jan.-Feb., p. 16-21.
[46]
concretas como la instalacin Berln Colour Sphere (2006), de Olafur Eliasson, o

una monumental instalacin de Ai Wei Wei de seis metros de altura; en otros ca-
sos, se ha buscado ofrecer intencionalmente perspectivas inusitadas de las obras
de arte. En este sentido podra hablarse casi de apropiacionismo (trmino utiliza-
do para designar una corriente artstica posmoderna que surge en los aos 80) por
parte del arte contemporneo respecto al patrimonio monumental.
Es preciso aadir que el edificio estaba inventariado y protegidas sus fachadas
y las cajas de escaleras, no as el resto del interior. Antes de la intervencin, el
bnker estaba cubierto de pinturas y graffitis, algunos de estos han sido parcial-
mente cepillados y la superficie rugosa resultante de esta operacin sirve ahora
como fondo abstracto a las obras de arte. Otras salas han sido pintadas de blanco,
de acuerdo con la tradicional museologa white box tan extendida en el arte con-
temporneo [figuras 9 y 10].
Tras la remodelacin, el bnker se ha convertido en un atractivo turstico ms
de la capital berlinesa48 y los crticos del prestigioso diario norteamericano The
New York Times lo recibieron con una cascada de elogios: un espacio que no
tiene rivales en su idiosincrasia, uno de los activos ms extremos de la capital
alemana49, un hito en la ciudad50; siendo similar la acogida entre la prensa
alemana: Un lugar con una turbulenta historia, ahora esplndidamente remoza-
do como espacio para el arte51, mientras el coleccionista es descrito como un
cliente inusual con un sofisticado gusto artstico52.
Sin embargo, estas iniciativas pueden suscitar cierto recelo. Sin duda son pro-
yectos que presentan considerables ventajas desde el punto de vista del turismo
cultural internacional, pero la pregunta clave (ms all de la reflexin acerca de
si se trata de intervenciones respetuosas con los valores de los edificios, que tam-
bin es pertinente) es si el arte contemporneo puede servir para domesticar el
indeseable legado de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, como se pregunta la historia-
dora del arte y periodista polaca Katarzyna Jadozinska en relacin al CAT53, o si el
48 Gmez, J., El bnker de un millonario. Una antigua fortaleza nazi sirve de vivienda-museo al rico Chris-
tian Boros, en El Pas, 20 agosto 2013, consultado el 20 agosto 2013 en la edicin digital http://cultura.
elpais.com/cultura/2013/08/19/actualidad/1376938783_572726.html.
49 Tzortzis, A., In a Berlin war bunker, Christian Boros creates a showcasefor art, en The New York
Times, 12 junio 2007, consultado el 8 marzo 2013 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/12/arts/12iht-bun-
ker.1.6105187.html?_r=0.
50 Eddy, M., Contemporary Art Finds a Shelter in Berlin, en The New York Times, 27 septiembre 2012,
consultado el 8 marzo 2013.http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/28/arts/28iht-bunker28.html?_r=0.
51 Nusser, S., The New Past: The Boros Collection in Berlin, consultado el 8 marzo 2013 http://www.
goethe.de/kue/bku/msi/en4151025.htm.
52 Kappingler, C., Boros Art Collection, Berlin-Mitte-Art in a bunker with a certain frisson, en Architektuer
Aktuell, n. 342, 2008, pp. 120-129.
53 Jadozinska, K., Bunkers with art, en Herito, Heritage, culture & the present, january 05, 2011, consulta-
da la versin digital el 26 enero 2013, http:/www.herito.pl/en/articles/bunkers-with-art2. Html.
[47]
Figuras 9 y 10. Coleccin Boros, Berln, vista exterior e interior de uno de los espacios expositivos respectivamente. Fuente:
Casper, J., y Schryen, A., Boros Collection/Bunker Berlin, Edited by Boros Foundation, Berln, 2009.
[48]
museo Boros no representa ms que la afirmacin del ego de un cliente ignorante

o indiferente respecto al valor histrico del edificio como expresa el arquitecto
alemn Norbert Sachs: quizs se trata solamente de un trabajo notable que mues-
tra la capacidad proyectual de los arquitectos. La decisin compete al visitante. En
cualquier caso, el proyecto plantea preguntas sobre la actitud de la sociedad.54
Lo cierto es que frente al xito obtenido por el edificio en el medio profesional,
como muestran los numerosos premios que ha recibido55, la visita puede provocar
un cierto malestar por la transformacin de un edificio cargado de memoria en
un lugar de moda, en el que las huellas de la historia se han tratado como algo
material, prescindiendo de su valor documental56.
Reflexiones en torno a las palabras
La terminologa usada hoy para describir y comentar intervenciones en el pa-

trimonio revela el cambio de un paradigma social, la aparicin de una actitud
diversa frente al patrimonio de la que quizs no somos todava plenamente cons-
cientes. En el empleo de trminos como apropiacin, recualificacin, regenera-
cin, reciclaje, subyace la idea de que el patrimonio es un activo, un recurso y un
objeto de consumo ms que un bien cultural a preservar. El rechazo premeditado
a la palabra restauracin, sobre la que se emiten todo tipo de comentarios negati-
vos, pone de manifiesto que algo est sucediendo y esto puede tener que ver con
nuestra relacin con la historia.
Probablemente, como sostiene el antroplogo francs Marc Aug: el proble-
ma es que hoy reina sobre el planeta una ideologa del presente, de la actualidad,
que paraliza el esfuerzo de pensar el presente como historia, una ideologa em-
peada en convertir en algo obsoleto las enseanzas del pasado, pero tambin
el deseo de imaginar el futuro. Desde hace una o dos dcadas, el presente se
ha convertido en algo hegemnico.57 Una actitud que conducira a la reivin-
dicacin del derecho del presente para apropiarse del pasado y manejarlo a su
54 Sachs, N., Boros collection, en op. cit. p. 16.

55 Seleccionado para el pabelln alemn de la Bienal de Venecia de 2006, la prestigiosa revista Wallpaper
lo cita entre los 101 edificios ms excitantes del mundo en 2007, en 2008 recibe el Architecture Award
for concrete, y es nominado al Premio Mies van der Rohe en 2009.
56 Aparentemente hay una gran demanda de lugares inusuales en la actualidad, por su autenticidad, por
su aura, y los arquitectos han sido capaces de satisfacer esta demanda. Sin embargo, el visitante sale
con un cierto malestar sobre este lugar histrico cuyo oscuro pasado sirve ahora exclusivamente para
la presentacin del arte y del ego del coleccionista, y en el que, sin establecer distancia alguna, se han
tratado todas las huellas como materiales y como smbolos, no documentos., Kappingler, C., Boros
Art, en op. cit., p. 128.
57 Aug, M., 2008, O est pass lavenir; versin italiana Che fine ha fatto il futuro? Dai nonluoghi al non-
tempo, Milano, 2009, citado por G. Carbonnara, en Architettura doggi e restauro. Un confronto anti-
co-nuovo, Torino, 2011, UTET, cfr. premessa.
[49]
conveniencia. En este sentido resulta muy significativa la opinin expresada por

el arquitecto Ignasi de Sol Morales, uno de los responsables de la reconstruccin
del Pabelln Alemn para la Exposicin Internacional de Barcelona de 1929 y
director de las obras de reconstruccin del Liceu, en defensa del derecho de los
arquitectos actuales a apropiarse del pasado: la cultura del pasado ha de estar al
servicio del presente58.
Por su parte, el socilogo polaco Zygmunt Bauman, caracteriza el momento
actual como un mundo lquido, voltil, cambiante, en el que Los hbitos con-
sagrados, las costumbres arraigadas, los marcos cognitivos slidos o el elogio de
valores estables, se convierten en impedimentos () La cultura lquida moderna
ya no es una cultura de aprendizaje, es, sobre todo, una cultura del desapego, de
la discontinuidad y del olvido () Vivimos una modernidad lquida, entendida
esta como una sociedad de consumidores individualizada y sin regulaciones59.
Quizs como consecuencia de esta situacin, la sociedad actual no soporta
bien los criterios estrictos ni las limitaciones. Esta circunstancia, aplicada al mbito
de la tutela patrimonial, se traduce en la reclamacin de una libertad sin lmites
en la apropiacin del pasado, de ah el rechazo a los criterios que forman el
corpus de la disciplina de la restauracin, unas normas formadas y herederas de
una larga tradicin de pensamiento y reflexin que caracteriza la cultura artstica
europea. Puede ser que por la razn mencionada se evite conscientemente el uso
de la palabra restauracin, porque implicara admitir que existen unos lmites en
la actuacin frente a la arquitectura histrica, un coto a la creatividad, a las posibi-
lidades de reutilizacin, derivados del reconocimiento de unos valores culturales
que deben ser preservados. Por tanto rechazar el trmino restauracin permitira
sacrificar sin remordimientos la arquitectura histrica para otros fines que nada
tienen que ver con la conservacin del patrimonio cultural, aunque no se expon-
ga de manera tan cruda. En este sentido resulta hoy urgente y necesario definir
y reflexionar sobre qu debera ser la restauracin monumental en el siglo XXI,
retomando lo que de vlido tiene todava la cultura de la restauracin europea,
un legado que nos identifica frente a otros continentes y civilizaciones. No pode-
mos olvidar que si hemos decidido conservar y proteger unos bienes culturales
es porque reconocemos en ellos una suma de valores y esto nos compromete a
actuar con sensibilidad histrica y respeto hacia ellos, y no guiados por criterios
estticos, econmicos o ideolgicos.
Por desgracia, la utilizacin de un lenguaje determinado, alejado de los con-
ceptos habitualmente manejados en nuestra disciplina, y los criterios practicados
en numerosas intervenciones, constata la prdida de importancia de los mismos
58 Entrevista a Ignasi de Sol-Morales publicada en el suplemento Abc Cultural, 2 octubre 1999, p. 49.
59 Sarabia, B., Bauman. Sobre la educacin en un mundo lquido, en El Cultural, suplemento del diario
El Mundo, 22-2-2013, pp. 10-11, espc. p. 11.
[50]
valores del patrimonio artstico e incluso de la propia restauracin, puesto que

ambos quedan reducidos a imgenes. Este proceso revela el carcter hiperme-
ditico de la arquitectura actual y el desplazamiento del significado del trmino
restauracin, que a veces queda reducido a la recuperacin de la imagen del edi-
ficio (por ejemplo en la reconstruccin de monumentos desaparecidos), cuando
obviamente no queda nada posible por restaurar. En este contexto la restauracin
no consiste en la recuperacin de los valores de la arquitectura histrica, sino en
la produccin de una imagen de ficcin que sin embargo resulta muy atractiva
para la sociedad; la propuesta de reconstruccin del palacio real de Berln es ver-
daderamente significativa en este sentido60.
Estas opiniones evidencian que nos hallamos frente a una sociedad muy distin-
ta a la del siglo XX, pero el reto que se sita frente a nosotros es si aceptamos sin
ms la condicin de bien de consumo del patrimonio o si decidimos reaccionar
y subrayar la trascendencia de los valores culturales del patrimonio, a la vez que
nos posicionamos en nuestro mbito profesional criticando de manera rigurosa y
cientfica, con argumentos slidos y denunciando en los medios de comunicacin,
intervenciones que no pueden ser llamadas en manera alguna restauraciones,
pero que tienen consecuencias decisivas en el patrimonio.
Como sostiene el historiador americano Leland Roth: La arquitectura es como
la cscara del nautilo de la especie humana; es el entorno que construimos para
nosotros mismos y que, a medida que vamos adquiriendo experiencia y conoci-
mientos, cambiamos y adaptamos a nuestro nuevo mbito expandido. Si quere-
mos conservar nuestra identidad, debemos tener la precaucin de no eliminar la
cscara de nuestro pasado, ya que es como la crnica fsica de nuestras aspira-
ciones y nuestros logros61.
60 Sobre esta cuestin puede consultarse: Kuehn, W., Model und event, en Candide. Journal for Ar-
chitectural Knowledge, 2009, n. 1, pp. 97-116; Oswalt, P., propos du projet laurat pour le Hum-
boldt-Forum, en Criticat, 2010, n. 5, pp. 64-67; Hernndez Martnez, A., Historia de la reconstruccin.
Reconstruccin de la historia, en Arciniega Garca, L. (ed.), La obra interminable: uso y recepcin del
arte, Valencia, Departamento de Historia del Arte, Facultad de Geografa e Historia, Universidad de
Valencia, 2013, pp. 293-324; Hernndez Martnez, A., A la bsqueda (imposible) del tiempo perdido.
Reflexiones en torno a la reconstruccin idntica, definida por Paul Philippot, en Conversaciones ,
n. 1, junio 2015, monogrfico Conversaciones con Paul Philippot, Coordinacin Nacional de Conser-
vacin del Patrimonio Cultural, Instituto Nacional de Antropologa e Historia, Mxico, pp. 97-116.
61 Roth, Leland, M., Entender la arquitectura Sus elementos, historia y significado, Barcelona, Gustavo Gili,
1993, p. 1.
[51]
TICA NA PRESERVAO NO SCULO XXI
BEATRIZ MUGAYAR KHL*
Resumo: No texto ser evidenciada a necessidade de analisar os motivos que

levam uma sociedade a preservar seus bens culturais, que esto na base dos
princpios tericos que fundamentam a atuao prtica. O intuito trabalhar com
critrios coerentes e slida metodologia para realizar aes fundamentadas, e no
redutivas e arbitrrias, sujeitas a interesses imediatistas e setoriais. Esses par-
metros deveriam guiar os princpios ticos e deontolgicos das vrias profisses
envolvidas, para que os bens culturais continuem a ser documentos fidedignos e,
como tal, possam transmitir o conhecimento de maneira idnea e sirvam como
efetivos suportes do conhecimento e da memria coletiva**.
Palavras-Chave: Bens Culturais. Preservao. Critrios de Interveno. Teoria do
Restauro. tica Profissional.
As questes ticas e deontolgicas relacionadas preservao de bens cultu-

rais colocam-se como tema de grande emergncia na atualidade1. Em tempos de
* Departamento de Histria da Arquitetura e Esttica do Projeto. Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo.

Universidade de So Paulo. bmk@usp.br
** Este texto retoma colocaes apresentadas em outros textos, em especial: Khl, B., Histria e tica
na Conservao e na Restaurao de Monumentos Histricos, em Revista CPC, n. 1, 2005, pp. 16-40,
assim como tica e responsabilidade social na preservao do patrimnio cultural, Congresso da
ABRACOR de 2009 e divulgado no site a instituio: http://www.abracor.com.br/novosite/downloads/
textobeatrizmk.pdf (21.08.2013). O texto foi depois republicado, com o mesmo ttulo, na revista Ideias
em destaque, n. 36, 2011, pp. 86-100.
1 necessrio um breve esclarecimento sobre o uso de determinadas palavras neste texto. No Brasil, os
vocbulos relacionados preservao so utilizados de maneira pouco precisa, mas, do ponto de vista
dos campos disciplinares envolvidos, a palavra preservao possui sentido alargado e abarca grande
variedade de aes como inventrios, registros, leis, educao patrimonial e, tambm, as intervenes
nos bens. No que respeita s intervenes, podem ser utilizadas, como proposto na Carta de Veneza, as
denominaes manuteno, conservao e restauro, com graus crescentes de ingerncia sobre o bem;
ou, como proposto por Cesare Brandi, sintetizar todas na palavra restauro, sentido adotado neste texto.
Tem-se conscincia de que existem posturas que se contrapem ao restauro, com nfase na conservao
como ao de essncia diversa. H tambm quem ainda enxergue o restauro como ato que restitui o
[53]
BEATRIZ MUGAYAR KHL
transformao acelerada, a falta de clareza em relao ao que motiva a preserva-

o, associada desqualificao do instrumental terico do campo do restauro,
construdo ao longo de sculos, tem resultado na falta de critrios coerentes para
atuar nos bens, pois tudo recai no mais absoluto relativismo, levando a muitas
destruies e deformaes injustificveis. Para se contrapor a essa situao, o eixo
central de reflexo deste texto gira em torno das razes que levam a preservar,
essenciais para nortear os princpios da interveno ou seja, os instrumentos
tericos que deveriam reger as aes prticas e para circunscrever os prprios
objetivos da ao prtica, repercutindo na escolha dos meios tcnico-operacionais
necessrios para alcan-los.
Hoje esses problemas tm sido enfrentados sem consistncia metodolgica: as
particularidades de cada caso tm-se traduzido, na prtica, pela permissividade
de que qualquer coisa possvel na preservao, na escala do edifcio, urbana
ou territorial. A ampliao, crescente e legtima daquilo que considerado bem
cultural, motivada por razes cada vez mais variadas, com interesses conflitantes
entre si, em vez de conduzir a uma reflexo voltada ao bem comum2 pau-
tada em princpios ticos que contemplam o interesse da sociedade considerada
de maneira ampla e inclusiva, e o tempo na longa durao, tem servido como
desculpa, em nome de uma pretensa democracia, em nome de uma falsa, ime-
diatista e equivocada noo de progresso, para deixar tudo merc do arbtrio
do mais forte. No se exerce poder moderador que deveria ser pautado pela
reflexo plurissecular existente na preservao e no restauro e disso resultam
solues que beneficiam setores restritos da sociedade, no curto prazo, e causam
danos irreparveis.
Outro reducionismo constante , pelo fato de qualquer interveno ter perti-
nncia relativa pois no restauro no existe uma nica soluo, aceita de modo
universal e atemporal, mas vrias solues de pertinncia relativa achar que
qualquer coisa feita num bem cultural possa ser considerada preservao. Solu-
es pertinentes ao campo do restauro devem ser balizadas por aquilo que motiva
a preservao, entendida como ato de cunho tico-cultural, e pelos princpios de
interveno que derivam disso. Analisar a fundamentao terica do restauro,
em suas vrias vertentes e transformaes ao longo do tempo, essencial para o
entendimento mais pleno das formulaes, de modo a interpret-las para os casos
especficos, justamente para que a ao no seja arbitrria, mesmo devendo ser
sempre problematizada.
bem em seu suposto estado inicial, numa viso oitocentista sobre o problema, ou que o congela. Nes-
te texto, utiliza-se a palavra preservao no sentido lato, e a palavra restauro para caracterizar o campo
disciplinar que rege as intervenes em bens culturais que, modificando-os, respeitam sua essncia e
so pautadas em razes de cunho cultural, tico e cientfico.
2 Para uma viso abrangente desse problema, ver; Settis, S., Azione popolare. Cittadini per il bene comune,
Turim, Einaudi, 2012.
[54]
No entanto, no Brasil (e no apenas), muitos dos referenciais tericos relacio-

nados preservao em geral, e ao restauro em particular, tm dado origem a
interpretaes apressadas e equivocadas. Nas discusses brasileiras h uma pola-
rizao em extremos pouco desejveis, que buscam desqualificar os referenciais
tericos: de um lado por no se conhecer a existncia de reflexo sobre o tema e
no se acreditar na utilidade de referenciais tericos, com a escusa de que seriam
desvinculados da realidade, no os enxergando como dimenso legtima da pr-
pria prtica; de outro, por serem depreciadas as formulaes tericas existentes
atravs de pseudo-interpretaes infundadas, que partem de falsas premissas, e
no se sustentam se analisadas luz de uma acurada crtica epistemolgica.
Isso verificvel em comentrios a respeito da Carta de Veneza, de formula-
es de Alois Riegl ou Cesare Brandi, por exemplo. Frases so tiradas de contexto,
desprezando o texto em sua inteireza, a viso do autor achatada a um fragmento
de uma obra, sem considerao pelo conjunto de sua produo, e resultam disso
interpretaes deformadoras. Por esse procedimento, so decretados invlidos,
por exemplo, os princpios contidos na Carta de Veneza, ou ultrapassados aqueles
formulados por Brandi, sem justificativas; algo totalmente distinto de uma legtima
crtica a esses textos, que levam a posturas divergentes e fundamentadas, que
sempre existiram e devem existir. O problema tambm se estende ao exame de
nosso aparato normativo: apesar de as leis brasileiras serem lacnicas no que se
refere a princpios de interveno, existem mtodos de interpretao filiados
gnosiologia e hermenutica (e utilizados na jurisprudncia), que permitem com-
preender de forma mais ampla uma dada formulao. Esses instrumentos devem
ser usados no exame de qualquer texto para elaborar uma leitura fundamentada
e no redutiva e enganosa.
Os textos do campo no so autoexplicativos e tampouco podem ser con-
fundidos com receiturio de relao mecnica de causa-efeito a ser aplicado de
modo direto e fcil na prtica. Como exemplo, citam-se as chamadas cartas pa-
trimoniais, que, no Brasil, tm dado origem a interpretaes problemticas, por
um equvoco basilar: as cartas so tratadas como um conjunto homogneo de do-
cumentos coerentes entre si, e, portanto, podem facultar a escolha de trechos de
uma ou outra para corroborar dada iniciativa. So colocadas num mesmo plano,
por exemplo, a Carta de Atenas de restaurao (1931), a Carta de Veneza (1964),
as Normas de Quito, da Organizao dos Estados Americanos (1967), e a Carta de
Amsterd, do Conselho da Europa (1975), sem fazer a necessria distino entre
elas. Todas tm interesse, mas esto longe de constituir um conjunto homogneo,
por terem sido elaboradas em perodos distintos, por organismos diferentes, com
finalidades diversas; tm, portanto, intenes e repercusso bastante variadas, que
devem ser devidamente evidenciadas. Mesmo entre documentos de uma nica
instituio, h diferenas considerveis que devem ser ressaltadas para no gerar
equvocos.
[55]
BEATRIZ MUGAYAR KHL
As cartas so fruto da discusso de um determinado momento. Antes de tudo,

no tm o intuito de ser um sistema terico desenvolvido de modo extenso; so
documentos concisos e sintetizam os pontos a respeito dos quais foi possvel ob-
ter consenso, oferecendo indicaes de carter geral. Possuem, portanto, carter
indicativo, ou, no mximo, prescritivo. Cartas como a de Veneza, exatamente por
serem internacionais, no podem ter carter normativo, pois suas indicaes de-
veriam ser reinterpretadas para as diversas realidades culturais e legislativas3. Mas,
se devidamente examinadas para realidades locais, podem ter papel importante
na construo normativa dos vrios pases, algo que no ocorreu no Brasil.
Para interpretar no apenas as cartas, mas qualquer texto de maneira judiciosa,
preciso elaborar uma acurada anlise de sua totalidade, e no extrair frases ao
acaso de forma a negar sua prpria essncia. No caso de encontros cientficos,
necessria a leitura escrupulosa das atas para atingir uma compreenso apro-
fundada do contexto e das razes que levaram a determinada formulao. Deve-
se, ainda, fazer um estudo meticuloso da produo cientfica sobre o tema que
precedeu a elaborao do escrito, para entender as vrias transformaes por
que passou o campo, e seus referenciais tericos. Esse estudo deve tambm ser
acompanhado da anlise de propostas contemporneas formulao examinada
e de um amplo conhecimento da produo do autor, ou autores, para analisar as
vrias vertentes do pensamento sobre o tema e as circunstncias de sua elabora-
o. As anlises permitem explorar o contexto em que determinados instrumentos
tericos foram criados e, depois, foram apropriados e transformados. Por fim,
necessrio elaborar uma anlise teleolgica, entendendo o escrito em razo de
seus objetivos.
Essa digresso importante no caso brasileiro, dada a falta de tradio de dis-
cusso desses temas, apesar das numerosas citaes que so feitas, muitas vezes
a esmo, de textos que se referem ao restauro. Caso interessante pode ser visto no
recente Arquimemria, encontro internacional sobre preservao do patrimnio
edificado, realizado em Salvador (Bahia), em maio de 20134. Os organizadores
tinham como uma das propostas mostrar as variadas vertentes da restaurao na
atualidade, tambm para se contrapor ao que consideravam uma viso muito dog-
mtica da Teoria da Restaurao de Brandi, por vezes tida, na Bahia, como clu-
sula ptrea que no admite interpretaes, e nem o restauro comportaria outras
vises. A iniciativa louvvel para evidenciar a diversidade de correntes que
sempre existiu no restauro e tambm as possibilidades de interpretao de ins-
3 Para interpretaes da Carta de Veneza ver: Carbonara, G., I trent'anni di una buona carta del restau-
ro, em Restauro, n. 131-132, 1995, pp. 57-60; Khl, B., Notas sobre a Carta de Veneza, em Anais do
Museu Paulista, v. 18, n. 2, 2010, pp. 287-320; Pane, A., Drafting of the Venice Charter: historic develop-
ments in conservation, Dublin, Icomos Ireland, 2010.
4 A programao do evento est em: http://www.iab-ba.org.br/arquimemoria4/?page_id=19. (08.08.2013).
[56]
trumentos tericos. Mas a percepo de alguns participantes no evento de que

houve, por vezes com louvveis excees, como as colocaes de Marco Dezzi
Bardeschi, tentativas de desqualificar os referenciais brandianos sem real fun-
damentao, e essas colocaes so assumidas como verdades, sem ponderao
a respeito do que de fato est nos textos, nem do que foi feito pelo ICR de Roma
durante as dcadas que Brandi o dirigiu; ou seja, desconsiderando os referenciais
tanto tericos, quanto prticos. Do mesmo modo, o sucesso que as colocaes
de Salvador Muoz Vias5 tm tido em mbito brasileiro nos ltimos anos: tudo
aquilo que prope e a leitura que faz de Brandi (com alguns de equvocos6) so
tidos como verdades absolutas, sendo assumido de modo acrtico; ademais, suas
propostas so interpretadas de modo a justificar um total relativismo na forma de
relacionamento com os bens culturais.
A falta de tradio de crtica epistemolgica, acaba fazendo com que a discus-
so sobre esses temas resulte pouco aprofundada, fruto de modismos, e no de
um necessrio e fundamentado debate terico, resultando em deformaes de
interpretao dos textos absolutamente estarrecedoras.
Outro desvio comum considerar invlida a utilizao dessas referncias para
a reflexo, pois o pensamento dos variados autores no so iguais. No h autores
que coincidam integralmente (a no ser em caso de plgio), em nenhuma rea
do conhecimento. Existem posturas com convergncias em determinados temas
e divergncia noutros, que ajudam a estabelecer referenciais, oferecendo recur-
sos para a reflexo. Possibilitam circunscrever campos de pertinncia, que so
necessariamente amplos, pois o pensamento no converge para um ponto ape-
nas. Esses referenciais auxiliam na definio daquilo que pertinente ao campo,
separando do que exorbita completamente de seus temas, mtodos e objetivos.
Ao examinar as transformaes da preservao ao longo dos sculos, pos-
svel verificar que a construo das questes est, em larga medida, associada
aquisio de uma conscincia histrica, e noo de ruptura entre passado e
presente7. Com o tempo, as formas de lidar com o legado de outras geraes re-
conhecido como de interesse cultural afastaram-se das aes ditadas unicamen-
te por razes pragmticas (de uso, econmicas), que predominaram at ento, e
5 Muoz Vias, S., Teora contempornea de la restauracin, Madrid, Sntesis, 2003.

6 Para alguns deles ver: Vieira, N.; Nascimento, C., A cristalizao da eterna imagem do passado nas pr-
ticas preservacionistas dos stios histricos brasileiros: perspectiva para a sua superao, em Enanparq
II: Atas eletrnicas, Natal, Enanparq, texto ST523-03.
7 Aqui no o caso de retomar a vasta bibliografia sobre o tema; para mencionar apenas alguns textos
utilizados no Brasil, que remetem a bibliografia mais ampla, ver: Carbonara, G., Avvicinamento al re-
stauro, Napoli, Liguori, 1997; Choay, F., A Alegoria do Patrimnio, So Paulo, UNESP, 2001; Jokilehto, J.,
A History of Architectural Conservation, Oxford, Butterworth, 1999. A noo de ruptura entre passado
e presente associada viso de linearidade do tempo, de razes judaico-crists, que predomina em
muitas sociedades ocidentais. As consideraes aqui feitas sobre a matria das obras so pertinentes
para esse tipo de viso e no para os grupos sociais que possuem uma viso de circularidade do tempo.
[57]
BEATRIZ MUGAYAR KHL
aos poucos assumiram conotao cultural, cuja nfase variou e varia no decorrer
do tempo. Por vezes, foi centrada na importncia de eventos histricos, ou numa
excepcional qualidade artstica e, mais recentemente, passou-se a uma concepo
alargada, voltada tambm a aspectos memoriais e simblicos. Assim, os motivos
de ordem prtica deixam de prevalecer isoladamente, apesar de estar sempre pre-
sentes, e passam a ser concomitantes, empregados como meios de preservar, mas
no como a finalidade nica da ao.
Na viso alargada atual, preservamos por razes de cunho: cultural, pelos as-
pectos formais, documentais, simblicos e memoriais; cientfico, pelo fato de os
bens culturais serem portadores de conhecimento em vrios campos do saber; e
tico, por no se ter o direito de apagar os traos de geraes passadas e privar
as geraes presentes e futuras da possibilidade de conhecimento de que esses
bens so portadores.
Nesse processo de amadurecimento, foram feitas as mais variadas formulaes
tericas e experimentaes prticas ao longo de vrios sculos. Com a reflexo
sobre seus resultados, em especial a partir do sculo XIX, o restauro constri
seus instrumentos terico-metodolgicos e tcnico-operacionais, configurando-se
como disciplina que adquire estatuto epistemolgico. Consubstanciam-se, assim,
princpios que poderiam nortear as intervenes, com intuito de que os bens
sejam transmitidos da melhor maneira possvel ao futuro, sem desnatur-los ou
false-los, cumprindo seu papel como bens culturais: para que continuem a ser
documentos fidedignos e, como tal, sirvam como efetivos suportes do conheci-
mento e da memria coletiva. Portanto, qualquer interveno deveria ser justific-
vel a partir das razes por que se preserva.
Analisando muitas das intervenes recentes em bens de interesse cultural no
Brasil e a crescente descaracterizao a que esto sendo submetidos8, torna-se
gritante a necessidade de discutir preceitos tericos para guiar atuaes prticas.
Claro est que no o nico aspecto a ser considerado, mas problema primor-
dial que no tem sido debatido. Apresentam-se a seguir dois casos recentes para
ilustrar a questo: o Estdio do Maracan, no Rio de Janeiro; um armazm ferro-
virio em Santos, Estado de So Paulo.
O Estdio do Maracan passou por transformaes com vistas Copa do Mun-
do de futebol de 2014. Inaugurado em 1950, protegido por lei federal desde
2000. Tem forma elipsoidal, com nervuras de concreto vista em que se articu-
lam pilares, vigas e cobertura. Foi, por muito tempo, o maior estdio do mundo,
referncia para todos, no apenas pelas partidas ali jogadas, mas tambm por
seu papel na composio da paisagem urbana e, ainda, pelo modo como sua
8 Para um conjunto mais amplo de exemplos, ver: Khl, B. Preservao do Patrimnio Arquitetnico da
Industrializao, Cotia, Ateli, 2009.
[58]
cobertura enquadrava as vistas da cidade. As primeiras modificaes expressivas

foram feitas para o Mundial de Clubes de 2000, por exigncia da FIFA: cadeiras
individuais, proibio de espectadores em p, o que levou construo de uma
plataforma provisria sobre a geral (anel elipsoidal em volta do gramado, com
piso em cota mais baixa do que o campo, de onde o pblico assistia partida em
p). O rgo federal de preservao permitiu as transformaes, que, apesar de
vultosas, eram reversveis. J para o Pan-americano de 2007, as obras foram de
maior vulto, como a supresso da geral para ali instalar cadeiras, o rebaixamento
da cota do campo, para permitir melhor visibilidade, a impermeabilizao da co-
bertura e modernizao das instalaes. Nada comparvel, porm, aos trabalhos
concludos em junho de 2013. A FIFA sugeriu uma ampliao da rea coberta,
algo que poderia ser resolvido com o acrscimo de uma cobertura provisria. As
anlises da cobertura mostraram que, apesar de seu mau-estado, seria possvel
recuper-la, a custos elevados. A deciso foi, porm, de demoli-la completamen-
te, com a justificativa de que no era recupervel, algo que contradiz o laudo
tcnico. O resultado foi a transformao radical de todo o estdio, a custos ele-
vadssimos, que geraram inqurito aberto pelo Ministrio Pblico Federal9. Outro
argumento colocado em pauta foi o prprio tipo de tombamento10, pois o bem
foi inscrito no livro dos Bens Arqueolgicos, Paisagstico e Etnogrficos, e no
por sua qualidade arquitetnica; por isso, importava o esprito do lugar e as
transformaes materiais no causariam danos ao valor cultural. Esse argumento
caviloso, pois todos os bens, inscritos em qualquer um dos livros, so iguais
perante a lei, que exige que no sejam nem destrudos, nem mutilados; o tom-
bamento aplicvel s coisas e no ao esprito, lembrando-se que existe
lei federal especfica para o patrimnio imaterial, datada de 2000. Ou seja, pela
lei, a materialidade deve ser respeitada. O sistema integrado nervura-cobertura
do estdio era unvoco e sua demolio parcial leva destruio da lgica de
composio do organismo. Apesar das polmicas envolvendo o caso, no foi
possvel parar os trabalhos.
Outra polmica, iniciada em 2010, diz respeito a um dos armazns do com-
plexo ferrovirio [figura 1] no porto de Santos. Aconteceu num momento em que,
por causa de transformaes do sistema de ferrovias privatizaes de concesso
9 Os dados provm de: Giro, C., Maracan, destruir ou preservar, em Vitruvius, 2012 http://www.
vitruvius.com.br/revistas/read/projetos/12.133/4225 (04.06.2013). As obras atingiram o valor de c. 320
milhes de Euros, suficientes para a construo de dois novos estdios padro FIFA.
10 A estrutura federativa do Brasil repercute na gesto de seus bens culturais. Existe um rgo federal de
preservao, criado em 1937, que tem por intuito tutelar os bens relevantes para todo o pas. Muitos dos
rgos estaduais foram criados posteriormente, como o de So Paulo (1968); seguiu-se a multiplicao
dos rgos municipais. A proteo na esfera federal regulada por vrios instrumentos normativos, o
primeiro deles o decreto-lei 25, de 1937, ainda em vigor. Os bens considerados patrimnio so inscritos
num (ou mais de um) Livros do Tombo, ou seja, livros de registro, especificados no artigo 4o: o Ar-
queolgico, Etnogrfico e Paisagstico; o Histrico; o de Belas Artes; e o de Artes Aplicadas.
[59]
BEATRIZ MUGAYAR KHL
Figura 1. Estao ferroviria de Santos. (Foto: Beatriz M. Khl, 2004).
de vias, extino de companhias havia interesse dos rgos de preservao

federal e estadual, pelas ferrovias como sistema, no mais voltando seus inte-
resses apenas para o edifcio de passageiros. O armazm pertencia mais antiga
ferrovia de So Paulo, a So Paulo Railway (SPR), inaugurada em 1867 para ligar
o porto de Santos zona produtora de caf em Jundia, passando pela cidade de
So Paulo. Os armazns [figuras 2, 3] em Santos eram cruciais no sistema de ex-
portao-importao no Estado de So Paulo, tendo por isso, sido ampliados no
final do sculo XIX. Por eles passaram uma quantidade enorme de mercadorias,
em especial o caf, mas tambm os demais produtos destinados exportao e,
ainda, tudo aquilo que era importado, inclusive o maquinrio fornecido s inds-
trias. So, portanto, importantssimos na configurao do complexo ferrovirio,
com papel de relevo nas atividades agroexportadoras e no processo de industria-
lizao do Estado.
A preservao do conjunto foi aprovada pelo rgo estadual em 2010 mas,
em seguida, surgiram conflitos pois um dos armazns estava em rea adquirida
pela companhia petrolfera Petrobrs, que ali construiria novo complexo admi-
nistrativo. O projeto arquitetnico de Ruy Rezende, atualmente em execuo,
previa a demolio parcial de um dos armazns e manteve a deciso, apesar
do tombamento, para a construo de trs altas torres administrativas, alheias
escala da rea porturia11. Esse conflito, em vez de gerar debate mais informado
com acordo que poderia oferecer Petrobrs outras reas para construir na mes-
ma zona da cidade, ou a reviso do projeto, aproveitando o armazm para parte
das atividades administrativas, levou, em 2011, reviso do tombamento con-
tra o parecer do corpo tcnico do rgo estadual e sua demolio parcial. A
percepo da arquitetura do armazm, limitada sua tera-parte, foi mutilada,
11 Para anlise do problema ver Soukef, A., A preservao dos conjuntos ferrovirios da So Paulo Railway
em Santos e Jundia, So Paulo, FAUUSP, 2010, pp. 242-287.
[60]
Figura 2. Armazm no complexo ferrovirio de Santos. (Foto: Beatriz M. Khl, 2004).
Figura 3. Interior do armazm em Santos. (Foto: Beatriz M. Khl, 2004).
por alterar suas propores que passaram de 1:4 ou seja, um retngulo alonga-
do, com dimenses que permitiam, tambm do ponto de vista espacial, perceber
a importncia das atividades de exportao-importao no Estado para 1:1,5,
um remanescente apequenado e tendendo ao quadrado. A ao interfere na
configurao do complexo ferrovirio-porturio [figuras. 4, 5, 6], inserindo ele-
mentos alheios sua escala, e tambm na percepo do complexo franciscano,
vizinho da estao, com origens no sculo XVII. Segundo informaes recentes,
[61]
BEATRIZ MUGAYAR KHL
Figura 4. Complexo Franciscano e Estao Ferroviria de Santos (Foto: Beatriz M. Khl, 2004).
Figura 5. Complexo Franciscano com torre da Petrobrs em construo. (Foto: Antonio Soukef Jr., 2013).
Figura 6. Vista do complexo porturio-ferrovirio, com uma das torres da Petrobrs em construo.
(Foto: Antonio Soukef Jr., 2013).
[62]
ao obras da Petrobrs estariam afetando as estruturas da igreja e um cemitrio

do sculo XVIII12.
Tambm aqui os fatores que pesaram na deciso tm poucas relaes com a
preservao entendida como ato motivado por razes tico-culturais; uma soluo
alternativa, que preservasse o complexo e garantisse as legtimas necessidades da
Petrobrs poderiam ter sido encontradas. Os argumentos contrrios, assim como
no caso do Maracan, foram vistos como passadistas, fetichistas, irreais e contr-
rios ao progresso.
Se forem analisadas as transformaes por que passou a preservao ao lon-
go dos sculos e a consolidao do restauro como campo disciplinar autnomo
que algo diverso de ser campo disciplinar isolado (pois o campo necessita da
articulao de vrias reas do saber) possvel verificar que, mesmo na diver-
sidade das vrias correntes atuais de pensamento13, existe um cerne comum que
conforma o campo de ao. A restaurao tem metodologia, princpios tericos e
procedimentos tcnico-operacionais que lhe so prprios e resultam da reflexo
sobre os motivos pelos quais se preserva e de experimentaes plurisseculares.
Na prtica, as solues variam enormemente, por causa das diversas correntes de
pensamento e porque os meios empregados na fase operacional so variadssi-
mos: cada obra, ou conjunto de obras, tem sua prpria configurao, materiali-
dade e peculiar transcurso ao longo do tempo. Mas essa diversidade de solues
possveis, no implica que qualquer ao seja de preservao: existe um campo
de pertinncia delimitado pelos aspectos tericos metodolgicos relacionados
preservao entendida como ato tico-cultural.
Nesse sentido devem ser examinados os esforos de variados autores para
estabelecer critrios (e no regras) de atuao. Brandi, por exemplo, admoesta-
va, h vrias dcadas, que a operao prtica de restauro estar, em relao ao
restauro, assim como a pena em relao norma14 (jurdica). Na prtica atual,
penas tm sido aplicadas na ausncia de uma norma; passa-se ao como
restaurar sem antes questionar os porqus, resultando em aes arbitrrias.
Isso no significa que todas as intervenes feitas no Brasil sejam ruins, mas aca-
bam por depender do arbtrio de uma pessoa, que vai julgar o bem mais ou
menos conscienciosamente, em acordo com suas capacidades. Assim, a deciso
no provm de uma noo de justia, que emana da sociedade com conscin-
cia do papel atribudo aos monumentos histricos como suporte do conhecimen-
to e da memria. No se deveria aplicar uma pena ao bem cultural sem uma
12 Ratton, C., Histria ameaada: Santurio do Valongo sob risco de extino, em Dirio do Litoral,
05/08/2013: http://www.diariodolitoral.com.br/conteudo/15233-historia-ameacada-santuario-do-valon-
go-sob-risco-de-extincao (09.08.2013).
13 Para bibliografia complementar sobre esse tema ver: Khl, B., Preservao..., op. cit., pp. 81-100.
14 Brandi, C., Teoria da Restaurao, Cotia, Ateli, 2004, p. 94.
[63]
BEATRIZ MUGAYAR KHL
norma, para no recair em arbitrariedades. Espera-se que um juiz estabelea

uma sentena pautado na lei e no por uma viso individual momentnea; deve
basear-se nos cdigos em vigor, lembrando que os cdigos no so congelados,
so uma construo social que varia ao longo do tempo. A situao atual dos
bens culturais semelhante situao dos seres humanos antes da existncia do
estado de direito.
Outro ponto deve ser analisado neste contexto: todos os indivduos deveriam
ser iguais perante a lei. Monumentos histricos, aqui assemelhados metaforica-
mente a indivduos, como j preconizava Riegl que deu passos essencials na
consolidao do campo no devem ser entendidos apenas como obras gran-
diosas, de excepcional valor, mas como toda obra que com o tempo adquiriu
conotao cultural, algo prximo do sentido etimolgico de monumento como
elemento de rememorao. Equiparam-se as obras de arte aos demais pro-
dutos, no mais fazendo distino, do ponto de vista metodolgico, entre belas
artes e outras formas de manifestao do fazer humano. Da mesma forma, na
jurisprudncia no so feitas discriminaes por aparncia, condio social etc.
As propostas de Riegl podem ser consideradas a declarao universal dos direi-
tos dos monumentos histricos, pois, pelas suas proposies, quaisquer obras
que existam h certo tempo podem ser dignas de preservao e, se consideradas
como tal, so iguais perante a lei de tutela: isso no significa que as obras so
iguais entre si, mas que gozam da mesma proteo legal e devem ser tratadas
segundo critrios coerentes.
Aqui cabe um parntese em relao forma como Riegl tem sido interpretado
no Brasil. Suas proposies oferecem meios inovadores para a teoria e prtica da
preservao, ao abarcar aspectos normativos e analisar de modo agudo o papel
dos monumentos histricos e suas diferentes formas de apreenso por uma so-
ciedade atravs dos valores por ele explicitados no Culto Moderno dos Monu-
mentos15, de 1903. No Brasil, ignora-se com frequncia que o Culto articulado
elaborao do projeto de lei, em que fica patente que, na atuao sobre os
monumentos, apenas um dos valores deve servir de guia, justamente para no
aplicar critrios divergentes para bens que, diante da lei, tm os mesmos direitos.
No Brasil, afirma-se que os valores podem ser aplicados de modo alternado,
algo que conduz a uma cmoda situao de empregar critrios diversos segundo
os prprios interesses.
A construo normativa de Riegl baseada essencialmente no respeito pelo
valor de antigo16, que depende da apreciao das marcas da passagem do tempo,
15 Riegl, A., El Culto moderno a los monumentos, Madrid, Visor, 1987.

16 Ver, de Riegl, Progetto di un'organizzazione legislativa della conservazione in Austria, publicado na co-
letnea organizada por: Scarrocchia, S., Alois Riegl: Teoria e Prassi della Conservazione dei Monumenti,
Bologna, Clueb, 1995, pp. 171-236. Ver as consideraes de Riegl para a lei de tutela (pp. 209-210),
[64]
independentemente da destinao inicial da obra. A tutela no se volta, assim,

para a retomada de formas antigas, nem desconsidera as vrias fases dos edif-
cios. fundamentada no culto do valor de antigo, por ser considerado o mais
inclusivo, e que respeita de modo pleno as obras de toda e qualquer fase da pro-
duo humana, as vrias estratificaes de uma mesma obra, e os prprios traos
de ancianidade.
Independentemente de se ter maior afinidade com as proposies de Riegl ou
Brandi, ou outras formulaes e reinterpretaes mais recentes, quer-se eviden-
ciar a necessidade de atuar segundo critrios consistentes, derivados da conscin-
cia das razes que levam a preservar.
importante notar ainda que os meios tcnico-operacionais so essenciais, e
devem ser arduamente debatidos e pesquisados, mas no podem ser entendidos
como desvinculados das discusses mencionadas acima, pois um dos riscos que
se corre hoje de excessiva especializao, de fragmentao do conhecimento e
pulverizao disciplinar que leve a uma f cega no tecnicismo.
Preservar deveria ser, sempre, um processo multidisciplinar, mesmo que a
parte operacional seja executada por uma s pessoa. essencial atuar com ri-
gor metodolgico prprio s humanidades (que no deve ser confundido com
obsesso metodolgica). O restauro necessariamente ato ancorado nos vrios
campos disciplinares, no pensamento crtico e cientfico do momento em que
feito. A vinculao s humanidades essencial para quem atua na preservao,
pois possibilita superar atitudes ditadas por predilees individuais, que qualquer
ser pensante possui, e por uma maior ou menor apreciao de um grupo social,
num presente histrico, em relao s manifestaes culturais de outros pero-
dos, e que se aja de acordo com slida deontologia profissional. Quantas vezes
na histria um determinado tipo de produo foi desprezado, para, depois, ser
apreciado, quando j muitos testemunhos haviam desaparecido? Qualquer profis-
sional tem predilees individuais, mas deve super-las na prtica em funo de
deontologia apropriada, para no recair no arbtrio. Esse processo no bvio e
tambm por isso a pluridisciplinaridade necessria: para minimizar o risco de
atitudes parciais e deformadoras.
A atuao em bens culturais exige estudos aprofundados, no admite simpli-
ficaes, nem aplicaes mecnicas de frmulas: da a necessidade de trabalhar
princpios, ou critrios de atuao (e no regras fixas) para fundamentar propos-
tas. Ademais, a restaurao como entendida hoje, no voltar ao passado (era
no sculo XIX), nem congelar ou embalsamar, tampouco apartar os bens da rea-
lidade. Significa, sempre, transformar, pois nada permanece igual a si prprio por
mostrando o carter mais inclusivo do valor de antigo, baseado na solidariedade com todo o mundo
e as disposies para a aplicao da lei (pp. 222-236).
[65]
BEATRIZ MUGAYAR KHL
tempo indeterminado; o restauro deve, portanto, controlar a transformao para

transmitir a obra ao futuro, pautando-se no respeito pela sua conformao, pelos
seus aspectos materiais e pela sua transformao ao longo do tempo, para reinse-
ri-la na realidade socioeconmica atual. , portanto, ato de respeito pelo passado,
feito no presente, que mantm, sempre, o futuro no horizonte de suas reflexes.
Nas aes de restauro, pelas definies de seu campo disciplinar, no se volta a
um estado anterior qualquer da obra; est-se numa determinada situao e ende-
rea-se a outra. As alteraes so necessrias e desejveis, mas so consequncia
dos estudos multidisciplinares.
Muitas vezes, porm, o restauro desqualificado, pois considerado insuficiente
para fazer face s demandas atuais concluso a que se chega baseado em pre-
conceitos e no na definio atualizada de restauro em seu campo disciplinar,
em prol de aes denominadas requalificao, recuperao, reciclagem, e
outras regurgitaes lexicais17 como entendidas por Gaetano Miarelli Mariani.
So propostas que desconhecem os instrumentos epistemolgicos do restauro e
tampouco desenvolvem aparato conceitual consistente para assegurar que a ao
seja feita de modo a respeitar o direito cultura e memria.
As proposies de restauro exigem esforo interpretativo relacionado a cada
caso, em razo das caractersticas particulares de cada obra e de seu individual
transcorrer no tempo. Da a necessidade da reflexo terica, que perscruta o mto-
do, para resolver o problema de modo que a idia subjetiva se torne acessvel a um
juzo mais objetivo e controlvel, mesmo na intrnseca no-exatido das cincias
humanas18. A restaurao possui mtodos, conceitos, referenciais tericos e tcni-
co-operacionais consistentes, que oferecem instrumentos para que a interveno
prtica seja pertinente ao campo, considerando suas motivaes e objetivos.
Por ser ato crtico, a restaurao possui pertinncia relativa em relao aos pa-
rmetros culturais (e scio-econmico-polticos etc.) de cada poca. Num mesmo
presente, as solues fundamentadas possveis para um problema so variadas;
no existe apenas uma soluo plausvel, aceita de maneira unnime por todos e
vlida atemporalmente, mas vrias solues de pertinncia relativa. A pertinncia
relativa tambm no que se refere aos parmetros de pocas anteriores e poste-
riores, no sendo possvel prever quais sero os critrios empregados no futuro19.
17 Miarelli Mariani, G. Riflessioni su un vecchio tema: il nuovo nella citt storica, em Restauro, n. 164,
2003, pp.11-48.
18 Ver, por exemplo, Heidegger, M., Chemins qui ne mnent nulle part, Paris, Gallimard, 1986, pp. 99-126.
Heidegger evidencia que a no-exatido das cincias humanas no defeito; caracterstica e exigncia,
pois seu campo de objetividade que de outro gnero, se comparado s cincias exatas (cuja ligao
com seu setor de objetividade tem o carter de exatido) existe, mas demanda trabalho mais rduo,
sendo necessrio pautar-se no mtodo para alcanar a objetividade.
19 Como explicitado por Brandi, C., Il fondamento teorico del restauro, em Bollettino dell'Istituto Centra-
le del Restauro, n. 1, 1950, pp. 5-12.
[66]
A forma de atuar nos bens culturais depende do modo como so percebidos e as

respostas por eles dadas so relacionadas s questes e indagaes formuladas
por um presente histrico. Isso evidencia ainda mais a necessidade de agir de
modo fundamentado a partir de via deduzida de princpios ticos e cientficos e
no derivadas, apenas, de modo emprico, do objeto. A soluo deve, tambm
por isso, ser discutida e enfrentada com instrumentos e vinculada realidade de
cada poca; o fato de, no futuro, as posturas serem diversas no exime um grupo
social da responsabilidade pela preservao (e de identificar bens a preservar). Se
isso no for feito de maneira fundamentada, ocorrer de modo aleatrio.
importante salientar que as atuais vertentes de pensamento, aquelas de fato
consistentes, apesar de terem fundamentao distinta, e operarem de modo di-
verso, so calcadas na viso da preservao como ato tico-cultural, mesmo na
pluralidade de suas formulaes. Os preceitos tericos permitem, desse modo,
circunscrever a preservao e as aes a ela relacionadas, separando-as daquilo
que exorbita completamente de suas motivaes e objetivos. Uma coisa possuir
pertinncia relativa; outra, ser impertinente ao campo.
Uma crtica comum vinculao tico-cultural da preservao que as aes
resultantes seriam inviveis do ponto de vista econmico e insuficientes para
reinseri-las na dinmica da sociedade atual. Os poucos estudos comparativos exis-
tentes mostram que manuteno de tecidos edilcios e restauros bem feitos custam
menos do que renovaes radicais, e no inviabilizam o reaproveitamento da
obra do ponto de vista econmico. Ocorre que numa interveno fundamentada,
por no ter por objetivo lucro mximo e por ter projeto e memorial pormenori-
zados, os custos so mais controlados, mas ainda assim a operao lucrativa e
vivel. essencial no confundir viabilidade com lucro mximo, nem uma leg-
tima necessidade de rentabilidade com ganncia desenfreada. preciso que os
profissionais ligados ao campo, e os arquitetos em especial, estejam conscientes
disso pois, por vezes, o discurso da liberdade de criao, de um suposto bene-
fcio social, de inviabilidade de propostas respeitosas, de uma alegada superao
do restauro, pode se colocar a servio, na verdade, do capital meramente espe-
culativo, do lucro a qualquer custo, em detrimento de aspectos socioculturais que
deveriam prevalecer20.
necessrio, porm, tornar os critrios de preservao operacionais para as
atuais circunstncias, fazendo, de modo gradativo, experimentaes conscien-
ciosas, num contnuo confrontar entre teoria e prtica, para chegar a princpios
amadurecidos, capazes de enfrentar os problemas em sua real complexidade.
Por isso a insistncia na necessidade de voltar a entender as razes que con-
20 Dados da Transparency International, ONG que se ocupa da corrupo, citados por Joseph Rykwert
(apud La Cecla, F., Contro l'Architettura, Turim, Boringhieri, 2008, p. 25), mostram que 78% do dinheiro
de corrupo do mundo passa pela construo.
[67]
BEATRIZ MUGAYAR KHL
duziram preservao de bens culturais, que se afastou das aes ditadas por
razes pragmticas, para assumir conotao tico-cultural, e analisar os motivos
que levaram o restauro a um distanciamento do empirismo para se integrar
reflexo crtica e s cincias. O intuito respeitar os bens em seus aspectos
documentais, de configurao, de materialidade, e seu transcorrer ao longo do
tempo, para que continuem a ser documentos fidedignos, que transmitem o co-
nhecimento, e que sirvam como efetivos elementos de rememorao e suportes
da memria coletiva.
A responsabilidade de quem atua na preservao assegurar o direito ao
conhecimento e memria e seu poder propulsor de transformaes, que
implica o dever de preservar para assegurar que vrios tipos de testemunhos
do fazer humano, atuais e pretritos, existam, convivam e sejam respeitados.
Assim fazendo, tem-se instrumental mais amplo que pode ser percebido e
atualizado, por uma conscincia individual ou de maneira coletiva, de infinitas
maneiras, no presente e no futuro, para a apreenso da realidade, propor-
cionando meios abrangentes para a ela se adaptar, para transform-la e para
construir o futuro. Uma atuao profissional tica, em prol do bem comum,
no opcional, nem pode ser abandonada segundo contingncias moment-
neas: deve ser uma premissa.
[68]
ALGUNAS REFLEXIONES SOBRE EL PAPEL DEL ARQUITECTO EN LA
INTERVENCIN CONTEMPORNEA
LUIS FRANCO LAHOZ*
Resumen: Cada edificio monumental se puede definir desde el equilibrio entre su

ser y su particular devenir, y esto los convierte en piezas nicas que es necesario
interpretar desde su unicidad. La complejidad implcita en la arquitectura histrica
requiere que las diversas disciplinas implicadas en su conservacin colaboren
transversalmente para alcanzar un consenso interpretativo sobre las claves for-
mativas y el sentido ltimo de cada monumento, su metamorfosis, su soporte
material y constructivo, y sobre aquellos valores que le otorgan la condicin
monumental. El proyecto de intervencin recupera su condicin disciplinar como
arquitectura, y busca imbricarse en el devenir del monumento sin estridencia ni
dramatismo, proponiendo soluciones de una medida objetividad y sintona con lo
precedente, sin renunciar por ello a su propia contemporaneidad.
Palabras clave: Unicidad. Transversal. Objetiva. Formatividad. Metamorfosis.
La arquitectura es el escenario en el que sucede la vida y por ello puede mate-

rializar emociones y sentimientos colectivos. Sin embargo, hasta el siglo XIX slo
se valoraban los restos del mundo clsico, y fue la toma en consideracin de la
romntica capacidad de la arquitectura para evocar el pasado de los pueblos la
que puso en valor las construcciones representativas de otras pocas. Desde en-
tonces, la deriva de las teoras de intervencin y restauracin de monumentos ha
decantado la obligacin metodolgica de interpretar todos sus valores artsticos,
documentales y simblicos, pero tambin la de atender a sus valores disciplina-
res, puesto que las piezas de valor artstico o documental que encontramos en los
monumentos fueron pensadas mayoritariamente para quedar insertas en la arqui-
tectura que les proporciona su justo sentido1. Al reconocer que una arquitectura
* Arquitecto. Profesor Asociado de Proyectos Arquitectnicos de la Escuela de Ingeniera y Arquitectura.

Universidad de Zaragoza. www.pemanyfranco.com. lfranco@unizar.es
1 Es el caso de las pinturas de la sala capitular del monasterio de Sijena, extradas en el siglo XX del
monumento e instaladas en el Museu Nacional dArt de Catalunya (MNAC) o el de los arcos del patio
[69]
LUIS FRANCO LAHOZ
posee valores monumentales estamos aceptando su condicin de bien de inters

pblico integrante de un acervo comn que hay que conservar, de modo que
cuando trabajamos en estas construcciones lo hacemos como agentes cualificados
y responsables de gestionar el inters comn, y no como autores ms preocupa-
dos por tendencias coyunturales o personales2.
Hasta la dcada de 1970 la administracin espaola dispona de arquitectos
restauradores organizados por zonas geogrficas. Eran profesionales eruditos,
grandes conocedores de la historia de los estilos y de la construccin tradicional,
que acometieron largos rescates de monumentos afrontando personalmente la
investigacin histrica y arqueolgica, y desarrollando su trabajo sobre el terre-
no apoyados en empresas tradicionales que dominaban las tcnicas artesanales.
En estos rescates se buscaba consolidar una imagen cerrada del monumento,
prxima al momento ms significativo del mismo, pero si la superposicin de
episodios constructivos histricos imposibilitaba completar una intervencin uni-
taria, entonces iban creando contextos parciales para ambientar los fragmentos
heredados de cada poca3. Acompaando la transicin poltica espaola apa-
recieron nuevos responsables del patrimonio que dieron un notable giro con-
ceptual a la intervencin monumental, y si en el caso de los monumentos ms
singulares se impusieron criterios de conservacin documental ms estrictos, en
los monumentos de rango inferior se permiti experimentar ms all de la pura
conservacin poniendo especial nfasis en marcar la diacrona entre la antigua
y la nueva arquitectura, pero los resultados fueron tan desiguales como lo era la
lectura personal y la actitud que tuvieron los arquitectos responsables de cada
intervencin.
Actualmente, la intervencin sobre el patrimonio construido est considerada
una actividad compleja que exige la concurrencia de diferentes disciplinas y una
consideracin del monumento acorde a su unicidad. En este sentido, la colabora-
cin entre especialistas slo puede ser transversal, ya que el objetivo es elaborar
entre ellos un consenso interpretativo sobre las claves y el sentido del monumen-
to, en relacin con su particular evolucin y con los valores que le otorgan su
condicin monumental.
islmico de la Aljafera, extrados en el XIX e instalados en el Museo Arqueolgico Nacional. Ambos

conjuntos pueden valorarse como obras de arte aisladas, pero las pinturas alcanzaban su verdadero
sentido en la sala capitular de un monasterio romnico, y los arcos en la composicin geomtrica de
un patio islmico de tradicin omeya. Lo mismo podra decirse del conjunto escultrico del reloj de la
torre de la Seo de Zaragoza, cuyo mensaje alegrico slo tiene sentido formando parte de la arquitec-
tura que le da soporte.
2 Esta consideracin se hace evidente en actuaciones largas y complejas como las catedrales de Tarazona
y Zaragoza o el monasterio de Sijena, que tuvieron periodos de estancamiento y cambios de responsa-
bles tcnicos, y en las que debera mantenerse la unidad de criterio y la coherencia tcnica.
3 Entre estos arquitectos encontramos a Yarnoz en el castillo de Olite, Chueca en el claustro del monaste-
rio de Sijena, o iguez en el palacio de la Aljafera.
[70]
ALGUNAS REFLEXIONES SOBRE EL PAPEL DEL ARQUITECTO EN LA INTERVENCIN CONTEMPORNEA
Figura 1. Vista area del Monasterio de Sijena en el ao 2001.
El reconocimiento de estos valores no responde a impulsos fugaces o sensi-

bles, al contrario, es el resultado de un proceso metodolgico participado por
diversas disciplinas, que pretende ser objetivo y cientfico, y que por tanto se aleja
de cualquier condicionamiento apriorstico, ya sea de gusto personal o de estilo4.
Los monumentos son documentos y obras de arte, y su naturaleza arquitectnica
les hace portadores de valores disciplinares especficos, sin embargo, identificar
todos sus valores y la materia que los encarna no es tarea fcil, ya que muchas
veces han quedado olvidados u ocultos por capas de historia, o han sido desfigu-
rados por modificaciones o patologas, o son intangibles, o presentan incompati-
bilidades irresolubles entre ellos [figura 1].
Es cierto que una aproximacin objetiva al monumento requiere de la parti-
cipacin de numerosos especialistas, pero no ganaremos perspectiva situando
disciplinas en relacin de simultaneidad, porque el aislamiento de las variables
interpretativas del monumento slo provoca reduccionismos autocomplacien-
tes5. No se trata de que cada especialista realice una investigacin pura, se
trata de que interacte transversalmente con otros para que sus aportaciones
converjan sobre aquellos aspectos de la interpretacin del monumento que,
siendo de inters compartido, precisen de un acuerdo suficiente, o con la fina-
4 Jimnez, A., Enmiendas parciales a la teora del restauro II. Valor y valores, en Loggia n. 5, Valencia,
1996, pp. 12-29, No es suficiente un reconocimiento autista de los valores estticos, es imprescindible
un cierto consenso social sobre la existencia y relevancia de estas cualidades artsticas, p. 26.
Dalla Negra, R., conferencia en el seminario Conservando el pasado, proyectando el futuro, Zaragoza,
IFC-UNIZAR, 2013: El gusto personal del arquitecto slo debe manifestarse al final del proceso de in-
tervencin, y no al principio, para evitar condiciones previas que no estn fundamentadas en el propio
monumento.
5 Gonzlez Moreno-Navarro, J. L., La comprensin preliminar de la realidad constructiva del monumen-
to, en Teoras y criterios de intervencin en el patrimonio arquitectnico. Curso celebrado en el Colegio
Oficial de Arquitectos de Aragn, 2001.
[71]
LUIS FRANCO LAHOZ
lidad de establecer una jerarqua operativa entre los diferentes valores recono-
cidos al monumento. La metodologa transversal pone el nfasis en la conexin
de lo particular con el todo, un todo que debe entenderse como fruto del
debate sobre la complejidad del monumento, y no como una reduccin de su
realidad que, o crea un falso espejismo como sntesis aparente del problema a
resolver, o conduce a la mera aplicacin de tcnicas de conservacin, cuando la
tcnica slo debe aparecer para ejecutar lo decidido tras una valoracin crtica
del monumento6.
En la naturaleza de la arquitectura habita un destino cambiante, y trabajar so-
bre lo construido ha ocupado a los arquitectos de todas las pocas. Sin embargo,
se sigue pensando que los arquitectos inician su trabajo como los pintores, sobre
un espacio en blanco, cuando la realidad es que su mbito de intervencin es
un campo de conflictos previos, y toda arquitectura arrastra las dependencias
derivadas de su necesaria materializacin y de su adecuacin al destino previsto.
Al intentar poner orden en un entorno dominado por imprecisiones, paradojas
e incoherencias, y tener que aceptar estas como material de trabajo, la arquitec-
tura queda condicionada por la realidad en la que se inserta y se convierte en
un arte impuro, mestizo7. Por ello, descifrar el sentido de una arquitectura ya
construida es en buena parte comprender sus condiciones formativas iniciales y
la gnesis de sus transformaciones, y en consecuencia, para llegar a reconocer
y matizar todos sus valores habr que argumentar crticamente sobre el ser y el
devenir de aquella arquitectura en relacin con su soporte material y construc-
tivo [figura 2].
Muchas veces se confunde la creacin artstica con la elaboracin de for-
mas caprichosas, pero en la buena arquitectura casi nada es casual y la forma
no surge de la inspiracin espontnea del artista, sino como resultado de un
proceso que evoluciona sobre principios lgicos. Rafael Moneo seala que en
arquitectura, y frente al concepto de arbitrariedad, cabra hablar del concepto
de formatividad8, entendiendo como tal la cualidad de aquellas acciones que
acaban provocando la forma y que explican el hacerse de esa arquitectura. Si
la arquitectura nueva se explica desde la gnesis del proyecto, la arquitectura
histrica se revela desde la comprensin de su proceso evolutivo y de los ras-
gos formativos que han estado soportando su identidad a lo largo del tiempo,
y aunque pueda parecer una paradoja, si las sucesivas intervenciones se han
6 La preeminencia de la valoracin crtica sobre la pura tcnica de conservacin se ejemplariza en la

consideracin de los revestimientos de los edificios, bien como pieles de sacrificio, o bien como testigos
que expresan la riqueza documental y capacidad evocativa que otorga el paso del tiempo.
7 Capitel, A., La arquitectura como arte impuro, Barcelona, Fundacin Caja de Arquitectos, 2012.
8 Moneo, R., Sobre el concepto de arbitrariedad en arquitectura, Discurso de entrada en la Academia de
Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid, RSBAF, 2005. A propsito del concepto de formatividad, segn
Luigi Pareyson: la arquitectura podra explicarse desde la descripcin del proceso que la vio nacer.
[72]
Figura 2. Planta del Monasterio de Sijena con una aproximacin a su proceso evolutivo.
apoyado en el entendimiento de estos rasgos, este modo de actuar habr con-

tribuido a que los cambios e inserciones efectuadas colaboren con la entidad de
la arquitectura precedente9.
Es cierto que la arquitectura presenta en ocasiones una sugerente arbitra-
riedad, pero la forma de la arquitectura se gesta al tiempo que se solventa su
utilidad, su implantacin en el lugar o su construccin, y lo creativo debe apa-
recer siempre como fruto de esta integracin. Si la respuesta al uso ha generado
todo un universo de tipos y mutaciones de modelos arquitectnicos, el ajuste
a las condiciones topogrficas, climticas y urbanas, ha provocado constantes
distorsiones del tipo inicial en funcin de las circunstancias de cada entorno, y
si pensamos en la manera de construir, ni siquiera la arquitectura de Gaud es
arbitraria, ya que las formas de su arquitectura surgen de la invencin del sis-
tema constructivo10, o si atendemos al caso de Utzon, la extraordinaria forma
de las cscaras de la pera de Sidney no responde a un simple gesto, sino al
trazado geomtrico que acompaa un sistema de piezas prefabricadas, enlazadas
y tensadas que, como sucede con las dovelas de los arcos de las iglesias gticas,
9 Moneo, R., La vida de los edificios. Las ampliaciones de la mezquita de Crdoba, en Revista Arquitec-
tura n. 256. Madrid, 1985. pp. 26-36.
10 Moneo, R., Sobre el concepto de arbitrariedad en arquitectura, op. cit. A propsito de la obra de Gaud:
detrs de las formas existe una geometra que domina la construccin, y es al atender a la construccin
cuando aparece la forma como algo novedoso.
[73]
LUIS FRANCO LAHOZ
Figura 3. Antonio Gaud: inverso de la maqueta almbrica de cargas de las bvedas del templo de la Sagrada Familia.
Jorn Utzon: estudio grfico del trazado de los nervios de las cubiertas de la pera de Sidney.
se elaboran sobre el suelo para posteriormente unirse formando nervaduras y

elementos estructurales11 [figura 3].
Construccin, utilidad y lugar, entendidos en su sentido ms noble y amplio,
son las condiciones bsicas que, superando su particularidad, se funden en el
proyecto con las decisiones espaciales para crear la forma que llamamos arqui-
tectura12. Sin embargo, durante las ltimas dcadas la atencin se ha centrado
ms sobre otra arquitectura que encuentra su anmico fundamento en el servicio
a una sociedad meditica y de consumo. Pero los edificios histricos no aceptan
interpretaciones coyunturales, y menos su metamorfosis, y consecuentemente no
podemos limitarnos a realizar una mera consideracin formal o epitelial de los
mismos. En este sentido, ICOMOS nos anima a una intervencin afrontada desde
una perspectiva disciplinar, y pide que los arquitectos sean capaces de leer la
arquitectura histrica en su contexto, de comprender su historia y los cambios
que ha soportado, la tecnologa utilizada para su construccin y en sus diferentes
modificaciones, el modo en que se inserta en el entorno y su relacin con otros
edificios o paisajes13.
Antn Capitel, en su trabajo de referencia Metamorfosis de monumentos y
teoras de restauracin, nos propone una lectura de la arquitectura histrica como
proceso racional de configuracin de la forma, y ejemplariza estos procesos
11 Ferrer Fors, J., Jorn Utzon. Obras y proyectos, Barcelona, Gustavo Gili, 2008, pp. 149-179. A propsito
de la pera de Sidney y la arquitectura gtica, p. 165.
12 Labarta, C., Memoria de proyectos 2009.10 y Memoria de proyectos 2010.11, EINA UNIZAR. Zaragoza,
2010 y 2011, pp. 7-10 y pp. 5-8.
13 ICOMOS. Consejo Internacional de Monumentos y Sitios. Reunin de Sri Lanka.1993.
[74]
Figura 4. Dibujo en planta de la Catedral-Mezquita de Crdoba realizado por Gabriel Ruiz Cabrero.
Croquis realizado por Antn Capitel sobre la insercin del Palacio de Carlos V en la Alhambra de Granada.
analizando algunas operaciones de insercin de piezas nuevas en arquitecturas

ya existentes que resolvieron los problemas planteados aadiendo mayor valor al
conjunto. En Crdoba, la contraposicin espacial latente entre el eje cannico de
la mezquita y el ortogonal de su orden constructivo, qued relativizada al insertar
transversalmente la catedral conservando la mayor parte del recinto primitivo; en
Santiago de Compostela, la imposibilidad de conciliar el modelo monstico ideal
con la ciudad que rodeaba a la catedral se resolvi prescindiendo de la coheren-
cia del plan primitivo y buscando para la totalidad un nuevo valor formal; en la
catedral del Burgo de Osma, la propuesta de Villanueva solucion la cabecera de
la catedral adosando piezas coherentes, pero adaptadas al trazado de las calles del
permetro; finalmente, la insercin de una construccin cannica como el palacio
de Carlos V de Machuca en el interior de la Alhambra, tuvo que ajustarse a los
desniveles y a las construcciones colindantes para conseguir articular un complejo
y armonioso conjunto de piezas14 [figura 4].
Restaurar no es sino restituir al monumento su condicin de arquitectura,
dice Antonio Gonzlez, y aunque la primera opcin sea conservar, si fuera ne-
cesario restablecer la relacin sentimental de la gente con el objeto arquitect-
nico, no debemos descartar el empleo de recursos disciplinares con decisin y
medida15. Cada disciplina tiene su campo de inters especfico, y dado que no
14 Capitel, A., Metamorfosis de monumentos y teoras de restauracin, Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 1988, pp.
53-144.
15 Gonzlez Moreno-Navarro, A., La Restauracin Objetiva, Barcelona, Diputacin de Barcelona, 1999, p.
64. En la ETSAN, el 20-IX-2012, para ejemplarizar esta idea sealaba la intervencin de 1919 de Jeroni
Martorell en la puerta del siglo XVI de la muralla de Centelles.
[75]
LUIS FRANCO LAHOZ
Figura 5. Planta de la Seo de Zaragoza. Pemn y Franco Arquitectos.
Figura 6. Interior de la Seo de Zaragoza despus de la intervencin de los aos 1992-1999.
es posible actuar como un hbrido entre arquitecto, arquelogo o historiador, las

disciplinas que participen en cada intervencin debern empatizar con las otras
y compartir la conviccin de que su trabajo slo alcanza sentido en la compre-
sin del todo que es el objeto arquitectnico. El reconocimiento cientfico de
todos los valores de un monumento requiere de esta cooperacin, sin embargo,
el campo de la arquitectura tiene una preeminencia natural en la restauracin
arquitectnica, y por tanto corresponde al arquitecto conducir el consenso inter-
pretativo y decantar la sntesis final que fundamente crticamente los criterios de
intervencin en funcin de las condiciones objetivas de cada monumento [figura
5]. En este sentido, nuestra intervencin en el interior de la Seo de Zaragoza se
[76]
bas en el consenso interpretativo sobre los episodios constructivos que haban

conformado el espacio que nos llegaba: las dos ampliaciones consecutivas del
siglo XVI, que transformaron un templo direccional de tres naves en otro de cin-
co aportando la isotropa de la planta saln y un nuevo sentido a la cabecera y
al cimborrio de la catedral, el revestimiento continuo de yeso pincelado con un
despiece isdomo a la romana, que se aplic sobre las pinturas de las bvedas
y paredes para acercar un espacio medieval al espritu renaciente16, y la operacin
barroca realizada para matizar la luz interior transformando los ventanales de
las naves en culos y abriendo linternas en las bvedas de las capillas laterales
[figura 6]. Con el soporte del consenso alcanzado sobre la metamorfosis evolutiva
de la Catedral, la intervencin se centr en conservar la unidad espacial y percep-
tiva de aquel espacio, y se evit la confusa fragmentacin que habra provocado
el dejar a la vista los numerosos restos de pocas pretritas que iban aparecien-
do. Del mismo modo, nuestra intervencin en la antigua Facultad de Medicina y
Ciencias de la Universidad de Zaragoza, una arquitectura gestada bajo estrictas
reglas acadmicas, se fundament en la comprensin de la jerarqua de parties
que el proyecto de Ricardo Magdalena haba creado sobre los ejes del edificio, un
sistema de relaciones internas que dispone los espacios ms singulares sobre los
dos ejes principales y en las esquinas del edificio, y que otorga un carcter neutro
y flexible a los espacios intermedios que van enlazando los otros de mayor ran-
go17. El reconocimiento de esta clave proyectual marc como prioridad situar las
dependencias programadas para adecuar el edificio como paraninfo universitario
respetando la jerarqua y el sentido de cada parte, y en consecuencia se estableci
el criterio de que slo se podran compartimentar para despachos y zonas admi-
nistrativas los espacios intermedios, con el lmite impuesto por el patrn de las
ventanas existentes [figura 7].
La vida del monumento no concluye al reconocerlo como tal, y ya Ruskin nos
adverta de que una arquitectura sin vida deja de ser arquitectura y se convierte
en otra clase de objeto. Si la utilitas es una condicin bsica de la arquitectura,
en algunos casos, y para revitalizar un monumento dndole otro uso, ser preciso
considerar la oportunidad de implementar la arquitectura histrica [figura 8]. Es el
caso del palacio de la Aljafera, un edificio sin destino hasta que fue ocupado por
las Cortes de Aragn en 1985. En aquel momento, la Aljafera afrontaba un proce-
so de transformacin total que haba quedado inconcluso al detenerse el derribo
emprendido para recuperar el palacio oculto bajo el cuartel decimonnico. Aquel
16 Criado Mainar, J., e Ibez Fernndez, J., Sobre campo de azul y carmn, Zaragoza, Fundacin Teresa de
Jess, 2006, pp. 39-54. Sobre la llegada del renacimiento a la arquitectura aragonesa y la decoracin
pictrica de la Seo de Zaragoza.
17 Durand, J. N. L., Compendio de lecciones de arquitectura, Madrid, Pronaos, 1981. El prlogo de Rafael
Moneo explica con claridad esta metodologa proyectual de combinacin de partes y elementos sobre
tramas geomtricas simples.
[77]
LUIS FRANCO LAHOZ
Figura 7. Ricardo Magdalena: Esquema murario en planta de la antigua Facultad de Medicina y Ciencias
de la Universidad de Zaragoza.
rescate, iniciado por Francisco iguez en los aos 50, haba recuperado ya la
zona ms monumental, pero tambin haba puesto en evidencia la imposibilidad
de recomponer en pureza cualquiera de las dos etapas fundamentales del mo-
numento, el palacio islmico taifal y el palacio cristiano renaciente superpuesto
en el siglo XVI. La excavacin arqueolgica que acompa nuestro trabajo para
las Cortes revel la ausencia de restos significativos bajo la mitad del cuartel que
quedaba en pie, y en consecuencia se asumi colectivamente la improcedencia
de retomar el derribo y el hecho de que la Aljafera que heredbamos era una
realidad contradictoria y fragmentaria que, sin embargo, atesoraba importantes
testigos materiales de toda la historia de Aragn. De este modo, y al margen del
valor documental o artstico de cada parte y de la necesidad de mejorar la auten-
ticidad de los vestigios, cobr especial valor la consideracin de la Aljafera como
lugar histrico, y con ello se increment la importancia de conservar todo aquel
collage de piezas superpuestas, incluyendo la etapa decimonnica, antes denos-
tada, y las reconstrucciones de iguez, entre ellas la del lienzo este de la muralla
que realiz sobre la traza islmica y siguiendo los dibujos del XVI de Spanochi
[figura 9]. Esta operacin sera imposible de acometer hoy en da, pero su mrito
consista en haber contribuido eficazmente a recuperar la relacin afectiva de la
ciudad con su palacio perdido, y acompaada por la existencia de otras piezas de
gran valor como los arcos islmicos o las salas de los Reyes Catlicos, al iniciarse
nuestro trabajo haba alcanzado ya su particular condicin monumental por con-
senso social18. La aproximacin al carcter fragmentario del recinto nos ayud a
18 Jimnez, A., Enmiendas parciales a la teora del restauro II. Valor y valores, en op. cit., pp. 12-29. En
este artculo se analiza con precisin el alcance y la influencia del concepto de valor en la arquitectura
histrica.
[78]
Figura 8. Planta de la Aljafera en 1985, antes de su reutilizacin como sede de las Cortes de Aragn.
En tono oscuro se superpone el resultado de la investigacin arqueolgica realizada. Arquelogo Manuel Martn Bueno.
Figura 9. La Aljafera en 1593. Dibujo de Tiburcio Spanochi con la propuesta de fortificacin del lado este.
Archivo General de Simancas.
La Aljafera en 1950. Vista del cuartel desde la esquina noreste.
La Aljafera en 1973. Vista de la reconstruccin del lienzo Este llevada a cabo por Francisco iguez.
[79]
LUIS FRANCO LAHOZ
Figura 10. Intervencin entre 1986 y 1998. Vista desde la esquina sureste.
Resolucin del encuentro entre la zona de cuartel que se conserv y la reconstruccin del lienzo de muralla de F. iguez.
comprender que la intervencin constitua un nuevo episodio que se sumaba con

respeto a la cadena vital del palacio, pero que ahora ofreca adems la oportuni-
dad de resolver la articulacin de las partes antiguas que permanecan inconexas.
En este sentido, la insercin de los espacios parlamentarios no invadi las zonas
monumentales y atendi a las trazas formativas del recinto, su muralla perimetral
y sus tres patios, y busc resonancias con la arquitectura histrica, su proporcin,
espacialidad, profundidad o textura material, para con ese bagaje incardinar cui-
dadosamente la nueva arquitectura en el devenir del palacio [figura 10].
Las fbricas de los monumentos ofrecen en ocasiones una informacin con-
flictiva que no es sino la consecuencia de su compleja naturaleza acumulativa.
Hasta que el movimiento moderno independiz la estructura del cerramiento
de los edificios, la ntima relacin entre construccin y forma dotaba de unidad
material a la arquitectura, y en los muros quedaban registradas las seales de las
alteraciones y del comportamiento estructural de los edificios. Estos datos cons-
tituyen una rica informacin a la hora intervenir en monumentos, pero pasaran
desapercibidos si dibujamos su estado inicial idealizando la arquitectura como
sucede cuando la estamos proyectando19. La representacin del estado actual es
la carta del monumento y la primera forma de conocerlo, y si no nos acercamos
a su realidad concreta habremos despreciado la informacin que ofrecen todas
sus imperfecciones. La fotogrametra es la herramienta ms eficaz para reflejar el
19 Gonzlez, J. L., El mtodo cientfico aplicado al conocimiento de los edificios histricos, en Teoras y
criterios de intervencin en el patrimonio arquitectnico. Curso celebrado en el CO.AA. 2001. No hay
que caer en el error de creer que los modelos informticos, por muy avanzados que sean, y ms si no
lo son, son la realidad.
[80]
Figura 11. Monasterio de Sijena. Seccin por el lado interior sur de la nave norte. Insercin fotogramtrica.
edificio real y, como produce una planimetra objetiva, aporta un soporte comn
para la colaboracin cientfica entre especialistas, lo que es indispensable para
trabajar en arqueologa de la arquitectura y para el estudio de las patologas cons-
tructivas20. La arqueologa de la arquitectura la utiliza para hacer una lectura es-
tratigrfica del monumento y para detectar episodios constructivos. Esta rama de
la arqueologa no se apoya en cnones estilsticos o en referencias escritas, extrae
datos de los sistemas constructivos y de las huellas que presentan las fbricas y,
tras analizarlos individualmente y en el contexto general, aborda interpretaciones
de la metamorfosis del monumento que, al estar fundamentadas en datos ciertos,
corrigen o complementan las aportaciones de otras fuentes documentales21. La
fotogrametra refleja la heterogeneidad de aparejos, localiza juntas, recoge defor-
maciones y fracturas, y sita toda esta informacin sobre una base planimtrica
que pueden utilizar todos los especialistas, ya sea para reconocer tcnicas o epi-
sodios constructivos que indiquen un orden cronolgico, un antes y un despus,
o para poner en relacin procesos constructivos, grietas o desplomes, para de ese
modo deducir un comportamiento estructural y hacer un diagnstico correcto de
las patologas del monumento22 [figura 11].
La materia en arquitectura tiene fundamentalmente un sentido instrumental,
y no se pueden comparar las huellas del trabajo del artesano que levanta un
muro con la pincelada del pintor que deja su impronta sobre el lienzo. Sin em-
bargo, las marcas de la construccin pueden aportarnos otros valores, unas veces
como muestra documental de la tcnica que se hubiera empleado y otras por las
cualidades expresivas del modo de hacer. Es frecuente encontrar intervenciones
20 Cmara, L. y Latorre, P., El modelo analtico tridimensional obtenido por fotogrametra. Descomposi-
cin, manipulacin y aplicaciones en el campo de la restauracin arquitectnica, en Arqueologa de la
Arquitectura, n. 2, Madrid, 2003, pp. 87-96.
21 Azcrate, A., Intereses cognoscitivos y praxis social en arqueologa de la arquitectura, en Arqueologa
de la Arquitectura, n. 1, Madrid, 2002, pp. 55-60, y La arqueologa de la arquitectura en el siglo XXI,
en Arqueologa de la Arquitectura, n. 5, Madrid, 2008, pp. 11-13.
22 Caballero Zoreda, L., Edificio histrico y arqueologa: un compromiso entre exigencias, responsabilidad
y formacin, en Arqueologa de la Arquitectura, n. 6, Madrid, 2009, pp. 11-18. Sobre la necesidad de
una lectura estratigrfica del monumento y de las responsabilidades que traslada a arquitectos y arque-
logos.
[81]
LUIS FRANCO LAHOZ
Figura 12. Monasterio de Sijena. Vistas del interior de la nave del lado norte del claustro tras la intervencin. El fondo del
lado oeste recupera su cierre con una intervencin realizada con muros de tapial de hormign.
que han compatibilizado la experiencia de la historia con la sensibilidad plstica

contempornea, y que para lograrlo han preservado estas marcas o evidencian
la estratigrafa con las huellas de las reparaciones y los completamientos, en un
intento de conciliar la veracidad material con la abstracta expresividad de las tex-
turas presentes en los muros [figura 12].
Es el caso de nuestra intervencin en las naves del monasterio de Sijena, una
arquitectura arruinada, pero que mostraba la sencilla traza del cenobio del siglo
XII, ya que conservaba parte del zcalo y de los arcos diafragma de piedra y
algunos restos de los muros de tapial utilizados para cerrar las naves. La inter-
vencin se inici promoviendo un acuerdo sobre el papel formativo que tiene el
orden claustral en la tipologa monstica, y sobre la necesidad de cubrir las naves
para proteger esta entidad y el valor documental de los restos del monasterio. Se
trataba de recuperar la doble escala de naves y pandas del espacio claustral y el
sentido constructivo de aquella arquitectura. La intervencin recuper las naves
este y norte y, al carecer de datos sobre la segunda planta del XIV o de la cubierta
de esa poca, se cubrieron las naves con una solucin plana que remite a una
arquitectura inacabada. Se marc la geometra del zcalo y de los arcos diafragma,
y los muros de tapial se repararon con ladrillo visto, tal como se haba hecho en
las reparaciones anteriores, sin embargo, para completar los cerramientos y enfa-
tizar el relleno de las lagunas de los muros, se hizo una interpretacin crtica del
tapial utilizando hormign en masa vertido en cajas similares a las del original. El
resultado final evidencia que el empaste de texturas y la conservacin de todas las
marcas y huellas remarcan el valor documental de los muros y aproximan el tono
expresivo general a la austeridad del espritu monstico, al tiempo que provocan
resonancias plsticas contemporneas.
[82]
Las contradicciones son el pecado original de la restauracin23, y si algunas

voces crticas abogan por mantener el monumento tal como lo recibimos, aun-
que sea a costa de utilizar aadidos modernos para preservarlo, y preconizan
la conservacin estricta de los revestimientos respetando las huellas y ptinas
superficiales sin distinguir poca u origen, otras voces proponen la implantacin
obligatoria de manuales de intervencin con tcnicas artesanales y catlogos de
piezas tradicionales, y aceptan la renovacin acrtica de todos los estucos de las
fachadas porque consideran que son pieles de sacrificio que slo estn destinadas
a proteger las fbricas del monumento24. Otro campo frecuente de contraposi-
ciones doctrinales es el provocado por el uso de prtesis estructurales ocultas
para evitar interferencias en la imagen del monumento, ya que la teora general
establece que todo lo aadido debe insertarse en el monumento con notorie-
dad moderna. En esta confrontacin de opiniones se adivina un deslizamiento
de principios tomados de la restauracin pictrica. Si Cesare Brandi distingua
entre estructura y aspecto lo haca pensando en el bastidor y el lienzo de los
pintores, y en ese caso es lgico aceptar la sustitucin del soporte ya que se trata
de conservar la tela en las mejores condiciones. Sin embargo, la estructura y la
construccin son casi todo en arquitectura, y su apariencia se desprende de ellas.
Tambin Brandi deca que slo se debe restaurar la materia de la obra de arte y
no su alma, y exiga que el restaurador no suplantara la mano del artista25, pero
si aplicamos directamente estos criterios cuando intervenimos en arquitectura
histrica, acabaremos por negar el carcter arquitectnico de la restauracin y
caeremos en el conservacionismo ms estricto [figura 13]. Cualquier interven-
cin sobre un monumento, por mnima que sea, conlleva una inevitable alte-
racin de su estado anterior, lo que hace que la intervencin no sea slo un
problema de conservacin sino tambin un asunto de creacin arquitectnica en
funcin de la obra histrica. En consecuencia, la intervencin adquiere una consi-
deracin disciplinar como arquitectura y, al hilo de las relecturas de la ciudad y de
la arquitectura como palimpsesto, busca espacios operativos en la aproximacin
crtica a la metamorfosis evolutiva del monumento26. La arquitectura antigua es
un inmenso archivo de fundamentos y formas, y el campo referencial histrico
ofrece suficiente materia desde la que acometer el proyecto de intervencin sin
23 Capitel, A., El tapiz de Penlope, en Arquitectura, n. 244, Madrid, 1983, pp. 24-34. Artculo de referencia
para entender la aproximacin contempornea espaola a la interpretacin de los monumentos.
24 Estos extremos estn focalizados entre la estricta y pura conservacin de Amedeo Bellini y sus prtesis
protectoras, y la intervencin estilstica de Paolo Marconi y sus exigentes manuales de restauracin
adaptados a la arquitectura de cada casco antiguo.
25 Jimnez, A., Enmiendas parciales a la teora del restauro II. Valor y valores, en op. cit., pp. 12-29.
26 Rossi, A., La arquitectura de la ciudad, Barcelona, Gustavo Gili, 1986, y Venturi, R., Complejidad y con-
tradiccin en la arquitectura, Barcelona, Gustavo Gili, 1978. (Introduccin y notas a esta edicin de
Vicent Scully). Aportaciones coetneas de Rossi y Venturi a la lectura crtica de la ciudad y sus transfor-
maciones.
[83]
LUIS FRANCO LAHOZ
Figura 13. Puerta de la muralla del siglo XVI de Centelles. Osona. Intervencin de Jeroni Martorell en 1919
para recuperar la puerta y abrir pasos en los laterales del arco.
que la historia ejerza un titnico poder. Puede parecer que con esto se resiente la
objetividad cientfica, pero no debemos entender que la intervencin pasa a ser
arbitraria, al contrario, el proyecto de intervencin que basa su consistencia en
el consenso interpretativo sobre el sentido y los valores del monumento se acota
y modera su intensidad, busca el encuentro con la esencia constructiva, histrica
o espacial de la arquitectura precedente, y tiende a establecer en cada caso un
prudente equilibrio entre conservacin y creatividad27.
La arquitectura se apoya en buena medida en la memoria, una cualidad que
lejos de recortar la imaginacin, la despierta y se intensifican mutuamente28. So-
mos hijos de la cultura moderna, pero sin embargo parece que para intervenir en
arquitectura histrica debemos desconfiar de esta sensibilidad que nos es propia
y que nos otorga la distancia necesaria para evitar un culto dogmtico a lo anti-
guo. Entre las posiciones extremas que representan el mimetismo historicista y
la rabiosa diacrona existe margen suficiente para que cada intervencin, siendo
cuidadosa en trminos histricos, interprete el eco de lo antiguo, evite el equ-
voco histrico sin necesidad de enfatizar las diferencias, o busque una trabazn
armnica con lo precedente utilizando recursos compositivos disciplinares como
la analoga, el juego de proporciones y geometras subyacentes en el monumen-
to, la luz, el vaco y la sombra, la sintona cromtica o material, la consideracin
expresiva de la construccin o de las marcas y texturas materiales29.
27 Trachana, A., El proyecto de articulacin de lo nuevo y lo antiguo, en Cuadernos de apoyo a la do-

cencia-Cuadernos de restauracin I, Madrid, Instituto Juan de Herrera, ETSAM, 1988, pp. 32-37.
28 Campo Baeza, A., Mnmosine frente a Mmesis, en Hispania Nostra, n. 9, Madrid, 2012, pp. 30-35.
29 Capitel, A., El tapiz de Penlope, en op. cit., p. 28. A propsito de los cambios producidos en la rela-
cin entre la sensibilidad arquitectnica contempornea y la historia.
[84]
Figura 14. La Alhambra de Granada. Casas del Partal. Intervencin con reintegracin de imagen de
Leopoldo Torres Balbas en 1923.
Leopoldo Torres Balbs, siguiendo a Camillo Boito, deca que si la conserva-

cin del monumento exiga recurrir a obra nueva haba que utilizar materiales
modernos y en estilo moderno, como se haba hecho hasta entonces, y cuando
tiene que recuperar la casa del Partal en la Alhambra y no puede conservar en su
integridad aquella arquitectura que se desmorona, completa las lagunas provoca-
das por la eliminacin de los aadidos espurios con arcos, albanegas y paneles
decorativos que presentan una matizada diacrona con lo autntico, de manera
que si en la proximidad esta circunstancia es reconocible, en la visin lejana lo
nuevo parece estar integrado en la obra original30 [figura 14]. Torres Balbs apli-
c la diacrona eclctica con sabia elasticidad, y ms tarde Carlo Scarpa utiliz la
diacrona armnica para operar con la naturaleza heterognea y fragmentaria y
las yuxtaposiciones propias de los monumentos. Scarpa no juzgaba la arquitectura
precedente, se limitaba a evidenciar de manera didctica los diferentes episodios
del edificio, y tomaba cualquier articulacin entre partes y fragmentos inconexos
del monumento como ocasin para desarrollar su expresiva manera de enten-
der la arquitectura, ya fuese utilizando el vaco y la sombra para introducir una
distancia de respeto entre lo antiguo y lo nuevo, o extendiendo revestimientos
recortados a modo de tapiz o alfombra sobre los originales, acumulando estratos
nuevos que expresan la no afeccin a la autenticidad material del monumento.
En todos los monumentos se puede percibir la tensin latente entre su ser, que
nos remite a los mritos inherentes de su arquitectura original, y su devenir, con la
riqueza o la decadencia que le haya podido aportar todo lo acontecido. La primera
condicin, como ser, nos aproxima a una visin cclica del tiempo que acepta el
constante rehacer como medio para mantener la comprensin de la obra de arte;
30 Gonzlez Moreno-Navarro A., La Restauracin Objetiva, en op. cit. Las lecciones de Torres Balbas, con-
servador de la Alhambra entre 1923 y 1936. pp. 65. El sistema de Torres Balbas en el Partal fue utilizado
posteriormente por iguez en algunos de los sistemas de arcos que reconstruy en la Aljafera.
[85]
LUIS FRANCO LAHOZ
Figura 15. Monasterio de Sant Pere de Rodas. Gerona. Intervencin mnima de Elas Torres y J. M. Martinez La Pea.
Figura 16. Torre de Abrantes. Salamanca. Intervencin de Fernando Puln en 1972 que fue eliminada posteriormente.
es una actitud idealista y violetiana que prima la recuperacin de la forma ideal

del monumento y que exige eliminar todos los aadidos para entenderlo como
fue ideado. La segunda condicin, como devenir, nos aproxima a una visin lineal
del tiempo que fluye, que transforma el monumento y lo convierte en testigo de
un proceso que queda registrado en sus fbricas; es una posicin romntica, rus-
kiniana, que prima la autenticidad de la materia como prueba de lo acontecido, y
que exige la preservacin del depsito documental que es el monumento, incluso
con las contradicciones que le haya otorgado el paso del tiempo [figura 15]. Cada
arquitectura histrica se define desde el particular equilibrio entre su ser y su de-
venir, y esto las convierte en piezas nicas que debemos interpretar desde esta
singularidad. En este sentido, la interpretacin crtica de las claves formativas que
hacen que cada arquitectura llegue a ser lo que es constituye una base slida para
conseguir incardinar la intervencin en el devenir del monumento, sin estridencia
y manteniendo una cierta sintona diacrnica con lo antiguo.
En el sustrato conceptual de la intervencin en edificios histricos cohabita
una doble condicin, la de ser imperativamente conservativa porque su destino
es transmitir el monumento con todos sus valores, y la de ser necesariamente
creativa porque toda actuacin conlleva una alteracin del estado previo del mo-
numento [figura 16]. Nos encontramos ante un modo de transmitir la herencia
arquitectnica que busca hacerlo siempre con una intervencin mnima funda-
mentada sobre las condiciones formativas y la metamorfosis de cada arquitectura,
y que desea insertar sus propuestas con naturalidad y una prudente notoriedad
[86]
Figura 17. Intervencin en la iglesia de Santa Cruz de Rioseco, llevada a cabo por J. I. Linazasoro. Interior y
recomposicin de la bveda.
Intervencin en la iglesia de San Pietro de Siracusa, llevada a cabo por E. Fidone. Interior y recomposicin de la bveda.
moderna para remitir al tiempo en que se acta31. En esta manera de hacer prima
el proyecto que resuelve los problemas buscando en cada caso el preciso punto
de equilibrio entre conservacin y creacin que requiere el monumento, y aquel
que sintoniza el lenguaje contemporneo con la experiencia del patrimonio para
que las diacronas se expresen con sosiego y la diferencia se alcance sin drama-
tismo [figura 17]. No hay dos monumentos iguales, y todos ellos nos ofrecen la
oportunidad de intervenir prudentemente para no alterar el sentido de lo nuevo
o de lo viejo, no en vano la intervencin ser ms armnica en la medida en que
evite toda propuesta innecesaria que distraiga de lo fundamental, ya que como
dice el conservador de la catedral de Sevilla, el proyecto de restauracin que
nazca aislado de la cabeza del divo slo tendr dos explicaciones, o es una pieza
maestra de la ms depurada metodologa proftica, o es el atestado de la violacin
del monumento para adecuarlo a sus previsiones proyectuales32.
31 Capitel, A., Metamorfosis op. cit., pp. 26-28. Partiendo de las ideas de Boito desarrolla el principio de
accin mnima y notoriedad moderna atendiendo a las condiciones derivadas de la sensibilidad moder-
na y contempornea.
32 Jimnez, A., Enmiendas parciales a la teora del restauro I. Imgenes y palabras, en Loggia, n. 4,
Valencia, 1996, pp. 10-19. Tengo para m como axioma que en esto de la restauracin el proyecto
no debe parecerse a Minerva, que naci de la cabeza de su divino padre ya adulta, incluso armada y
con casco, sino que constituye un proceso iterativo y abierto de bsqueda paciente, con abundantes
silencios y paradas, arrepentimientos e indecisiones, p. 14.
[87]
LARCHITETTURA STORICA TRA CULTURA DELLA
CONSERVAZIONE E CULTURA DEL PROGETTO:
CONTRAPPOSIZIONI, EQUIVOCI E FINALIT
RICCARDO DALLA NEGRA*
Abstract: Il rapporto verso le preesistenze muta drasticamente a seconda dei criteri

di approccio. La cosiddetta cultura del progetto tende a considerare legittimo
intervenire su di esse cos come sempre avvenuto in passato. La cosiddetta
cultura della conservazione tende, invece, a contrapporre le ragioni della Sto-
ria, sottolineando come lavvenuto distacco tra presente e passato ponga
alluomo contemporaneo una diversa coscienza conservativa. Nel ricco, ed a volte
aspro, dibattito tra le due culture, peraltro assai eterogenee al loro interno,
emergono contraddizioni, equivoci, modi dissimili di intendere la finalit degli
interventi; pi in generale un modo diverso di intendere il fare architettonico.
Parole chiave: Recupero. Restauro. Manutenzione. Ristrutturazione. Antico/Nuovo.
Per un singolare quanto incomprensibile convincimento, la cosiddetta cultu-

ra del progetto1, dentro e fuori lambito accademico, tende a considerare latto
progettuale architettonico di propria esclusiva competenza. Ne consegue che il
Restauro, che concorre in modo determinante al fare architettonico, non fosse
altro perch si confronta, in corpore vili, con le architetture di tutti i tempi, viene
considerata al pari di altre, disciplina secondaria o specialistica2. Il paradosso pa-
* Professore Ordinario di Restauro. Dipartimento di Architettura. Universit degli Studi di Ferrara. dllrcr@
unife.it
1 Utilizzo solo per una maggiore immediatezza le definizioni cultura del progetto e cultura della con-
servazione, in quanto, a mio giudizio, esse sono entrambi fuorvianti, da un lato, infatti, impossibile
scindere il progetto di restauro dal progetto di architettura, dallaltro, perch la Conservazione un
concetto non univocamente interpretato.
2 Se tutto ci fuorviante nellesercizio del nuovo, essendo impossibile, in architettura, considerare
divisibile la triade vitruviana (firmitas, utilitas, venustas), cos come impossibile considerare separate
la componente tecnologica da quella compositiva (dal momento che luna condiziona laltra e viceversa),
diventa addirittura paradossale se ci troviamo ad operare nei confronti delledilizia storica, sia che si tratti
di edilizia specialistica, sia che si tratti di edilizia di base.
[89]
RICCARDO DALLA NEGRA
lese non appena larchitettura si trovi a dover riflettere sulle testimonianze concrete
del proprio passato. Sembrerebbe scontato, infatti, che fare architettura in con-
testi storici comporti livelli di conoscenza e di sensibilit operativa estremamente
consapevoli3; tuttavia, nella realt, tutto ci si riscontra assai raramente per via di
un atteggiamento sostanzialmente autoreferenziale da parte degli architetti, ad
iniziare dalle cosiddette archistars, per proseguire con il vasto esercito di anoni-
mi professionisti.
Se vogliamo dipanare la matassa, che appare piuttosto intrigata dal momento
che gli interessi verso larchitettura storica hanno assunto ormai i caratteri di une-
sondazione sia in senso temporale, sia in campo disciplinare, credo sia necessario
entrare nei meriti di alcuni equivoci e contrapposizioni.
Cultura del progetto vs cultura della conservazione
Iniziamo col dire che, per responsabilit attribuibili ad entrambe le culture,

si sono andati radicalizzando, nel tempo, due convincimenti. Il primo quello
che tende a considerare lintervento contemporaneo in assoluta continuit col
passato, vale a dire con lo stesso grado di libert operativa che luomo del passato
aveva nei confronti delle preesistenze, laddove si riteneva perfettamente logico
e naturale che esse potessero essere demolite, ampliate o diminuite, ristrutturate,
pi in generale, aggiornate sul piano figurativo: non diversamente da quanto
osservabile nellinvolucro albertiano della chiesa di San Francesco di Rimini oppu-
re nella straordinaria compresenza delle strutture dellantico Tempio di Atena nella
compagine settecentesca del Duomo di Siracusa [figura 1], solo per citare due
tra gli esempi pi gettonati dalla cultura del progetto. Impedire questa libert
operativa, dunque creativa, significherebbe negare il futuro stesso e la capacit di
innovarsi.
Posizioni, queste, che non tengono conto della lunga riflessione teorica im-
perniata sulla nascita del concetto moderno di restauro, che pone le proprie fon-
damenta sul riconoscimento dellavvenuto distacco tra presente e passato4,
sebbene si possano riscontrare nel corso della storia anticipazioni pi o meno
coerenti5. Anche ad uno studioso come De Angelis dOssat, che ebbe una visione
3 Dalla Negra, R., Il restauro consapevole: la traduzione dei principi conservativi e il difficile rapporto
con le preesistenze, in Balzani, M. (ed.), Restauro, Recupero, Riqualificazione. Il progetto contempora-
neo nel contesto storico, Milano, Skira, 2011, pp. 15-19.
4 Cfr. Bonelli, R., voce Il restauro architettonico, in Enciclopedia Universale dellArte, vol. XI, Vene-
zia-Roma, Istituto per la Collaborazione Culturale, 1963.
5 Cfr. Miarelli Mariani, G., Il Cristianesimo primitivo nella riforma cattolica e alcune incidenze sui mo-
numenti del passato, in LArchitettura a Roma e in Italia (1580-1621). Atti del XXIII Congresso di Storia
dellArchitettura. Roma, 24-26 marzo 1988, Vol I, Roma, Centro di Studi per la Storia dellArchitettura,
1989, pp. 133-166; Pergoli Campanelli, A., Cassiodoro. Alle origini dellidea di restauro, Milano, Jaca Book,
[90]
LARCHITETTURA STORICA TRA CULTURA DELLA CONSERVAZIONE E CULTURA DEL PROGETTO
Figura 1. A sinistra: Il Duomo di Siracusa (Italia), edificato sul Tempio di Athena, una straordinaria compresenza tra
architettura antica e nuove forme settecentesche. A destra: il Tempio Malatestiano a Rimini (Italia), opera di Leon Battista
Alberti sulla preesistente chiesa medievale di San Francesco. Sono due testimonianze significative della libert che luomo
del passato aveva nei confronti delle preesistenze. Sono due esempi sempre portati ad esempio, a torto, dalla cultura del
progetto a giustificazione di una liceit dintervento che, invece, impedita dalla nostra sensibilit conservativa.
del restauro come architettura sulle preesistenze diversamente valutate nel tem-
po, risulta chiaro che una sopravvenuta consapevolezza conservativa ha posto
alluomo contemporaneo il necessario distacco verso le preesistenze, attraverso
un atto di intellezione6.
Il secondo convincimento, sebbene abbia radici lontane, andato maturando
nellultimo trentennio, anche per la non celata responsabilit di certa parte del
mondo della conservazione; esso interpreta lintervento di restauro al pari di
un atto medico-infermieristico, asetticamente e scientificamente condotto, da
delegarsi ad una pluralit di professionalit esterne allarchitettura: gli ingegneri
per le strutture, gli storici dellarte per gli episodi artistici (intendo per essi anche la
pi blanda presenza di coloriture o di modellato architettonico), i chimici per ogni
aspetto legato alle puliture e ai consolidamenti, i geologi per la conoscenza dei
materiali da costruzione, gli storici e gli archivisti per il reperimento del materiale
documentario, e cos via. Come scrive acutamente Giovannni Carbonara [] un
restauro senza architetti , in effetti, il sogno di molti, comprese le amministrazioni
pubbliche che nella rudimentale semplificazione dei problemi vedono una strada
2013. Si vedano inoltre le pi ampie considerazioni in Carbonara, G., Avvicinamento al Restauro, Napoli,
Liguori, 1997, pp. 49 e ss.
6 Cfr. Dalla Negra, R., Guglielmo De Angelis dOssat: un maestro degli anni della transizione, in Monu-
menti e ambienti. Protagonisti del restauro del dopoguerra. Atti del Seminario Nazionale, Napoli, Arte
Tipografica Editrice, 2004, pp. 44 e ss.
[91]
per uscire dalle pastoie burocratiche che esse stesse e il potere politico di cui sono
espressione diretta hanno contribuito, senza reale motivo, a creare7.
Se ci spostiamo nellambito dellassociazionismo, tale convincimento sul restau-
ro assume toni salottieri, ampiamente divulgati dai mass-media, non disgiunti
da punte di vera e propria ottusit intellettuale, banalmente reiterata in convegni
pseudo-scientifici ove sono chiamati a parlare relatori che non fanno che ripor-
tare indietro nel tempo il livello del dibattito. In tali convegni si sente parlare a
sproposito del termine anastilosi, come anche di improbabili ricomposizioni
che tradiscono una visione letteraria del restauro8, ma pi spesso di azioni di
chirurgia estetica tesa a riprodurre fedelmente e scientificamente la materia
perduta. Pi in generale si avverte lostinata avversione verso una concezione del
restauro come atto critico e, conseguentemente, per ogni sperimentazione del
linguaggio contemporaneo in contesti storici.
del tutto evidente come queste posizioni riduzionistiche, sebbene frutto di
intendimenti genericamente conservativi, non tengano in nessun modo conto
della complessit dellattuale dibattito disciplinare9, ma anzi tendano a banalizzar-
lo, svilendolo sia sul piano dialettico, sia sul piano delle scelte operative.
Non a caso tali riduzioni vengono assunte appieno dalla cosiddetta cultura
del progetto che volentieri delega alle competenze medico-infermieristiche del
restauratore (che a volte veste i panni dellarchitetto) la noiosa pratica conservati-
va, ritenendosi poi libera di intervenire, come gi detto, in modo autoreferenziale.
Sar sufficiente dare uno sguardo complessivo alle condizioni in cui versa la
Disciplina del Restauro nel panorama universitario italiano10 per costatare come,
in molti casi, esso manchi proprio negli ultimi anni della formazione, segnatamen-
te laddove una demenziale riforma ha creduto di rincorrere un modello che non
ci apparteneva introducendo la formula del 3+211; n la risposta pu essere quella
7 Carbonara, G., Restauro architettonico: principi e metodo, Roma, m. e. architectural book and review,
2012, p. 13. Per la progressiva diminuzione del ruolo dellarchitetto nellambito delle Carte si veda Zuppiro-
li, M., Contesti storicizzati e progressiva marginalizzazione del ruolo dellarchitetto restauratore nellevo-
luzione delle carte internazionali sul patrimonio culturale, in Merlo, A., Lavoratti, G. (ed.), Pietrabuona.
Strategie per la salvaguardia e la valorizzazione degli insediamenti medioevali, DIDA, Firenze, 2014.
8 Che ho definito provocatoriamente di anastomosi, in Dalla Negra, R., Il restauro consapevole, in
op. cit., p. 19.
9 Non vorrei essere frainteso parlando di intendimenti genericamente conservativi con la cultura della
conservazione. Per una panoramica sugli attuali orientamenti disciplinari si vedano le ampie conside-
razioni in Carbonara, G., Avvicinamento al Restauro, Napoli, Liguori, 1997, pp. 271 e ss. Si veda inoltre
Varagnoli, C., infra.
10 Si veda in proposito: Pracchi, V., Linsegnamento delle tecniche costruttive storiche nelle facolt italia-
ne, in Muri parlanti. Prospettive per lanalisi e la conservazione delledilizia storica, Atti del Convegno
di studi, Pescara 26-27 settembre 2008, Firenze, ALINEA, 2009, pp 55-68.
11 Concepite con il Decreto Ministeriale 509 del 3 novembre 1999 che ha sancito la nascita del 3+2, legge
sulla quale non si sottolineeranno mai abbastanza i gravissimi danni che ha prodotto.
[92]
Figura 2. Il Castello di Kolding (Danimarca). Un interessante restauro di una residenza fortificata molto stratificata (secc.
XIII-XV-XVI) che aveva subito gravissime perdite in un incendio del 1808. La reintegrazione delle parti mancanti, condotto
dagli architetti Inger e Johannes Exner (1991), utilizza linguaggio e materiali contemporanei in grado di suggerire la gran-
de volumetria originaria, salvaguardando al tempo stesso le strutture del castello che restano protagoniste.
di introdurre bienni di specializzazione, se non addirittura interi corsi di laurea,

in conservazione eliminando esami fondamentali per una completa formazio-
ne dellarchitetto. In questo senso, riterrei necessario abbandonare persino luso
della definizione architetto-restauratore, dove il secondo termine utilizzato
come aggettivo qualificativo, perch, sebbene nasca dalla volont di affermare la
necessit di una formazione pi alta, si presta ad ulteriori equivoci, ed in primo
luogo quello di un confinamento ulteriore del Restauro allinterno del territorio
dellarchitettura.
Laver insistito sulla contrapposizione tra queste due culture non ha aiutato e
non aiuta a chiarire i termini del problema: internamente alla Disciplina, nellaver
sostenuto che il Restauro fosse antitetico alla Conservazione, cos come teorizzato
da illustri studiosi12, ha finito per negare che il Restauro stesso, destituito da ogni
fondamento critico e creativo, fosse un atto di formativit architettonica; esterna-
mente alla Disciplina, con le reiterate, e un po becere, accuse di passatismo nei
confronti di chiunque rivendicasse le ragioni della Conservazione13, che stanno a
testimoniare una sostanziale ignoranza del reale dibattito sul tema [figura 2].
12 Si vedano le definizioni di Marco Dezzi Bardeschi e Amedeo Bellini, in AA.VV., Che cos il restauro?
Nove studiosi a confronto, Venezia, Marsilio, 2005.
13 Si vedano le accuse di Giovanni Corbellini in: Corbellini, G., Tutto ci che solido si dissolve nellaria.
Restauro e delitto, in Balzani, M. (ed.), Restauro, Recupero, Riqualificazione. Il progetto contemporaneo
nel contesto storico, Milano, Skira, 2011, pp. 47-52.
[93]
Pi correttamente, richiamando linsegnamento di Miarelli Mariani14, dovrem-

mo iniziare a parlare di progetto architettonico nelle sue varie declinazioni a
seconda delle molteplici finalit che larchitettura persegue: in questottica, cam-
biando lordine dei fattori, il restauro altro non che un particolare modo di fare
architettura, in relazione alle testimonianze concrete del passato, con finalit
conservative.
Ne consegue che il progetto di restauro rappresenta la traduzione operativa
dei princip conservativi nei quali la cultura contemporanea si riconosce e che non
possono essere oggetto di arbitraria interpretazione; ne consegue, altres, che il
progetto di restauro potr avvalersi delle metodiche consolidate, ma potr utiliz-
zare anche il linguaggio contemporaneo per la risoluzione del tema delle lacune
(o mancanze che dir si voglia), non certo sfruttando la preesistenza come occa-
sione progettuale, bens valutando criticamente la esigibilit del testo.
Recupero vs Restauro conservativo (o scientifico)
Un altro aspetto che caratterizza lattuale panorama quello che vede la con-
trapposizione concettuale tra recupero e restauro, concedendo al primo una
liceit di intervento votata alla pi ampia trasformabilit della cosa da recuperare,
ch altrimenti si perderebbe, e destinando invece al secondo un rango specialisti-
co laddove si intervenga su un patrimonio monumentale.
Nel merito di tale contrapposizione non si pu non rilevare come il concetto
di recupero non possa definire un determinato atto progettuale, bens soltanto
una finalit che si attua, indistintamente, allintero patrimonio edilizio, attraverso
azioni che il mondo della Tecnologia dellarchitettura15 ha da tempo classificato,
vale a dire: a) interventi di manutenzione (mantenimento dello stato di fatto
attraverso azioni preventive dirette o indirette); b) interventi di riqualificazione
(legati al concetto di prestazione di un edificio, commisurati a determinati para-
metri richiesti dallutenza); c) interventi di riuso o riutilizzo (legati al cambia-
mento della destinazione duso [figura 3].
Basterebbe tener presenti questi tre diversi ambiti per evitare gran parte dei
pasticci terminologici cui dato assistere, i quali nascondono sempre singolari e
personalistiche concezioni del Restauro16.
14 Miarelli Mariani, G., Esiste il restauro?, in Storia architettura, 1975, n 2, pp. 4-9.
15 Si veda a titolo esemplificativo Cecchi, R., Gasparoli, P., La manutenzione programmata dei beni culturali
edificati. Procedimenti scientifici per lo sviluppo di Piani e Programmi di Manutenzione, Firenze, ALI-
NEA, 2011 e Giulio, R., Manuale di manutenzione edilizia. Valutazione del degrado, programmazione
e interventi di manutenzione, Maggioli Editore, Santarcangelo di Romagna (RN), 1999.
16 Questa confusione terminologica affrontata in modo puntuale da Carbonara, G., Per una definizione
attuale del restauro, in Avvicinamento cit., pp. 23 e ss.
[94]
Figura 3. Chiesa de Santa Cruz a Medina de Rioseco (Spagna). La volta della chiesa, crollata a seguito del collasso delle
coperture stata reintegrata utilizzando legno lamellare e strutture molto leggere con nervature che alludono alle partiture
originarie. Allesterno i contrafforti perduti sono pensati in forme contemporanee in dialogo con quelli superstiti; il tutto
caratterizzato dal rispetto del princio della reversibilit (architetto Jos Ignacio Linazaroso 1991).
In cosa si sostanzia, dunque, la differenza tra gli interventi rivolti ad un patri-

monio edilizio generico e quelli indirizzati ad un patrimonio edilizio da tutelare
(ci che per Cesare Brandi costituisce la differenza tra prodotti industriali e
prodotti speciali)? La risposta pu essere soltanto una: il giudizio di valore, che
molti vorrebbero escludere aprioristicamente.
singolare costatare come tale esclusione valutativa sia condivisa sia dalla
cultura del progetto, che in tal modo si sente legittimata ad intervenire senza
particolari vincoli anche in contesti molto stratificati, storicamente e figurativamen-
te [figura 4], sia da certa parte della cultura della conservazione che, come gi
accennato, nega al Restauro ogni fondamento critico-valutativo.
Il giudizio di valore che noi esprimiamo, nel presente storico, ci porta, in-
vece, a distinguere nettamente tra recuperi di tipo conservativo, che si attuano
attraverso manutenzioni conservative ed interventi di restauro, i quali hanno
come unica finalit la Conservazione, e recuperi di tipo non conservativo, che si
realizzano con azioni di manutenzione generica ed interventi di parziale sostitu-
zione o ristrutturazione, ove il concetto di trasformabilit trova una sua completa
legittimit [figura 5]17.
A ben riflettere, nel passato, tale azione valutativa nei confronti delle pre-
esistenze sempre stata compiuta, consapevolmente o inconsapevolmente, con
esiti architettonici conciliativi o contestativi18. In questo senso, dobbiamo sentirci
liberi di non dover necessariamente sospendere il giudizio critico nei confronti
dei prodotti delloperosit umana pi vicini a noi temporalmente, onde prevenire
17 Riprendo qui i temi gi lucidamente affrontati da Gaetano Miarelli Mariani in Miarelli Mariani, G., Centri
storici. Note sul tema, Roma, Bonsignori Editore, 1993, segnatamente nellambito del terzo capitolo: Sul
recupero dei centri storici: uno schematico sguardo dinsieme, pp. 55 e ss.
18 Rimando direttamente al fondamentale saggio di De Angelis dOssat, G., Restauro: architettura sulle
preesistenze diversamente valutate nel tempo, in Palladio, III serie, XXVII (1978), fasc. 2, pp. 51-68.
[95]
Figura 4. Il termine recupero spesso confuso con un atto progettuale, anzich come una finalit. Esso si applica
allintero patrimonio edilizio attraverso azioni molto ben codificate che mirano al raggiungimento di determinati obiettivi
(manutentivi, riqualificativi o duso). Sar solo la qualit della cosa sulla quale di interviene a determinare e condizionare i
tipi dintervento.
la perdita di quelle che potrebbero essere considerate, da parte delle future gene-
razioni, come testimonianze significative del nostro presente storico; in buona
sostanza, dobbiamo sentirci liberi di operare il necessario distinguo tra storia e
cronaca. Al tempo stesso, come gi accennato, la nostra consapevolezza con-
servativa ci impone di dover difendere, proprio per le future generazioni, tutto il
ricco patrimonio ereditato.
Come accennato, la cultura della progettazione contrappone al concetto di
recupero trasformativo quello di restauro conservativo, altrimenti definito
restauro scientifico, retaggio, questo, della famigerata Legge 457/1978 (Norme
per ledilizia residenziale), una legge-base che, in larga parte, regola ancora gli
interventi di recupero del patrimonio edilizio esistente, anche di quello che pre-
senta interesse storico e formale19. Non ci interessa, in questa sede, analizzare la
ratio urbanistica di quella legge, quanto sottolinearne larretratezza culturale nei
confronti della coeva cultura del restauro, iniziare dal semplice confronto con la
Carta di Venezia (1964) e con la Carta del Restauro (1972). A maggior ragione,
ad oltre trentanni di distanza, rilevare la stessa crassa ignoranza in ordine alle
elaborazioni teoriche sul restauro non pu che suscitare perplessit. Iniziamo col
rilevare che la definizione restauro conservativo rappresenti, per le ragioni che
ci siamo detti, una tautologia e che parlare di restauro scientifico non abbia
19 Sugli effetti della legge 457/1978 si veda Miarelli Mariani, G., Legge 457: licenza di distruggere, in
Restauro, VIII (1979), n 41, pp. 92-94.
[96]
Figura 5. Il giudizio di valore che noi esprimiamo nei confronti della cosa sulla quale si interviene condizioner le scelte
operative e orienter il progettista. La finalit dellintervento potr richiedere un progetto di restauro, da condursi con
consapevolezza teorico-pratica, oppure, diversamente, un progetto di ristrutturazione che avr eguale legittimit proprio
perch riferita ad un patrimonio meno importante.
senso giacch il restauro, pur avendo una componente tecnico-scientifica al pari

di ogni atto architettonico, soprattutto un atto critico.
Lutilizzo di tale definizione costituisce uneredit della stagione giovannoniana,
laddove per scientifico si intendeva lincontrovertibile applicazione dei principi,
ma, ancor di pi, nasconde la volont di relegare, ancora una volta, il Restauro
ad un ambito di competenze iper-specialistiche, volte al puro mantenimento della
materia, collocate sostanzialmente ai margini dellarchitettura. La contraddizione
palese, soprattutto in Italia, laddove le normative affidano esclusivamente allar-
chitetto la possibilit di progettare interventi di restauro; una prassi consolidata
vede il mondo professionale allinearsi a questi presupposti teorici in una logica
di aberrante sdoppiamento: architetti che si interessano della progettazione e
architetti che si interessano della conservazione.
Antico vs Nuovo
Strettamente connesso alle tematiche sin qui affrontate la vexata quaestio

dellinserimento di nuove forme architettoniche in contesti storici. La contrapposi-
zione tra le due culture fortissima, sia che si tratti di intervenire nella citt storica,
sia che si operi in contesti specialistici con alte valenze formali e storiche.
Occorre, anche in questo caso, fare una duplice premessa per sgombrare su-
bito il campo da ulteriori equivoci: in primo luogo dobbiamo esprimerci a favore
[97]
Figura 6. Due validissimi interventi condotti in ambiti diversi. A sinistra: Il Castello di Saliceto (Italia) La nuova torre an-
golare del castello entra in perfetto dialogo con il paesaggio circostante e con le strutture del castello, non prevaricandole
ed assolvendo, inoltre, ad importanti funzioni tecnologiche (Armellini & Poggio architetti associati 2001). A destra: Daroca
(Spagna) Il sapiente inserimento delle strutture di protezione dellarea archeologica, recentemente acquisita, entra in
stretto dialogo con lambiente urbano circostante assecondandolo per la scelta dei materiali e per il calibrato gioco di piani
(architetto Sergio Sebastian Franco 2007-2012).
Figura 7. Duomo di Prato (Italia) Il paliotto dellaltare settecentesco della Cappella del Sagro Cingolo, oggetto di furto
allinizio degli anni 80 dello scorso secolo, stato reintegrato magistralmente con un bassorilievo ideato dallo scultore
Emilio Greco, anzich ricorrere ad una copia delloriginale. La reintegrazione di questa lacuna, in un contesto artistico par-
ticolarmente delicato, trova molte analogie in campo architettonico laddove linserimento di architettura contemporanea
pu risultare risolutiva per la reinterpretazione delle strutture perdute.
dellutilizzo del linguaggio contemporaneo in entrambi i contesti [figure 6-7], ben

sapendo che sono molte le obiezioni esterne ed interne alla Disciplina, cos come
in larga parte del mondo culturale e, pi in generale, dellopinione pubblica pi o
meno indirizzata dai mass-media; nello stesso tempo, dobbiamo dichiararci con-
trari agli interventi sostitutivi sia nel caso di edifici storici in rapporto al tessuto
urbano circostante [figure 8-9-10], per il valore organico che assegniamo alledi-
lizia storica aggregata, sia per la sostituzione di parti o di elementi nellambito di
interventi su singoli edifici storici, per lalto valore che assegniamo al concetto di
autenticit della materia.
Lapparente contraddizione di queste due premesse si dissolve se si ribalta il
problema rispondendo alle esigenze della preesistenza, anzich, come normal-
[98]
Figura 8. Gli interventi di sostituzione delledilizia storica non possono essere giustificati anche se recano la firma di
importanti architetti e anche se questi edifici hanno rappresentato due pagine importanti dellarchitettura contemporanea,
perch avrebbero avuto eguale significato se fossero sorti in aree libere. Due esempi significativi sono rappresentati dal
Palazzo della Rinascente a Roma (architetto Franco Albini 1957-61) e dalla Casa Cicogna alle Zattere a Venezia
(Ignazio Gardella 1953-58).
Figura 9. Un invasivo e decontestualizzato inserimento lungo il percorso Maria-Theresien-Strae di Innsbruck (Austria) su

progetto dellarchitetto David Chipperfield (2007-2010), che pure in altri contesti aveva dimostrato unaltra sensibilit. Le
motivazioni della Commissione che ha licenziato il progetto, consistenti nel fatto che, nel corso della Storia, ledilizia ha
sempre sostituito quella precedente, non convincono per due motivi: in primo luogo perch un eguale diritto lo avrebbero
gli edifici attigui, col risultato che lintero asse stradale in poco tempo perderebbe ogni traccia storica se non il suo traccia-
to; in secondo luogo perch, se si studia ledilizia storica, ci si accorge che essa sempre il frutto di stratificazioni ed assai
raramente si riscontrano sostituzioni integrali.
[99]
Figura 10. Due raffinati interventi di allestimento museale troppo spesso assimilati, al pari di molti altri, ad interventi di
restauro anzich come progetti museografici in contesti storici. Non sembri secondaria la differenza perch in questi casi
larchitettura in funzione dellallestimento permanente e non della preesistenza che, spesso, viene piegata alle esigenze
espositive attraverso interventi di ristrutturazione. A destra una veduta del tanto celebrato intervento del di Carlo Scarpa
a Castelvecchio a Verona (Italia) realizzato, a varie riprese, tra il 1955 ed il 1975. A sinistra una delle sale dellallestimento
del Museo di Santa Mara della Scala a Siena, su progetto dellarchitetto Guido Canali (1998-2000).
mente avviene, di chi interviene. Si pone, conseguentemente, un quesito: quando

lecito intervenire in contesti storici con un linguaggio autenticamente contem-
poraneo? Credo che la risposta non possa che essere univoca: quando per la
preesistenza si ponga, per cause intrinseche o estrinseche, la risoluzione di una
lacuna tema da sempre centrale nel restauro assieme a quello, speculare, della
eliminazione delle aggiunte sia se riscontrabile nellambito dei tessuti urbani, sia
se riferita a contesti architettonici circoscritti.
Qui si apre un altro equivoco largamente diffuso nella cultura della proget-
tazione, cui utile accennare, vale a dire la confusione tra interventi di restau-
ro e quelli relativi allinserimento di nuove funzioni, pi o meno stabili, quali
ad esempio gli allestimenti museali, ad iniziare dallintervento di Carlo Scarpa a
Castelvecchio [figura 11], una sorta di icona indentificata come un restauro esem-
plare, e non come un raffinato allestimento museografico basato su una radicale
ristrutturazione. Un equivoco fuorviante che sembra perdurare, dal momento che
un recente editoriale di Casabella, proprio illustrando lopera di Scarpa, reca
il titolo perentorio Non c bisogno di studiare il restauro dei monumenti, ri-
proponendo alcune riflessioni del Maestro che risultano oggi, ad onor del vero,
anchesse appartenenti ad un dibattito ampiamente superato20.
20 Cfr. Editoriale, in Casabella, n 839-840, 2014, pp. 44-45.
[100]
Figura 11. In unottica di assoluta libert dintervento verso le preesistenze, un gioco enorme viene ad assumerlo sensibilit
del progettista. Il confronto tra lintervento dellarchitetto Daniel Libeskind (2004-2011) di ristrutturazione del Museo di
Storia Militare di Dresda (Germania) e la reintegrazione dei due corpi di fabbrica delimitanti il chiostro della Cattedrale di
Norwich (Gran Bretagna) progettata da Michael Hopkins (2008) illuminante. Il primo un atto di imposizione verso la
preesistenza della poetica del progettista, peraltro caratterizzata da una visione decostruttivista dellarchitettura che si
pone gi in partenza in contrasto con il classicismo delle facciate delledificio esistente; il secondo una raffinata reinter-
pretazione dei corpi di fabbrica una volta esistenti attorno allantico chiostro della cattedrale ottenuta con un linguaggio
schiettamente contemporaneo ma attento ad unequilibrata convivenza con la retrostante architettura della cattedrale.
Pi in generale, la cosiddetta cultura del progetto ha nei confronti delle

preesistenze un atteggiamento di sostanziale autonomia strutturale e figurativa
e coglie da esse soprattutto suggestioni, siano esse materiche, volumetriche o
genericamente ambientali21.
Lesito finale cambia radicalmente a seconda della sensibilit del progettista
che spesso tende ad un aggiornamento figurativo della preesistenza imponen-
do la propria poetica prevaricatrice [figure 12-13].
Il rapporto con la Storia non affidato alla rigorosa conoscenza storico-critica
delloggetto dellintervento, bens esclusivamente al solo bagaglio culturale del
progettista, sovente non allaltezza del compito [figura 14]. La preesistenza viene
a configurarsi, quindi, come unaulica cornice per le nuove realizzazioni le quali,
se venissero estrapolate da tali contesti, ne risulterebbero notevolmente sminuite:
in definitiva, parafrasando De Fusco, si pu parlare di un architettura che vive di
ricchi apparati per povere idee22.
21 Riprendo qui parzialmente i temi da me gi trattati in Dalla Negra, R., Il restauro consapevole, en
op. cit.
22 Mi rifaccio un po provocatoriamente al famoso editoriale di Renato De Fusco pubblicato in De Fusco,
R., Restauro architettonico: ricchi apparati per povere idee, in Selezione della critica darte contempo-
ranea, n 49, settembre 1980, pp. 5-6.
[101]
Figura 12. Convento di San Francesco a Santpedor (Spagna) architetto David Closes (2003)
La preesistenza, in questo caso, solo un pretesto compositivo, una struttura da riconfigurare completamente sotto ogni
punto di visto fino a costituire la cornice del nuovo allestimento. Con questo non si vuole rimpiangere la situazione di
degrado totale in cui la chiesa versava prima dellintervento, si vuole solo sottolineare che nessun parametro per il suo res-
tauro sia stato preso in considerazione; si veda, a titolo esemplificativo, il trattamento riservato alle superfici interne, dove
la gratuita eliminazione degli intonaci funzionale solo a creare una nuova ambientazione a pseudo-rudere.
Figura 13. Due chiese ridotte a mero contenitore: la Chiesa di San Ponziano a Lucca (Italia) su progetto dellarchitetto
Stefano Dini e la chiesa del Convento Domenicano a Ptuj (Slovenia) dello studio di architettura Enota di Ljubljana. In
entrambe le chiese si viene a perdere uno degli elementi fondamentali dellarchitettura, quello della spazialit; mentre per
la chiesa di Lucca il contenuto architettonico potrebbe avere una sua dignit anche se posto al di fuori del contenitore
(che tornerebbe a vivere), nella chiesa di Ptuj tutto basato sul contrasto cromatico di forme stereometriche, cui purtroppo
sono ridotte anche le pareti e la volta delledificio esistente.
[102]
Figura 14. Due contrastati interventi di Richard Meier: il Museo di arte contemporanea a Barcellona e il Museo dellAra
Pacis a Roma. Da un lato lassoluta indifferenza verso lambiente urbano circostante, dallaltro lutilizzo di un linguaggio
globalizzato fanno di questi due interventi la testimonianza concreta dellautoreferenzialit con la quale la cosiddetta
cultura del progetto si approccia, nella stragrande maggioranza dei casi, agli ambienti storicizzati.
[103]
USO E CONSUMO DEL PATRIMONIO ARCHITETTONICO IN ITALIA,
PROSPETTIVE PER IL SECOLO XXI
CLAUDIO VARAGNOLI*
Abstract: Il saggio propone una riflessione sul rapporto tra patrimonio del passato
e contemporaneit, attraverso una rassegna di edifici storici interessati da progetti
degli ultimi anni in Italia. Si va dagli interventi di Tadao Ando nella Punta della
Dogana a Venezia, a Renzo Piano nella Fondazione Vedova nella stessa citt, in-
sieme ad interventi, come S. Pietro a Siracusa di Emanuele Fidone, su monumenti
nel senso tradizionale della parola.. Non si persegue unottimistica accettazione
del presente, ma un tentativo di discernere quello che contribuisce ad un arric-
chimento delle nostre conoscenze rispetto alle operazioni di puro sfruttamento
dellesistente. La rassegna di opere e progetti si confronta con approfondimenti
sui recenti sviluppi teorici nellambito del restauro, per evidenziare i tentativi di
superare le posizioni consolidate, salvando le conquiste concettuali della discipli-
na della conservazione.
Parole chiave: Teoria dellArchitettura. Restauro Architettonico. Recupero. Archeo-
logia Industriale. Patrimonio Architettonico.
La riflessione sul rapporto tra architettura contemporanea e patrimonio del

passato continua a monopolizzare una parte notevole del dibattito italiano, forse
in misura eccessiva. Un punto da cui partire che la salvaguardia di qualunque
testimonianza storica non si esaurisce nella sola conservazione fisica delloggetto,
ma che questa sia comunque necessaria per poter istituire una relazione autentica
e profonda con il passato. Per questo, appare necessario da un lato difendere
le modalit classiche del restauro e della conservazione, che si rivolgono ad un
patrimonio consolidato e ormai definito; dallaltro va tenuta viva lattenzione sulle
possibilit del progetto innovativo di riattivare significati inespressi allinterno del-
* Professore Ordinario di Restauro. Dipartimento di Architettura, Universit di Chieti-Pescara.

cvaragnoli@tiscali.it
[105]
CLAUDIO VARAGNOLI
le preesistenze. Riflettere sul rapporto tra patrimonio storico e contemporaneit

non vuole essere quindi unottimistica accettazione di tutto quello che prodotto
nel presente sopra, dentro o al lato degli edifici del passato1, ma un tentativo di
discernere quello che contribuisce ad un arricchimento delle nostre conoscenze
rispetto alle operazioni di mero sfruttamento dellesistente.
Un recente saggio di Giuseppe Cristinelli2, che esemplifica posizioni molto dif-
fuse nellambito accademico e specialistico del restauro, sottolinea quanto la pro-
duzione contemporanea pi acclamata si contrapponga alle esigenze del restauro,
fatte di cure continue, di lunghi studi, di interventi che non appaiono, ma sanno
inserirsi con sapienza a servizio delledificio antico. Giustamente Cristinelli rifiuta
di considerare restauri i prestigiosi interventi di manipolazione formale a cui ci
hanno abituato le grandi riviste e lo stesso dibattito architettonico internazionale,
contrapponendo ai grandi gesti dei progettisti pi citati, i numerosi interventi pa-
zienti e apparentemente meno carichi di impegno progettuale che prolungano la
vita del patrimonio architettonico nazionale. E certamente questa la dimensione
pi vera ed efficace del restauro, della conservazione e della tutela, ma sinto-
matico che lattenzione che il grande pubblico riversa su questi interventi sia di
gran lunga minore a quanto invece rivolto agli interventi delle grandi firme del
progetto, svelando forse un rapporto pi superficiale e meno autentico con il pa-
trimonio del passato, malgrado lidolatria a cui soggetto.
Sul fronte opposto, un recente intervento di Francesco Dal C3 riprende, sia
pure con molte differenze, le posizioni che furono di Manfredo Tafuri4, che punta-
vano a delegittimare la specificit disciplinare del restauro, privilegiando piuttosto
la combinazione tra capacit analitiche, sia in sede storica sia fisico-chimica, e
virt interpretative proprie del progettista. Una posizione che gode attualmente
di un notevole prestigio nellambito accademico e scientifico italiano, dove gli
insegnamenti di Restauro sono accolti con fastidio nelle facolt di Architettura,
come se si trattasse di obbedire ad un rituale nel quale nessuno crede pi, ma a
cui sarebbe politicamente scorretto non partecipare. In quello che era una volta
il paese del restauro gli architetti sembrano non credere alle necessit e alle
specificit delle pratiche del restauro: nella logica beaux-arts del primato del pro-
1 Sia permesso rimandare a Varagnoli, C., Edifici da edifici: la ricezione del passato nellarchitettura ita-
liana 1990-2000, in Lindustria delle costruzioni, n. 368, nov./dic. 2002, pp. 4 -15; v. anche Serafini, L.
Sopra, accanto, con lantico. Il destino della preesistenza nel restauro contemporaneo, in Ferlenga, A.,
Vassallo, E., Schellino, F., (eds.), Antico e Nuovo. Architetture e architettura, atti del convegno (Venezia
31 marzo-3 aprile 2004), Venezia, Il Poligrafo, 2007, pp. 953-969.
2 Cristinelli, G., Antirestauro e archistar, Roma, GB EditoriA, 2013: v. in particolare pp. 28-49, Gli in-
terventi delle archistar sui monumenti. V. anche le posizioni critiche, da un diverso punto di vista, di
Gregotti, V., Tre forme di architettura mancata, Torino 2010, in particolare pp. 71-106 Metafore di
eternit.
3 Dal C, F. Scienziati del restauro e architetti felici, in Casabella, n. 830, ott. 2013, pp. 18-19.
4 Tafuri, M., Storia, conservazione, restauro, in Casabella, n. 580, giu. 1991, pp. 23-26.
[106]
USO E CONSUMO DEL PATRIMONIO ARCHITETTONICO IN ITALIA
getto, nuovamente operativa nella cultura architettonica internazionale, protocolli

e carte sono inutili pastoie al libero dispiegarsi della immaginazione creativa, che
si ritiene capace di rispondere alle varie istanze, compresa quella della conserva-
zione. Sembra cos che si stia tornando ad una fase pre-moderna, in cui la prima-
zia era quella del progetto e solo raramente si poteva giungere alla conservazione
di parti delledificio originario, la cui salvaguardia non era comunque lobiettivo
principale dellintervento.
Ma anzich abbandonarsi a valutazioni radicali e massimaliste, opportuno
continuare a guardare, con passione e disincanto, agli interventi contemporanei
sul patrimonio architettonico, in continuit con alcune considerazioni gi svolte in
passato5, e cercando di porre in luce le tendenze che mostrano una consonanza
tra intento progettuale e attenzione conservativa, dimenticando le difese corpora-
tive degli architetti conservatori, da un lato, e le rivendicazioni alle libert assolute
degli architetti progettisti dallaltro. Nella consapevolezza che sia gli uni che gli
altri trasmettono una determinata idea del passato, in cui rispecchiare qualche
tratto della nostra condizione presente e leggere indizi sul nostro futuro. Questo
per riaffermare che anche la pi neutra azione conservativa comunque cari-
ca di una intenzione e di una capacit formale nella quale si esprime un preciso
indirizzo culturale.
E stata pi volte notata la familiarit che la progettazione del nuovo intrattiene
con il rudere. Di qui un grande interesse per le aree dismesse e per i grandi opifici
otto-novecenteschi, spesso accompagnato da profonde ambiguit. Una delle carat-
teristiche principali del patrimonio industriale risiede nel rapporto che si istituisce
tra macchinario ed architettura, laddove questo condiziona lassetto finale delle-
dificio. Solo in alcuni casi, come nelle felici soluzioni di Francesco Stefanori per
la ex Centrale Elettrica Montemartini di Roma6 si assiste alla conservazione dellin-
volucro insieme alla macchina che ne motiva lesistenza e il valore testimoniale.
Ugualmente ricco di suggestioni lintervento di Massimo Carmassi nella Pelanda
dei Suini nel Mattatoio di Roma [figura 1], con la conservazione degli utensili e dei
macchinari, anche a seguito delle memorie stratificate nelledificio7. Diversa invece
la strada perseguita nel progetto di Rem Koolhas per il riuso dei Mercati Generali
a Roma, complesso nato nel 1916 e successivamente ingrandito e modificato per
5 Hernndez Martnez, A., Lestetica del deterioramento e dellimperfezione: una tendenza in crescita nel
restauro architettonico, in Palladio. Rivista di Storia dellArchitettura e Restauro, Roma, Istituto Poligra-
fico e Zacca dello Stato, n. 51, gennaio-giugno, 2013, pp. 89-106.
6 Storelli, G., Museo in doppia esposizione: ex centrale elettrica Montemartini, in Recupero e Con-
servazione, n. 38, 2001, pp. 54-65; Bertoletti, M., Cima, M., Talamo, E., Centrale Montemartini: Musei
Capitolini, Milano, Electa, 2007 (nuova edizione ampliata).
7 Carmassi, M., Padiglione nellex mattatoio del Testaccio, Roma, in Casabella, n. 794, 2010, pp. 50-57;
Mulazzani, M., Recupero conservazione riuso: un centro culturale nel Mattatoio di Roma: Massimo Car-
massi, Milano, Electa Mondadori, 2010.
[107]
CLAUDIO VARAGNOLI
Figura 1. M. e G. Carmassi, intervento nella Pelanda dei Suini nel ex Mattaiolo di Testaccio a Roma.
(Foto C. Borghese in www.progettinetwork.it).
adeguarlo alle necessit della citt: unarea storicamente importante, con alcuni
episodi architettonici rilevanti, ma figurativamente modesta. Il progetto di una citt
dei giovani di Rem Koolhas (2009, Comune di Roma e un gruppo di imprenditori
privati) con recupero del vecchio complesso e nuovi edifici sembrava un elemento
innovativo in uno dei quartieri pi dinamici della citt. Modifiche successive stanno
invece portando alla realizzazione di una sorta di centro commerciale, che sfrutta
la vantaggiosa collocazione urbana per venire incontro alle esigenze della rendita.
Listanza storico-testimoniale che voleva conservare il vecchio mercato si sta tradu-
cendo in qualcosa di antitetico, con immaginabili conseguenze sulla congestione
di questa parte della citt. A questa tendenza cerca di reagire il recupero dal bas-
so che sta interessando altri edifici dismessi della stessa area Ostiense, sempre a
Roma, dove i fronti di edifici abbandonati prossimi alla ferrovia sono stati rivestiti
da murali e graffiti in occasione dellOutdoor Festival 20128. Fra gli artisti coinvolti,
Blu ha lavorato su un edificio occupato, confermando lattenzione al degrado e
allincompiuto che unisce molti artisti contemporanei ad alcune tendenze nel recu-
pero di archeologia industriale, o ad iniziative come i ruin pubs diffusi a Budapest,
dove la riconquista di spazi sociali non coincide con il loro abbellimento.
Diversa lopera di Tadao Ando nel complesso della Punta della Dogana a Ve-
nezia [figura 2], edificio nato per il controllo e lo smistamento delle merci tra il
Canale della Giudecca e il Canal Grande e da qui verso tutta Venezia. Limposta-
zione tipologica risente delloriginaria destinazione delledificio, che si trovava in
un accettabile stato di conservazione, pur mostrando tutte le tracce del tempo. Il
progetto di Ando per la Fondazione Franois Pinault conserva con intelligenza i
segni del tempo nelle lunghe pareti in laterizio, che in modo molto affascinante
8 Ulteriori dati e immagini in www.out-door.it. Rimando a Outdoor Urban Art Festival. Il quartiere Ostiense
diventa un museo a cielo aperto, in www.provincia.roma.it, 13.10.2011; Silvestrini, V., in Roma destate?
Guarda in alto, grazie ai graffiti di Outdoor Urban Art Festival, in www.artribune.com, 27.07.2012.
[108]
Figura 2. T. Ando, progetti per la Fondazione Franois Pinault nella Punta della Dogana a Venezia.
(Foto de F. Dal Co (ed.), Tadao Ando per/for/pour Franois Pinault, Milano, Electa Mondadori, 2009).
esprimono lusura e la stratificazione delledificio. Ando si avvicinato allincarico,

di altissimo rilievo data lopera e la sua collocazione urbana, con grande impe-
gno, cercando anche un confronto con lopera di Carlo Scarpa, nome obbligato
negli interventi sul costruito storico veneziano: quanto rivelano i progetti per
i serramenti che riprendono alcuni esempi del grande progettista. Ne nato un
intervento che non si blocca sulle sole esigenze conservative9, ma appare come
una grande riflessione, nel solco della tradizione giapponese, sul vuoto, sul nulla
che resta dopo aver tolto tutto, come ha evidenziato Giangiorgio Pasqualotto10.
Questo consente ad Ando di conseguire un rigoroso minimalismo, in cui gli inserti
moderni si limitano a pochi episodi costruiti e controllati per forme e materiali,
fino allintegrale conservazione delle coperture lignee, a cui si unisce una soluzio-
ne impiantistica intelligente e formalmente risolta [figura 3]. Tuttavia, le resistenze
offerte dalla competente Soprintendenza hanno posto in luce come unopera fon-
data sulle assenze e sul minimalismo delle aggettivazioni entrasse comunque in
contrasto con lidentit tipologica delledificio, basata su lunghe cortine laterizie
parallele, nate appunto sul continuo traffico tra Canal Grande e Giudecca11. Uno-
perazione sulla carta rispettosissima della preesistenza ha portato ad una diversa
9 Dal C, F., Da Dogana da Mar a museo, in Dal Co, F., (ed.), Tadao Ando per/for/pour Franois Pinau-
lt, Milano, Electa Mondadori, 2009, pp. 19-23. Va ricordato che nel 2005, la Franois Pinault Foundation
aveva incaricato Tadao Ando del rinnovamento del museo Palazzo Grassi (su cui era gi intervenuta Gae
Aulenti, 1985). Dure critiche, con argomenti convincenti, in Cristinelli, G., Antirestauro e archistar, op.
cit., pp. 43-45. V. ora Ferrioli, S. Rivelazione, reintegrazione, riconversione. Il restauro degli ex-magaz-
zini di Punta della Dogana, Venezia, in Architetti.com, n. 56, 2013, pp. 29-40, www.architetti.com.
10 Pasqualotto, G., Estetica del vuoto. Arte e meditazione nelle culture dOriente, Venezia, Marsilio 1992
(III ed. 2003).
11 Anselmi, A., Punta della Dogana. Il progetto, in Dal Co, F., Tadao Ando, op. cit., pp. 106-108, sottoli-
nea (p. 107) che lintervento di Ando non sembra tanto finalizzato alla conservazione dellantico edificio
si veda la parziale demolizione sia pure limitata alle aggiunte del ventesimo secolo quanto piuttosto
alla coerenza generale del progetto.
[109]
CLAUDIO VARAGNOLI
Figura 3. Gli antichi magazzini di Punta Dogana a Venezia, oggi Fondazione Franois Pinault.
(Foto de F. Dal Co (ed.), Tadao Ando per/for/pour Franois Pinault, Milano, Electa Mondadori, 2009).
lettura degli spazi, coagulati attorno a poli funzionali e riconquistati sotto lottica
del linguaggio artistico, pi che per profonda empatia.
Resta comunque la suggestione del lavoro progettuale sul vuoto. Unanaloga
attenzione emerge in altri interventi sul costruito di architetti giapponesi, come
lo Stone Museum a Nasu, opera di Kengo Kuma12, rivolto alla riqualificazione di
tre granai ottocenteschi di pietra, il cui valore principale, nelle parole dellauto-
re, risiede non tanto nei pieni, quanto nel rapporto instaurato fra i tre edifici,
esaltato da nuove passerelle e bacini dacqua. Per dialogare con gli edifici, Kuma
impiega la pietra, che nelle sue mani si rivela un materiale leggero e trasparente,
non molto dissimile dai muri filtranti (filtermauerwerk) impiegato da Zumthor nel
Kolumba Museum a Colonia.
Anche nel caso dei Magazzini del Sale di Venezia [figure 4-5], prossimi alla Pun-
ta della Dogana, Renzo Piano ha integralmente rispettato le murature laterizie che
ritmano il sobrio neoclassicismo delledificio e la copertura realizzata con capriate
lignee. I Magazzini sono oggi destinati ad ospitare le opere della Fondazione Emi-
lio e Annabianca Vedova13, in un progetto legato alla temperie spirituale e artistica
del capofila dellInformale, che quei luoghi, sghembi e plurimi, aveva amato
salvandoli da una trasformazione indiscriminata. Secondo un progetto delineato
con lo stesso Vedova, Piano concepisce lo spazio espositivo negli ex Magazzini
come una grande macchina in movimento. Lesposizione infatti dinamica, poi-
ch consiste in un archivio, collocato nella parte terminale del magazzino, in cui
12 Futagawa, Y. (ed.), Kengo Kuma, in GA Architect, n. 19, 2005, pp. 134-135; Mandolesi, D. Museo della
pietra a Nasu, in Lindustria delle costruzioni, XXXVIII, n. 380, 2004, pp. 22-27.
13 Collavo, L., Il nuovo spazio espositivo della fondazione Vedova a Venezia: oltre la sfida, nella storia
della citt, in Arte documento, n. 25, 2009, pp. 272-281. Anche lo Spazio Vedova stato restaurato
mantenendo lo spirito del Maestro, grazie alla supervisione di Renzo Piano e dellAtelier Traldi e alla cura
scientifica e artistica di Germano Celant e di Fabrizio Gazzarri.
[110]
Figura 4. La trasformazione dei Magazzini del Sale nella Fondazione Emilio e Annabianca Vedova a Venezia.
Figura 5. I nuovi inserti nei Magazzini del Sale, ora Fondazione Emilio e Annabianca Vedova, Venezia.
(Foto de http://www.fondazionevedova.org).
sono conservate le tele del maestro in apposite rastrelliere, dalle quali carrelli
semoventi che corrono lungo un binario fissato alle capriate, prelevano, tramite
comandi elettronici, le opere prescelte e le collocano nello spazio espositivo. Gli
impianti sono stati alloggiati in una pedana lignea leggermente inclinata che copre
il pavimento originale, mentre i servizi al pubblico sono ospitati in due strutture
lignee dissimmetriche collocate nella parte anteriore.
Il minimalismo figurativo di queste opere non deriva soltanto da esigenze con-
servative, ma a queste pu efficacemente intrecciarsi. La pi recente prova di Ema-
nuele Fidone che laureato in storia dellarchitettura e intrattiene rapporti fecon-
di con i metodi degli archeologi si applica alla chiesa di S. Pietro allinterno del
nucleo storico di Siracusa [figure 6-7]. Edificio di origine paleocristiana, con inter-
venti rilevanti nel tardo Medioevo e nellet barocca, venne sottoposto ad un pe-
sante ripristino negli anni Cinquanta che ne devast lo spazio e le finiture14. Fidone
riesce a mettere le proprie capacit progettuali a servizio delledificio: necessario
infatti rileggere la tipologia a tre navate con ingresso sul lato corto, permettendo
contemporaneamente la sopravvivenze di tutte le stratificazioni, fra cui la cappella
gotica laterale di grande valore. Tre quindi le linee portanti del restauro moderno:
rileggere la sintassi dellinterno, lasciando visibili le murature; restituire lingresso
dalla originaria facciata, senza contraddire lodierna fruizione dal lato lungo; fissare
una quota unitaria di riferimento. Cos, una volta di cantinelle lignee rievoca la
botte che copriva la nave centrale, permettendo per il passaggio della luce che
14 La chiesa tradizionalmente attribuita al IV secolo, una delle prime ad essere edificata in Siracusa, e
forse legata alla predicazione di Paolo di Tarso. Ledificio ha subito varie modifiche tra cui linversione
dellasse di accesso con la realizzazione di un portale ad arco acuto corrispondente ad una nuova cap-
pella sul fianco opposto; v. Fidone, E. Licona e lo spazio: sul restauro della basilica paleocristiana di
San Pietro, Siracusa/ archeologia &architettura, s.l., 12 Biennale Internazionale di Architettura, Venezia,
2010, cap. Sinossi.
[111]
CLAUDIO VARAGNOLI
Figura 6. La chiesa di S. Pietro a Siracusa dopo il restauro di E. Fidone.

Figura 7. Chiesa di S. Pietro a Siracusa, il nuovo ingresso aperto nella posizione originaria.
(Foto per gentile concessione di E. Fidone)
entra dai finestroni laterali ricavati posteriormente. La riproposizione delloriginario

varco dingresso ottenuta creando un monolito in lastre di cor-ten che scorrendo
parallelamente a se stesso permette di rivivere la progressione spaziale originaria
senza giungere alla letteraria riproposizione del portale e garantendo il pieno
del muro di facciata. Il pavimento in coccio pesto una continuit cromaticamente
equilibrata che si interrompe solo in corrispondenza dellunico resto del calpestio
bizantino. Dopo le esperienze in S. Maria del Ges a Modica con Bruno Messina,
e rispetto alle volte leggere di Ignacio Linazasoro e di Pier Luigi Cervellati, Fidone
con un taglio forse pi didattico rispetto al collega spagnolo, ottiene suggestioni
maggiori nella luce filtrata che piove dallalto ed esalta la geografia delle murature,
pi che il nuovo inserto ligneo. Una sensibilit che con il progetto per il museo
delle Latomie dei Cappuccini15, ancora a Siracusa, sa dialogare con il contesto na-
turale ed inserirsi nel paesaggio introverso della antica cava.
Il minimalismo evita talvolta la sfida e la responsabilit di dare una risposta
alle domande che il rudere o lincompiuto pongono. Nellex convento di S. An-
tonio a Santa Fiora, nella Toscana meridionale, nuove strutture formalmente e
materialmente distinguibili disegnano nuove funzioni allinterno di un complesso
monastico abbandonato, di cui tuttavia non si cerca di recuperare il senso e la
logica architettonica16. Nel recente intervento sulla chiesa dellAnnunziata a Foli-
gno17, grande fabbrica settecentesca in laterizio incompiuta e alterata [figura 8], i
15 Pubblicato nel 2008, il progetto comprende un grande portico ombroso, connesso ad una rampa elicoi-
dale e spazi ipogei per collegarsi direttamente al paesaggio introverso delle latomie.
16 Il progetto di 2TR Architettura (L. Montuori, R. Petrachi), Roma. Il complesso accoglie varie destina-
zioni e aree per la ricreazione e la socializzazione.
17 Salimei, G. (T studio, Roma), con Mavilio, S. e Schiattarella, A. V. Ex Museo dellAnnunziata a Foligno,
in Sacchi, L. (ed.), Italia en Mxico 2013. Architetti romani: opere recenti, Roma, Prospettive edizioni,
2013, pp. 154-147.
[112]
Figura 8. Chiesa dellAnnunziata a Foligno, la nuova addizione di T Studio (G. Salimei con S. Mavilio e A. Schiattarella).
(Foto de http://s3.amazonaws.com).
progettisti hanno approfittato del grande invaso interno per adattarlo a sede di
esposizioni museali, aggiungendo dettagli funzionali in cor-ten, come la ringhiera
metallica e un corpo esterno, estranei formalmente alledificio, conservato nella
sua integrit.
Larchitettura contemporanea spesso raggiunge la capacit di inserirsi in un
contesto storico senza acuire le dissonanze linguistiche, a differenza di quanto
accadeva nei decenni passati, quando un certo grado di contestazione del passato
era una necessaria attestazione di modernit.
La vicenda degli Uffizi di Firenze rappresenta bene il lavoro continuo e si-
lenzioso che alimenta i principali progetti di restauro in Italia. La vicenda della
nuova pensilina di ingresso disegnata da Arata Isozaki (in via dei Castellani,
1998 and 2011), che bene interpretava le esigenze di linearit e senso prospet-
tico richieste dal luogo, ancora attende di entrare in una fase operativa, ma il
rinnovamento del museo, secondo le linee del progetto dei Grandi Uffizi,
andato avanti in silenzio con risultati importanti, fra i quali lampliamento della
superficie espositiva da 5400 a 12000 mq e la messa a norma antisismica, con
lobiettivo di estendere larea museale allintero secondo piano. Sono notevoli le
opere di consolidamento, tra cui lo scalone lorenese e la sala della Niobe; a ci
si aggiunga la revisione impiantistica del museo, in particolare, nelle nuove sale
dei pittori manieristi e dei pittori stranieri. Ci ha comportato la ridistribuzio-
ne del percorso museale e consentito lintroduzione del colore nelle nuove sale:
scelta che in molti musei non certo una novit, ma che per gli Uffizi rappresen-
[113]
CLAUDIO VARAGNOLI
Figura 9. A. Natalini, progetto per le nuove sale del Museo degli Uffizi di Firenze.
(Foto in R. Cecchi, A. Paolucci ( a cura di), Cantiere Uffizi, Roma, Gangemi, 2007, pp. 283-293).
Figura 10. A. Natalini, il nuovo corpo scala nel Museo degli Uffizi di Firenze.
(Foto de www.archilovers.com).
ta un distacco dalla severa bicromia manierista bianco-intonaco grigio-arenaria

risalente allimpostazione di Vasari. Le nuove sale, poste alle spalle della Loggia
dei Lanzi,18 sono oggi servite dalla scala di Ponente disegnata da Adolfo Natalini
(2009-2011) che si inserisce nello spazio angusto della corte della Vecchia Posta
[figure 9-10]. Architettura essenziale, pi che minimalista, la torre di pietra che
18 Natalini, A. Note in margine ad alcuni contributi al progetto Nuovi Uffizi, in Cecchi, R., Paolucci, A.
(eds.), Cantiere Uffizi, Roma, Gangemi, 2007, pp. 283-293.
[114]
Figura 11. Cattedrale della Dormizione della Vergine di Bagrati a Kutaisi (Georgia),
veduta esterna con le nuove parti aggiunte ad A. Bruno.
Figura 12. Cattedrale della Dormizione della Vergine di Bagrati a Kutaisi (Georgia),
linterno dopo lintervento di A. Bruno.
(Foto in R. Cecchi, A. Paolucci ( a cura di), Cantiere Uffizi, Roma, Gangemi, 2007, pp. 283-293).
ospita al proprio interno la scala rappresenta un segno austero e inatteso, per la

sua giacitura obliqua, che si sposa bene al contesto stratificato, grazie anche alla
parziale chiusura vetrata in sommit e alla sistemazione delle pareti laterali. Un
episodio che opera per addizione pi che per modifica19 e interpreta la moder-
nit con materiali pesanti e opachi, tipici della citt di pietra20.
Il compito di Andrea Bruno nella cattedrale di Bagrati era denso di ostacoli e
insidie [figure 11-12]. Ledificio uno dei simboli della nazione georgiana: dedi-
cato alla Dormizione della Vergine da Bagrati, il re che unific il paese, si trova
nella antica capitale, Kutaisi, e risale al X-XI secolo. Distrutta parzialmente da una
guerra gi nel corso del XVII secolo, la cattedrale ha mantenuto una forte carica
simbolica per la nazione, che ha sempre visto nel cristianesimo la radice della
propria unit e identit attraverso i secoli. Dagli anni Cinquanta del XX secolo21,
inizi la ricostruzione partendo dalle cospicue rovine, per giungere allinserimento
19 Acidini, C., Il sistema Uffizi: conservazione dellesistente e innovazione creativa, in Ananke, n. 66,
2012, pp. 106-107; Natali, A., Il colore degli stranieri (e la nostra singolare avversione), in Ananke, n.
66, 2012, pp. 108-109 ; Acidini, C. , Marino, A., Natali, A., Oltre le sale azzurre, i lavori continuano, in
Ananke, n. 66, 2012, pp. 50-61; Lombardi, A. L., Uffizi in blu, in Giornale dellArte.com, 20 dicembre
2011, cfr. http://www.ilgiornaledellarte.com/articoli/2011/12/111267.html.
20 DAmato Guerrieri, C. (ed.), Citt di Pietra. 10 Mostra Internazionale di Architettura, Venezia, Marsilio,
2006.
21 Jokilehto, J., Rehabilitation Strategy for the Site of Bagrati Cathedral, Kutaisi, Georgia, National Agency
for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia, 8 maggio 2012, www.heritagesites.ge; v. anche Chionne,
R., La Cattedrale di Bagrati in Georgia. Dopo il falso vero, il nuovo autentico, in Il Giornale del Re-
stauro, XVII, March 2013 (Il Giornale dellArte, n. 329, 2013), p. 15; Maietti, F., La rinascita delledificio
simbolo dellidentit culturale e religiosa della Georgia. Restauro e rifunzionalizzazione della Cattedrale
di Bagrati, Kutaisi, Georgia, in Architetti.com, n. 56, may 2013, www.architetti.com.
[115]
CLAUDIO VARAGNOLI
nella World Heritage List nel 1994. Una seconda campagna di ricostruzione, pi
radicale, intrapresa nel 2002, aveva avviato ricostruzioni pi massicce e su basi
non documentate, con luso di cemento armato al posto della tradizionale pietra
da taglio. Di qui la decisione di bloccare il cantiere da parte delle autorit inter-
nazionali e laffidamento del progetto ad Andrea Bruno, che sceglie di lavorare
in continuit con larchitettura del rudere, ma inserendo il metallo al posto della
pietra per segnalare la parti ricostruite ex-novo. Le esigenze quasi didattiche im-
poste dalle organizzazioni internazionali hanno cos portato ad un prodotto che
restituisce la leggibilit della cattedrale, soprattutto nel suggestivo spazio interno e
nei matronei, con un esito non molto diverso da quanto perseguito da Cervellati
nella restituzione dellOratorio dei Filippini a Bologna. Contrario al mimetismo,
Bruno non tralascia di segnalare la propria modernit inserendo un volume vetra-
to dissonante che rompe la sagoma esterna delledificio.
Fra le accuse che vengono rivolte al restauro, spesso si lamenta lassenza
di una teoria univoca, che non abbia contraddizioni e che indichi chiaramente
cosa fare davanti ad un monumento da restaurare. La ricchezza di posizioni che
da sempre caratterizza la cultura del restauro in Italia vista come un limite,
rifiutando il dialogo e il dibattito che sono invece tipici non solo del restauro,
ma di ogni forma veramente moderna di cultura. Vacilla inoltre la centralit
della valutazione storica, vista invariabilmente come un fatto arbitrario, mentre22
si rinnovano le accuse contro lapplicazione estensiva del vincolo, che avrebbe
portato alla conservazione solo restrittiva dei centri storici italiani, soffocati nelle
possibilit di vita e invece portati ad una fruizione solo superficiale da parte del
turismo di massa.
In realt, il ruolo del patrimonio architettonico e storico-culturale nella so-
ciet italiana che appare messo in crisi, in un paese pi interessato allabusivismo
che alla conservazione del paesaggio e dei centri storici. Le inchieste di Ferruccio
Sansa23, i volumi di Salvatore Settis24, le posizioni di Tomaso Montanari25 sullab-
bandono a cui sottoposto il centro storico dellAquila dopo il terremoto del 2009
hanno posto in luce lindifferenza non solo dei ceti politici nazionali ma della so-
22 OMAs preservation manifesto (Reconstructed from fragmentary evidence by Jorge Otero-Pailos), in

Quaderns dArquitectura i Urbanisme (Journal of the Association of the Architects of Catalonia), n. 263,
2011, pp. 41-52 (p. 49) : Il paradosso che quando larchitettura si ritira nella conservazione, cerca
rifugio proprio nel luogo pi pericoloso. Il pericolo risiede nel fatto che larchitettura, per apparire come
conservazione, deve tradire, se non rinunciare del tutto, alla sua autentica natura: creare forme. Rimgra-
zio la prof. A. Hernndez Martnez per questa e per altre valide indicazioni fornitemi per questo saggio.
23 Sansa, F., La colata. Il partito del cemento che sta cancellando lItalia e il suo futuro, Milano, Chiarelettere,
2010, pp. 7-13, cap. Prima che il degrado diventi irreversibile.
24 Settis, S., Paesaggio costituzione cemento. La battaglia per lambiente contro il degrado civile, Torino,
Einaudi, 2010, pp. 44-82, cap. Lorizzonte dei diritti.
25 Montanari, T., Le pietre e il popolo. Restituire ai cittadini larte e la storia delle citt italiane, Roma, Mini-
mum fax, 2013, soprattutto il cap. Citt senza cittadini, pp. 17-75.
[116]
ciet nel suo complesso. Quindi non pi come o perch restaurare, ma per
chi. una domanda che risuona ormai spesso di fronte ai centri terremotati ab-
bandonati a favore delle nuove edificazioni. E che si pone ancora di pi di fronte
alla effettiva destinazione del patrimonio storico restaurato, sempre meno legato
ad una coerente cultura umanistica e sempre pi destinato ad uno sfruttamento
economico. Il tentativo di sfuggire alla logica del mercato ha portato allipotesi
di leggere i beni culturali come beni comuni , finalizzati alla esperienza di
soddisfazione soggettiva e di partecipazione oggettiva ad una comunit ecologi-
ca26. Il tentativo ha incontrato numerose critiche27, ma ha il merito di porre sul
tappeto la questione del rapporto con leconomia di mercato, occultato spesso da
retorica e opportunismo.
Il ruolo del pubblico comunque presente anche nella riflessione teorica
contemporanea. La riflessione di Muoz Vias, poco nota ancora in Italia28, nasce
da una estesa revisione delle teorie classiche in primo luogo, di quella pubbli-
cata da Cesare Brandi ormai cinquantanni - nutrita da tendenze da lungo tempo
attive nel mondo anglosassone. Ne nasce una teoria che non si fonda su valori
di verit e sulla contrapposizione tra falso e autentico, ma sulla idea di beneficio
del pubblico. E quindi una posizione essenzialmente pragmatica e funzionale:
Muoz Vias appare come il vero teorico della via post-moderna al restauro,
soprattutto quando cerca di superare la centralit delloggetto artistico, in forza
di una profonda sfiducia nelle possibilit di definirne la natura. Tuttavia, la sua
presunta rivoluzione copernicana29, che propone di assumere lelemento ca-
ratteristico del restauro non nelloggetto ma nel soggetto, non appare poi troppo
distante dal riconoscimento teorizzato da Cesare Brandi, pi volte attaccato dal
restauratore spagnolo.
Il valore degli oggetti da sottoporre a restauro non quindi intrinseco, ma
attribuito da uno o pi soggetti. Nellottica della nouvelle musologie secondo la
quale tout est musalizable30, gioca un ruolo importante il patrimonio modesto
26 Mattei, U., Beni comuni un manifesto, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2011, pp. 83-84: Al contrario, i beni comuni
[] devono essere gestiti con strumenti a vocazione pubblicistica (nel senso ampio di estranei alla logica
del profitto privato) al fine primario di soddisfare i diritti fondamentali della persona, costituzionalmente
garantiti e informati al principio di eguaglianza e solidariet anche nellinteresse delle generazioni future.
27 V. le accuse di populismo in Donolo, C., Qualche chiarimento sui beni comuni, in Lo straniero,
30.01.2012, www. lostraniero.net, e in Vitale, E., Contro i beni comuni. Una critica illuminista, Roma-Ba-
ri, Laterza, 2013.
28 Muoz Vias, S., Teora contempornea de la Restauracin, Madrid, Editorial Sntesis, 2010; I ed. Con-
temporary theory of conservation, London, Routledge, 2004. Cfr la decisa opposizione di Carbonara, G.,
Architettura doggi e restauro. Un confronto antico-nuovo, Torino, U.T.E.T., 2011, p. 102.
29 Muoz Vias, S., Teora, op. cit., pp. 37-40; lespressione ripresa da Bonsanti, G., Riparare larte, in
OPD Restauro, n. 9, 1997, pp. 109-112.
30 Desvalles, A., Vagues, une antologie de la nouvelle musologie. 1, Mcon, Editions W, 1992, Intro-
duction: le concept muse couvre lunivers entier et donc tout est musalisable, in unottica che
[117]
CLAUDIO VARAGNOLI
e gli oggetti banali. Seguendo Lwenthal, Muoz Vias fonda la sua riflessione
sul patrimonio, contrapposto alla storia, come motore dellidentit di un gruppo,
anche a costo di forzature del valore testimoniale.
Il restauro perde quindi i suoi presunti fondamenti oggettivi. Muoz Vias con-
sidera ad esempio lautenticit come un atto di superbia intellettuale: tutti gli stati
che attraversa un oggetto dalla sua creazione sono testimoni della sua storia. Sulla
stessa linea, anche la reversibilit vista come un dogma, peraltro sempre violato
nella pratica, stante lirreversibilit di fatto della maggior parte dei materiali. Mal-
grado sia un concetto poco chiaro, Muoz Vias fa sua la posizione di Melucco
Vaccaro secondo la quale la reversibilit un mito, ma pur sempre utile31. Sulla
stessa linea, anche la primazia che Brandi attribuiva alla materia nel restauro va
respinta, in quanto lobiettivo piuttosto il mantenimento e la conferma dei valori,
soprattutto simbolici, del patrimonio.
Si rende quindi necessario superare lonnipotenza del restauratore per giun-
gere ad una relazione dialettica tra le varie figure che sono coinvolte nellatto del
restaurare: dal committente, al proprietario, allamministratore locale, allimpresa,
al restauratore stesso, in unottica contrattuale che cerchi lequilibrio trai vari sog-
getti. Una visione intersoggettiva del restauro, quindi, che restituisca centralit
allutenza. Il restauro, ammonisce Muoz Vias non si esegue per larte o per la
storia, ma per i soggetti che sono i destinatari del lavoro.
Questa prospettiva, volta a scardinare gli aspetti elitari e selettivi che ancora
segnano il mondo del restauro, nasconde tuttavia dei rischi, di cui consapevole
Muoz Vias, primo fra tutto quello della banalizzazione: un rischio tuttavia cal-
colato e corrispettivo obbligato di quel senso comune a cui questa sedicente
rivoluzione fa riferimento.
Un approccio debole, ma radicato nella prassi del restauro architettonico,
pu essere individuato nel restauro timido lanciato da Marco Ermentini in Italia32.
Anche in questo caso, si parte dalla constatazione che lunica teoria possibile sia
la fine delle teorie del restauro, tutte condizionate dal primato della tecnica. Lu-
nica via di scampo possibile quindi latteggiamento del timido, che percepisce
in tempo il pericolo ed consapevole dei limiti dellagire umano. Su questa base,
Ermentini trova facilmente tangenze con il pensiero anti-restaurativo, ma le sue
riflessioni non sono solo unesercitazione di tardo spirito ruskiniano. La filosofia
timida piuttosto una filosofia del limite. Il restauro timido si dispone ad ascoltare
lopera, in attesa dei segni che questa trasmette; agisce pragmaticamente e con
vuole superare la concezione elitaria e monumentale del museo, dilatato spazialmente e socialmente
dallA. con la nozione di eco-museo.
31 Muoz Vias, S., Teora, op. cit., pp. 107-115.
32 Ermentini, M., Restauro timido. Architettura affetto gioco, Firenze, Nardini Editore, 2007, v. in particolare
Il manifestino rosso dellarchitettura timida, pp. 15-17, e il cap. Rivoluzione timida, pp. 35- 43.
[118]
pochi mezzi, in contrapposizione allo spreco di territorio e al facile ottimismo

della tecnica. In opposizione alla bulimia del restauro, con tanto di finanzia-
menti faraonici, il restauro pu tornare al suo ruolo di opposizione allo spreco e
al consumismo: riflessioni che si scontrano con le logiche del tardo capitalismo e
che meriterebbero un uditorio pi attento e consapevole.
Le posizioni teoriche pi consolidate e aderenti alla realt del restauro hanno
visto recenti riaffermazioni dei principi. Nel suo ultimo lavoro, Giovanni Carbo-
nara33 riepiloga con la consueta precisione i punti fondamentali del suo pensie-
ro, ponendoli a confronto con la produzione contemporanea. Laccostamento di
nuovo e antico valutato positivamente, ad esclusione degli atteggiamenti di
completa negazione del patrimonio storico. Individua cos, sulla linea di una pro-
duzione teorica di quattro decenni, una terza via tra lespressione pi aggressiva
della contemporaneit e la post-modernit, attiva nel segno di un rapporto vivo
e rispettoso con la memoria. La recente riflessione di Carbonara, pi che i lavori
precedenti, animata dalla contrapposizione allegemonia del presente, che porta
ad un predominio dellimmagine e del consumo e ma soprattutto ad una carenza
di percezione del tempo e della storia. La casistica esposta da Carbonara apre il
territorio del restauro ad una molteplicit di approcci che ruotano attorno alla
necessit della trasformazione, accettata se conserva al massimo livello la preesi-
stenza e se proposta come aggiunta esplicita e funzionale ad una interpretazione
non distruttiva del passato.
Anche lultimo libro di Paolo Marconi34, apparso poco prima della sua recente
scomparsa, riepiloga una battaglia culturale combattuta non tanto in funzione del
ripristino, ma della considerazione del restauro come altro modo di fare archi-
tettura. Mai in Marconi il restauro si fonda sulla sostituzione o sulla rimozione,
sempre sulla revisione critica della condizione materiale delledificio, rifiutata nella
sua presunta ineluttabilit. Ad esempio, il progetto per il castello federiciano di
Lucera (2010)35 usa legno lamellare, prodotto industriale e quindi distinguibile e
reversibile rispetto ai ruderi esistenti, che non vengono modificati nella loro consi-
stenza. Le modifiche imposte (2007-09) allo scalone ottocentesco dellex Collegio
dei Nobili di Torino, ora Museo Egizio36, non si muovono lungo i binari consolidati
del ripristino, che avrebbe portato alleliminazione dello scalone stesso, quanto su
quelli della creativit con lesistente, di cui si propone una consistente modifica,
ma non un azzeramento. Anche la sistemazione dei Camerini del Principe nella
33 Carbonara, G., Architettura doggi e restauro. Un confronto antico-nuovo, Torino, U.T.E.T., 2011, in par-
ticolare Lo stato della questione, pp. 9-33 e Il confronto antico-nuovo, pp. 35-57.
34 Marconi, P., Restauro dei monumenti. Cultura, progetti e cantieri 1967-2010, Roma, Gangemi editore,
2012.
35 Ibidem, pp. 24-31.
36 Ibidem, pp. 42-47.
[119]
CLAUDIO VARAGNOLI
via Coperta del Castello di Ferrara (2005-2008)37 appaiono pi un rimontaggio

con i materiali della tradizione, non dissimulati nel loro carattere eminentemente
didattico. Non sembra in sostanza di cogliere un intento falsificatorio in interventi
che appaiono lontanissimi, per intento e risultati, dai tanti pastiches distribuiti in
tutto il mondo. Gli interventi di Marconi sono quindi contemporanei e pongono
con forza la questione del linguaggio da adoperare negli interventi sul costruito.
Il lavoro di Marconi mostra i limiti della visione che contrappone modernit e tra-
dizione, aprendosi ad una sensibilit che ormai rende inutile il conflitto fra i due
termini. Nel restauro del teatro Carignano a Torino (2005-2006)38, che ha cercato
il ripristino negli apparati decorativi e nella distribuzione a spese di aggiunte di
limitato valore testimoniale, la creazione di due scale di sicurezza avviene utiliz-
zando corpi rivestiti in cortina laterizia e aperti da grandi vetrate, in un omaggio
al presunto genius loci della citt, di cui si potr discutere la pertinenza, ma che
certo non costituisce un falso.
Marconi va quindi considerato un architetto della contemporaneit, che crede
nella attualit di una tradizione senza tempo e nella possibilit per il progettista
moderno di ricollegarsi a quella tradizione, variando sul tema dato. La preesisten-
za viene nei fatti rispettata, tranne che nella sua condizione di degrado. Il restauro
diviene cos laltro modo di fare architettura, antitetico alla ricerca ad ogni costo
del contrasto, ma attivit progettuale pienamente contemporanea e carica di forti
valenze di innovazione.
Nuovi modi di intendere la teoria del restauro si affacciano nel vasto lavoro di
Francesco Doglioni39 che propone una riflessione teorica accompagnata da consi-
derazioni su quesiti tratti dallesperienza di cantiere. Lobiettivo del progetto non
pu essere la tecnica, ma un progetto culturale condiviso con pi soggetti: di qui
lesigenza di trarsi fuori dal proprio progetto per sviluppare una consapevo-
lezza in grado di superare gli automatismi che hanno reso il restauro una pratica
conservatrice.
Anche in Doglioni viva laccettazione della sfida del mutamento e la visione
del restauro come una progettualit composita che pu volgersi a riscoprire,
reintegrare o rinnovare con attenzione critica le parti nascoste, mancanti o trasfor-
mate40. Tale substrato teorico, nutrito di una lunga esperienza operativa, porta
Doglioni ad includere nella propria visione le ipotesi contrapposte della conser-
37 Ibidem, pp. 48-55.

38 Ibidem, pp. 56-71.
39 Doglioni, F., Nel restauro. Progetti per le architetture del passato, Venezia, Marsilio, 2008.
40 Ibidem, pp. 24-26, Affermazione 5. Il restauro una progettualit composita che mira a conservare le
architetture del passato giunte in condizioni di relativa integrit, e a riscoprire, reintegrare o rinnovare
con attenzione critica quelle parti nascoste, mancanti o trasformate il cui risarcimento sia funzionale e
necessario a rafforzarne il messaggio architettonico rendendolo comprensibile e presente.
[120]
vazione assoluta e dellintervento analogico, considerandole come possibilit di

intervento con eguale diritto di cittadinanza proprio perch entrambe si fondano
sulla considerazione delledificio iuxta propria principia. Posizioni di cui vanno
disinnescati i meccanismi di reciproca esclusione, e alle quali si chiede soprattutto
una coscienza del limite, appunto quel guardarsi da fuori che tratto tipico
della modernit.
Il contributo di Francesco Doglioni importante perch tenta un superamento
delle distinzioni che finora hanno irrigidito il dibattito in Italia. Viene da chieder-
si se con il richiamo alla coscienza del limite non si sia tornati al nocciolo della
professione del restauratore, cio alla necessit della valutazione e della stru-
mentazione concettuale che deve accompagnarla. E forse opportuno ricercare
un nuovo rapporto con lindagine storica, che permetta appunto, come vuole
Doglioni, di percepire la propria posizione nel fluire della storia, e istituire una
relazione paritaria con le tecniche, altrimenti finalizzate alladesione ad astratti
schemi mentali contrastanti con la realt dellarchitettura. Il recente richiamo ad
un nuovo realismo41 e ad un superamento delle posizioni derivate dal pensiero
debole e dallermeneutica, molto diffuse e forse fraintese nella cultura italiana
di fine Novecento, potrebbe riportare ad una centralit delloggetto e contribuire a
ridurre leccesso di soggettivismo che oggi domina la cultura architettonica.
41 Ferraris, M., Documentalit. Perch necessario lasciar tracce, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2009, pp. 137-138:
La sedia per sederci, il bicchiere per berci, e la pistola, purtroppo, per spararci. In taluni casi, vero,
loggetto ammette usi promiscui (). Ma il margine di manovra sempre pi modesto di quanto non si
creda, e questo suggerisce una riflessione: il progettista onnipotente il pi delle volte progettato dagli
oggetti che lo circondano.
[121]
TRENTANNI DINTERVENTI SULLARCHITETTURA DEL NOVECENTO:
IL PUNTO DI VISTA DELLA CULTURA ITALIANA DEL RESTAURO
SIMONA SALVO*
Abstract: La prassi dintervento istituitasi sullarchitettura del Novecento negli ulti-

mi trentanni ha segnato una deriva rispetto alla consuetudine del restauro poich
i problemi di conservazione, certo inediti, che pongono i manufatti moderni sono
stati per lo pi risolti con banali ripristini. Una condizione materiale nuova e diver-
sa ha infatti indotto a credere che dovessero essere nuovi anche principi e metodi
del restauro, cos che nel complesso si preferito ripristinare quei manufatti per
riguadagnarne limmagine originaria piuttosto che conservarli materialmente per
tutelarne valori storici e artistici. Questo atteggiamento, ormai diffuso ovunque
nel mondo, estraneo al fondamento critico e scientifico che caratterizza il pen-
siero europeo sul restauro, specie quello italiano. Rari ma significativi interventi
di vero restauro smentiscono quei luoghi comuni che hanno generato tale ten-
denza al ripristino ma evidenziano anche come la cultura italiana del restauro,
nonostante la sua vitalit e la sua ricchezza, occupi oggi una posizione marginale
nel contesto internazionale.
Parole chiave: Architettura del Novecento. Restauro. Conservazione. Ripristino.
Architettura del Novecento e restauro
Quando, allinizio degli anni Ottanta del secolo scorso, si cominci a prendere
atto del declino fisico delle opere del Movimento Moderno, sembr profilarsi un
ambito del restauro ancora tutto da esplorarsi. Lintervento su quel patrimonio
sostanzialmente tanto diverso dallantico, sembrava infatti porre problemi appli-
cativi apparentemente insormontabili perch nuovi rispetto alla prassi tradizionale
del restauro. Le architetture di quellepoca parevano condannate a scomparire
* Dipartimento di Storia Disegno e Restauro dellArchitettura, Sapienza Universit di Roma.

simona.salvo@uniroma1.it
[123]
SIMONA SALVO
fisicamente perch difettose e prive del magistero dellarte del costruire, oltre
che poco durevoli e votate al deperimento perch fragili e vulnerabili1.
Tali condizioni apparivano sufficienti per giustificare un repentino allontana-
mento dallimpostazione teorico-metodologica del restauro tradizionale che, male
inteso quale attivit meramente pratica, non sembrava offrire risposte risolutive.
Anzi, la presunta impossibilit di conservare materialmente i manufatti novecen-
teschi serviva quale pretesto per rivendicare la scesa in campo di strumenti me-
todologici, teorici e operativi ad hoc e avviare una prassi incentrata sullidea,
vecchia almeno di un secolo, che di unopera si debba salvare limmagine e
non la materia. Il restauro del nuovo, in questa forma di sedicente imperativo
conservativo, apriva la strada a nuove forme di ripristino inteso quale ritorno al
primitivo splendore, e non quale conservazione e trasmissione dei valori del
passato, seppure recente.
La prassi dintervento sullarchitettura del Novecento ha dunque assunto una
piega retrospettiva e tecnicista proprio in ragione del contesto culturale nord-eu-
ropeo in cui si cominciava ad affrontare la questione, culturalmente lontano e
diverso da quello mediterraneo dove, fra Otto e Novecento, ha preso corpo
la riflessione sul restauro2. Liniziativa di estrapolare questambito dal contesto
disciplinare che gli proprio proveniva non casualmente dai progettisti
militanti, dagli storici o dai tecnologi abituati a considerare la Modernit in cima
alla propria genealogia e, quindi, a riconoscersi in essa senza mediazione sto-
rica. Di conseguenza, si adottava una prospettiva opposta a quella del restauro
che si fonda sulla consapevolezza della distanza storico-critica fra passato e
presente. Portata al di fuori della conservazione e dichiarata estranea alla cultura
del restauro, la prassi dintervento sulle architetture moderne stabiliva cos un
generale arretramento della riflessione in materia. Assumendo i termini di un
ripristino facilmente godibile e consumabile, esso trovava appiglio nel sentire
comune riflettendone la costante aspirazione ad accogliere la realt attraverso la
sua rappresentazione.
Lingresso dellarchitettura moderna nellalveo della tutela, non ha affatto se-
gnato una rivoluzione copernicana nella teoria e nei principi del restauro classi-
co; piuttosto, ha decretato linsinuarsi di unulteriore confusione sui presupposti
della conservazione. Mai prima dora lintervento su di un settore cronologica-
mente definito di manufatti architettonici aveva assunto una connotazione tanto
1 Salvo, S., Restaurare il Novecento. Storia, esperienze e prospettive in architettura, Macerata, Quodlibet,
2016.
2 La questione sorge gi a met degli anni Sessanta in ambito storiografico, ma listituzione di una prassi
dintervento sui manufatti architettonici del Novecento va ricondotta alla fondazione del Docomomo,
International Working Party for Documentation and Conservation of buildings, sites and neighborhoods
of the Modern Movement, istituzione nata in Olanda nel 1988 per iniziativa di un gruppo di architetti-tec-
nologi del Politecnico di Delft e specificamente dedicata agli edifici del Movimento Moderno.
[124]
TRENTANNI DINTERVENTI SULLARCHITETTURA DEL NOVECENTO
Figura 1. Lultima Cena (particolare), Leonardo da Vinci, 1494-1498, tempera grassa su intonaco. Il dipinto, realizzato
con materiali e tecniche sperimentali, affetto da un degrado ineluttabile che il lungo intervento di restauro condotto fra il
1979 e il 1999 riuscito soltanto a rallentare.
autonoma e distaccata dal pi ampio contesto disciplinare, seppure non sia inso-
lito incontrare manufatti materialmente resistenti alla loro stessa conservazione3
[figura 1].
Avviato in un clima emergenziale, dopo trentanni desercizio il cosiddetto re-
stauro del moderno sembra avere ormai perduto il pathos che aveva accompa-
gnato il primo periodo di sperimentazione, spento anche dallattenzione ipertrofica
che esso ha attratto per molto tempo. Lemergenza iniziale suscitata dalle icone
del Modernismo, alcune delle quali contano gi svariati interventi di ripristino (si
pensi alla villa Savoye e alla villa Tugendhat ripetutamente sottopposte ad interven-
ti pi o meno consistenti), si poi gradualmente spostata su temi di pi ampia sca-
la dimensionale e concettuale che hanno ulteriormente acuito la confusione nella
materia accentuando la deriva in atto: si pensi al recupero delledilizia residenziale
pubblica del Novecento che desta preoccupazione ovunque in Europa.
Lesperienza sul campo e gli ormai numerosi casi dintervento consentono oggi
di definire i contorni della questione e di distinguere problemi contingenti e moti-
vazioni reali che regolano i processi di avvicinamento, valutazione, comprensione
e riconoscimento di unopera. Si possono pertanto definire lorigine e le ragioni di
un approccio che ha condotto a tanti ripristini ma, anche, ad interventi di orienta-
mento pi critico i quali, seppure isolati, danno ragione della vivacit del pensiero
e della cultura italiana del restauro.
3 Varagnoli, C., Un restauro a parte, in Palladio, 1998, 22, pp. 111-115.
[125]
SIMONA SALVO
Fuori dal restauro, dentro il ripristino
La vasta ma disorganica letteratura di per s indice del disordine che go-

verna sulla materia restituisce una casistica che mostra come, nella stragrande
maggioranza dei casi, lintervento sugli edifici del Novecento non consista affatto
nel conservarli materialmente ma nel rifarli, del tutto o in parte, assecondando
intenzioni non sempre squisitamente conservative. Si riproduce allidentico se
si tratta di un edificio al quale si riconosce il valore dicona, si ricostruisce miglio-
rando se si tratta di un edificio sperimentale tecnicamente e tecnologicamente
non riuscito, si procede sostituendo se esso non in grado di soddisfare requisiti
pratici o normativi attuali, si rif cambiando se ne esistono i presupposti pratici,
a volte si conserva, seppure molto di rado e con piglio feticista, ma per assecon-
dare unoccorrenza individuale o unistanza extra-culturale. Ognuna di queste
operazioni guarda indietro alla condizione originaria del manufatto rincorrendo
una sua immagine idealizzata e senza porre alcuna attenzione allhic et nunc e
alla sua condizione storicizzata. Il passaggio a una nuova forma didolatria che
persegue unimmagine idealmente autentica ma, di fatto, indefinita, innesca una
spirale concettuale viziata da numerosi luoghi comuni, da facili sillogismi e da
vari pregiudizi.
Icone come la villa Savoye, il sanatorio Zonnestraal, la biblioteca di Viipu-
ri, la torre di Einstein, la Bauhaus, le case del Weissenhof e altre ancora sono
riportate (e mantenute) in una condizione di eterna giovinezza con tutte le conse-
guenze che implica la sostituzione, la riproduzione e il ripristino di un manufatto
e il sacrificio della sua consistenza materiale autentica. Non importa se si cancella
qualsiasi patina del tempo perch let dellopera breve; ci sillude di poter
riprodurre oggi, esattamente e senza errori, quanto s costruito pochi anni fa;
anzi, si crede di poter costruire oggi come e meglio di prima in virt del progresso
tecnologico perennemente volto a superare il passato; si legittima il rifacimento
richiamando ingannevoli principi di serialit, transitoriet e fragilit del moderno
seppure si tratti di presupposti dordine programmatico raramente messi in atto.
Lintento , chiaramente, quello di riappropriarsi e di riaffermare il valore simboli-
co di certi edifici di cui si apprezza il carattere ideale piuttosto che leffettiva realt
costruita dellopera [figure 2-3-4-5].
Quindi, non sono affatto culturali le intenzioni che muovono questi interventi,
n il fondamento del loro riconoscimento pu dirsi incentrato su valori storici o
artistici. Il desiderio di ritornare in possesso di unimmagine che si perduta e di
perpetuarla dipende piuttosto da questioni contingenti, dalla necessit di afferma-
re valori dellattualit, individuali o collettivi, e per lo pi di natura pragmatica e
opportunistica. Il discorso non cambia se ci si rivolge al patrimonio architettonico
antico ma diventa estremo se si tratta di edifici recenti, forse anche a causa del
ruolo attivo che il patrimonio architettonico del Novecento occupa nella vita quo-
tidiana. Siamo, dunque, ben lontani dalla definizione che diede Renato Bonelli del
[126]
Figura 2. Poissy (Francia), Villa Savoye (Le Corbusier, 1929-31). Ledificio allinizio degli anni Sessanta e nel 2009 dopo
numerosi interventi di ripristino e una manutenzione pressoch stagionale.
Figura 3. Hilversum, Olanda, padiglione Dresselhuys nel sanatorio antitubercolare Zonnestraal, J. Duiker, B. Bijvoet, J.G.
Wiebenga, 1931. Ledificio allinizio degli anni Ottanta e dopo lintervento di ripristino portato a termine nel 2005.
[127]
SIMONA SALVO
Figura 4. Dessau, ledificio-scuola del Bauhaus, W. Gropius, 1925-26. Ledificio dopo la seconda guerra mondiale e nel
2007 dopo vari interventi di ricostruzione e ripristino (da AR).
Figura 5. Berlino, Muro, 1961. Unimmagine che risale al Marzo del 1989, pochi mesi prima della caduta della cortina di
ferro e le misere tracce lasciate nella pavimentazione di Potsdamer Platz per segnalarne il percorso.
[128]
restauro quale attivit nella quale lodierna cultura attua pienamente se stessa4:
le architetture del Novecento sono considerate mere icone oppure se non addi-
rittura demolite sono ridotte a fare da sfondo ad edifici contemporanei.
In modo molto diverso si invece svolto il processo che ha consentito di
conservare le facciate in metallo e vetro del grattacielo Pirelli di Milano. Lontano
dallaver risolto una volta per tutte un caso di restauro tecnicamente difficile, qual
il recupero dei curtain wall, questo intervento si distinto per le premesse criti-
co-scientifiche che lhanno guidato e per i molti riverberi culturali che ha generato
e che proseguono tuttoggi a distanza di dieci anni5. In via di principio questespe-
rienza ha conservato il carattere di ipotesi critica in atto6 e ha affrontato e risolto
in modo aperto e dialettico un percorso critico che ha preso labbrivo dallo studio
e dalla conoscenza dellopera piuttosto che da provvedimenti tecnico-applicativi.
Non si infatti cercato di risolvere un problema meramente tecnico ma si inteso
innanzitutto conseguire una conoscenza scientifica delledificio e delle sue spe-
cificit, studiandone direttamente e analiticamente le componenti. I risultati delle
indagini e il riconoscimento delleccezionale valore materiale e tecnologico e della
bellezza del design che informa linvolucro in curtain wall del grattacielo finan-
che nei suoi particolari costruttivi pi minuti hanno esercitato un effettivo peso
critico-scientifico sul processo decisionale che ha indirizzato le scelte tecniche,
economiche e politiche dellintervento, tanto da risultare la chiave di volta dellin-
tera operazione [figura 6].
Nonostante lesperienza maturata attorno al grattacielo Pirelli, purtroppo ecce-
zionale e isolata nel panorama nazionale e internazionale, la riflessione sul tema
rimane ancora a quei tentativi di rifondazione teoretica che tentano di semplificare
ci che non semplificabile e ignorano lapproccio cauto che le molte incertezze
e la mancanza di conoscenza invece imporrebbero.
Quindi, se si sposta la questione su di un piano ermeneutico, sorgono interro-
gativi che precedono le propriet oggettuali e materiali dei manufatti e lattenzio-
ne si rivolge ai processi che oggi regolano la trasmissione della memoria. Non ,
infatti loggetto nel nostro caso ledificio moderno che ha determinato quel
temuto ribaltamento culturale, quanto le modalit con cui avviene la sua ricezio-
ne; non il carattere fisico e figurativo dellarchitettura del Novecento ma le moti-
vazioni su cui si fonda il riconoscimento del loro valore. Lorigine della deriva
verso il ripristino trova origine, infatti, nella formulazione del giudizio critico quale
4 Bonelli, R., Restauro Architettonico, in Enciclopedia Universale dellArte, vol. XI, col. 322 e ss., ms coll.
344-351, Venezia-Roma 1963.
5 Salvo, S., Grattacielo Pirelli. Cronaca di un restauro, in Saggi in onore di Gaetano Miarelli Mariani,
Quaderni dellIstituto di Storia dellArchitettura, Bonsignori, Roma 2007, pp. 571-580.
6 Philippot, P., Restauro filosofia, criteri, linee guida, in Saggi sul restauro e dintorni. Antologia, Bonsi-
gnori, Roma 1998, p. 47 (ed. originale Historic Preservation: Philosophy, Criteria, Guidelines, 1976).
[129]
SIMONA SALVO
Figura 6. Milano, grattacielo Pirelli, G. Ponti, P.L. Nervi e altri, 1956-1961.

Ledificio dopo lintervento di restauro del 2003-2004.
atto propedeutico al restauro: se si tratta di architetture recenti, (e sempre che av-

venga) esso configura quale passaggio affrettato, aggrappato a riferimenti storici
labili e resi deboli dalla loro scarna riconoscibilit, oltre che sovente sviluppato al
di fuori dellopera stessa. Il processo di riconoscimento si attua infatti in assenza
di adeguato distacco storico e di una storiografia ben consolidata e, in questo sen-
so, latteggiamento retrospettivo va interpretato anche come indolente proiezione
della debolezza della nostra civilt che, per svariati motivi, tende a riappropriarsi
dei simboli del passato recente negando lincidenza di quel breve ma denso lasso
di tempo intercorso fra la loro creazione e la loro ricezione nel presente.
Di fatto, ben noto che la propensione a conservare le testimonianze del
passato non si modella attorno agli oggetti, che possono variare molto material-
mente e figurativamente, ma si forma sulla base del giudizio che se ne d in un
particolare momento storico e in un specifico contesto culturale. I monumenti
notavano gi Riegl e altri7 non sono tali per virt intrinseche ma perch la
cultura di unepoca li riconosce tali. Essi, e il loro restauro, sono quindi espressio-
ne e conseguenza di un atto di riconoscimento di valore che, proprio in quanto
7 Analogamente Theodor W. Adorno: Il vero rapporto con unopera darte non consiste nel fatto che,
come si dice, la si adatta a una nuova situazione, quanto piuttosto che nellopera stessa si decifra ci ri-
spetto a cui si reagisce storicamente in modo diverso, parole che richiamano da vicino quelle di Marcel
Duchamp c'est le regardant qui fait le monument.
[130]
TENDENZE
RETROSPETTIVE
motivacioni motivacioni
motivacioni motivacioni
individualistiche politico-ideologiche
culturali pragmatiche
e affettivo-relazionali
demolizione, rifacimen-
ripristino, rifacimento, ripristino, rifacimento,
ripristino, rifacimento, to, riconstruzione,
riconstruzione, copia riconstruzione, copia
riconstruzione conservazione feticista
TENDENZE
CONSERVATIVE
approccio
approccio consapevole
inconsapevole
o fortuito
tutela e conservazione
Istituzionali
manutenzione conserva-
o restauro critico
tiva, distruzione
Figura 7. Schema interpretativo delle tendenze retrospettive e conservative che caratterizzano lintervento sullarchitettura
del Novecento distinte secondo le motivazioni da cui muovono.
affidato alla coscienza individuale e collettiva, esprime la propria epoca. Valori

e disvalori che oggi riconosciamo nellarchitettura del Novecento sono dunque
un riflesso del tempi che viviamo e ne esprimono lesasperato individualismo e
il complementare conformismo. In tal senso, le molte e diverse sfumature che
assume lapproccio a quelleredit restituiscono le modalit con cui oggi perce-
pita, e recepita, la memoria del passato remota o recente che sia lasciando
intendere quanto la societ contemporanea si sia allontanata dal desiderio di
rispettarla e conservarla.
Ma quali sono le reali motivazioni che muovono gli interventi sulle architetture
del Novecento?
Se si prescinde dai casi in cui lintervento direttamente legato alle condizio-
ni intrinseche del manufatto (consistenza materiale, forma, carattere sperimenta-
le,...), risulta che la prassi dipende per lo pi dalle condizioni al contorno entro
cui agisce il soggetto che osserva e agisce. Nella stragrande maggioranza dei casi
le motivazioni dellintervento sono infatti orientate da valutazioni dordine pratico
ed economico legate allattualit, mentre in altri pesano le relazioni culturali che,
in via personale o pubblica, legano losservatore allopera e il ruolo simbolico,
oltre che politico e ideologico, che il manufatto occupa nella percezione contem-
poranea. Non raro, infine, imbattersi in situazioni dove le motivazioni dellin-
tervento sono di natura affettivo-relazionale e personale e dipendono dalla sfera
strettamente privata di chi interviene. Ecco dunque che, usciti dalloggettualit
[131]
SIMONA SALVO
dellopera ed entrati in un ambito costituito da relazioni complesse e imprescru-

tabili, sovente personali oltre che taciute e quindi non storicizzabili, ogni valuta-
zione rimane indefinita e diventa incerta, svilendo qualsiasi approccio scientifico
e metodologico. N, tantomeno, si pu parlare di restauri filologici (come accade
spesso) mancando ogni presupposto di questa raffinata scienza. Ciascuna di que-
ste motivazioni, privilegiando il rispetto distanze attuali, pu dunque condurre,
pressoch indifferentemente, al ripristino come alla ricostruzione, al rifacimento
come alla riproduzione, ad un adeguamento come ad un miglioramento, allese-
cuzione postuma oppure alla demolizione come, anche, a forme estreme, anche
feticistiche, di conservazione.
Siamo dunque fuori dal contesto culturale europeo del restauro e della conser-
vazione e ancor pi da quello critico di matrice italiana [figura 7].
Restauro italiano e conservazione globale
Le tendenze e gli atteggiamenti descritti rispecchiano ci che il patrimonio cul-

turale rappresenta per la civilt contemporanea che considera i monumenti quali
mezzi piuttosto che fini, utili a veicolare messaggi e significati para-culturali e ad
innescare direttamente o indirettamente meccanismi economici. Nel conte-
sto di una crescentre globalizzazione della cultura che pone a confronto diversi
modi dintendere la memoria, il patrimonio architettonico recente costituisce un
terreno fertile per affermare, deprecare, modificare, relativizzare, trasformare o
strumentalizzare valori e significati del passato e, non da ultimo, anche il ruolo
e i contenuti della conservazione. Resta nelle valutazioni epocali che la cultura
europea sta affrontando oggi, settore per settore, stabilire se tale allontanamento
da una conservazione oggettuale della memoria prefiguri lesaurirsi del bisogno di
trasmetterla al futuro secondo la tradizione occidentale8, accantonando quel ruo-
lo fondamentale che la Storia detiene nella realt attuale9, come gi lucidamente
tratteggiato da Giovanni Carbonara:
A prima vista sembra che linteresse per la conservazione e il restauro si sia,
in questi ultimi tempi, rafforzato, ma non chiaro se la prospettiva sia quella
del conseguimento di un livello di attenzione e di conseguente accuratezza
operativa maggiore oppure se stia profilandosi il rischio di un capovolgimento
totale e di un radicale cambiamento di orientamenti. In fin dei conti ben fon-
dato il timore che il restauro sia lespressione residua di una cultura borghese,
8 Questo quanto tenderebbe affermare non senza vena polemica la speculazione filosofica post mo-
derna che riflette sulla crisi dellarte, della storia e del valore della cultura per la civilt contemporanea.
Cos anche Jean Baudrillard che rileva una forma di autodifesa della societ la quale, non essendo
riuscita a generare unaltra storia, destinata a rimuginare su quella passata per dare prova della propria
esistenza.
9 Cordaro, M., La conservazione e la memoria dellesperienza artistica dellultimo cinquantennio, in
Gregory, T., Morelli, M., (ed.), Leclisse delle memorie, Laterza, Roma-Bari 1994, pp. 65-72.
[132]
dimpronta propriamente otto-novecentesca, a rischio destinzione. Non da

escludersi che, di qui a qualche anno, della conservazione e, pi in generale
del passato non interessi pi niente a nessuno. Un processo di radicale merci-
ficazione sembra appiattire tutto il presente10.
In questo contesto il restauro del moderno pu essere considerato quale
sensibile sismografo delle trasformazioni che stanno investendo la cultura euro-
pea e italiana, utile a definire dinamiche ed equilibri geopolitici che coinvolgono
il mondo intero. Questi processi mostrano quanto sia diversificata la geografia
delle culture e quanto alcune di queste esercitino sulle altre una pi o meno
esplicita influenza facendo leva su valori manovrabili, e come varino i baricentri
di diffusione del sapere, secondo le epoche e secondo la collocazione dei pesi
politici, economici e culturali. Prevale infatti lidea secondo cui oggi il patrimonio
culturale non ma si costruisce... non unessenza derivabile dalla ricerca di un
principio trascendentale, bens un fenomeno socialmente costruito fuori dai
miti e dentro la realt effettiva. Di contro, il quesito se debba preliminarmente
sempre porre un problema di conservazione oppure se possa, o debba, costituire
una risorsa economica oppure una risorsa sociale11, appare un segnale implicito
delle difficolt che pone la variet, complessit e vastit del costruito del Nove-
cento che delinea il conflitto fra il doverlo considerare quale bene economico
e, al contempo, accettarlo quale testimonianza culturale. Ma, cos facendo, ci si
sposta fuori del restauro (e lontano dal desiderio o necessit di considerare
una testimonianza per il suo valore di memoria) e ci si sbilancia nel dover valutare
ci che identifica lidentit sociale, antropologica, e culturale della nostra civilt,
mettendo in discussione non soltanto questioni inerenti il restauro del Novecento
ma il senso stesso della conservazione12.
Nel contesto internazionale, peraltro, la tutela del contemporaneo occupa
indubbiamente un ruolo nodale e condiviso sia per lestensione transnazionale e
sovracontinentale del patrimonio edilizio costruito nel Novecento sia per la diffu-
sione di politiche a favore di una occidentalizzante conservazione globale. Va
dunque considerato un merito, ma anche unassunzione di responsabilit, lim-
pegno profuso dagli organismi transnazionali in primis dallUnesco attraverso
Iccrom e Icomos nel coltivare unattenzione internazionale per la sua tutela.
10 Carbonara, G., Le tendenze attuali del restauro in architettura, in Critica, estetica, metodologia e con-
servazione. Nuove conoscenze e prospettive nel mondo dell'arte, Enciclopedia Universale dell'Arte, II
supplemento, Istituto Geografico De Agostini, Novara, 2000, p. 539.
11 Reichlin, B., Riflessioni sulla conservazione del patrimonio architettonico del XX secolo, in Reichlin B.,
Pedretti, B., (ed.), Riuso del patrimonio architettonico, Quaderni dellAccademia di Architettura. di Men-
drisio-Universit della Svizzera Italiana, Silvana Editoriale-Mendrisio Academy Press, Cinisello Balsamo
(Milano) 2011.
12 Varagnoli, C., Metamorfosi degli dei, metamorfosi del restauro, in Carbonara, G., Dalla Costa, M., (ed),
Memoria e restauro dell'architettura. Saggi in onore di Salvatore Boscarino, Franco Angeli, Milano 2005,
pp. 291-300.
[133]
SIMONA SALVO
Qui, tuttavia, si confondono la disciplina vera e propria e una sorta di strategia

politico-culturale che aspira a risolvere conflitti di scala mondiale attraverso la
diffusione globale di unidea di tutela del patrimonio culturale quale strumen-
to di dialogo fra i popoli. Una strategia, questa, che obbliga a un atteggiamento
politicamente corretto ma reso debole dal fatto di dover necessariamente pog-
giare su indiscutibili dati scientifici piuttosto che su interpretazioni critiche che,
chiamando in causa la storia e lestetica, rischierebbero di scendere sul piano
del confronto culturale. La conservazione in tal modo divenuta uno strumen-
to per veicolare politiche di peace keeping che fanno leva sul riconoscimento
reciproco dellidentit culturale dei popoli quale condizione per laccettazione
pacifica della loro identit geopolitica, imbastendo in tal modo una forma inedita
di strumentalizzazione del patrimonio architettonico, con tutte le ricadute che
ci comporta. Non sempre, peraltro, i monumenti ottengono esclusivamente dei
vantaggi nellessere nominati Patrimonio dellUmanit quale supremo ricono-
scimento dimportanza culturale (sempre che questi processi siano effettivamente
rilevativi di valenze superiori ad altre) a causa dellattenzione eccessiva che
essi finiscono spesso per attrarre. il caso di quei siti sottoposti a una deleteria
frequentazione turistica di massa, oppure ricostruiti e costretti a tornare allorigi-
nario splendore per confermare principi e ruoli strumentali agli equilibri politici
attuali, oppure addirittura presi di mira come bersagli militari proprio perch
riconosciuti come oggetti molto significativi13.
Si aggiunga poi che, perseguendo lambizione di costruire una piattaforma
globale sui temi della conservazione della memoria si sono aperte inevitabili dia-
tribe, ad esempio sui diversi concetti di autenticit che ogni cultura coltiva per s,
costringendo a una sorta di equilibrismo politico e a non poche contraddizioni14.
Al tentativo di diffondere una cultura globale della conservazione ha fatto seguito
anche una distorsione del lessico della tutela che, prima articolato alla matrice la-
tina che contiene lorigine e il significato stesso delle parole si pensi alla parola
monumento oggi ricorre a locuzioni dorigine anglosassone, comprensibili
ovunque, in Occidente come in Oriente, ma dal significato meno definito. Cos,
anche in Italia ormai fuori moda parlare di restauro dei monumenti e si prefe-
risce ricorrere alla locuzione tutela del patrimonio culturale poich rieccheggia
lamericano preservation of the cultural heritage.
13 Una lista aggiornata degli edifici del Novecento dichiarati Patrimonio dellUmanit si trova sul sito http://
whc.unesco.org/uploads/activities/documents/activity-38-2.pdf; sui criteri impiegati per la selezione, si
veda Identification and Documentation of Modern Heritage, World Heritage Papers, 2002, 5. Nonos-
tante nel mondo la percentuale pi alta del costruito risalga al secolo scorso, sono meno del 3% i mon-
umenti dellepoca indicati nella lista (soltanto 34 siti su 962 nel 2013).
14 Larsen, K. E., Jokilehto, J., Lemaire, R., Masuda, K., Marsyein, N., Stovel, H., (ed.), Nara Conference on
Authenticity in relation to the World Heritage, atti del convegno, Nara (Giappone) 1-6 novembre 1994,
Unesco, Iccrom, Icomos, Tokio 1995.
[134]
A ci si aggiunga la tendenza ad adottare forme di pragmatismo anglosasso-

ne, evidente a partire dalla fase conoscitiva e dindagine del manufatto, la cui
importanza riconosciuta e condivisa grosso modo ovunque in questo ambito.
Spesso travisato quale mera attivit di documentazione e catalogazione, dellatto
conoscitivo si privilegiano gli aspetti scientifici e deterministici quelli legati
alla valutazione quantitativa e strumentale dei dati che darebbero maggiori
garanzie e certezze rispetto alla lettura critica del manufatto, cos che anche
lintervento diventa unoperazione scientificamente predeterminata e, quindi,
indiscutibile.
Ben allineato con tali presupposti, il Docomomo oggi indiscusso referente
delle iniziative nellambito del restauro dellarchitettura moderna ha esteso il
proprio campo dazione oltre le opere del Movimento Moderno, anche dietro
sollecitazione dellIcomos. Nellimpegno costante a stimolare il dialogo fra le isti-
tuzioni inter-governative, benefico in s perch coinvolge istanze espresse da
varie identit culturali, il rapporto di collaborazione fra enti internazionali prepo-
sti alla tutela delle architetture del secolo scorso, si tuttavia ottenuto leffetto di
rafforzare lorientamento della riflessione verso la ricerca di un minimo comune
denominatore culturale e di appiattire le motivazioni del restauro su di un piano
politicamente corretto ma culturalmente non connotato15 [figura 8].
Anche le iniziative pi recenti e di prestigio internazionale a sostegno del-
la tutela dellarchitettura del Novecento, come il programma CMAI Conserving
Modern Architecture Initiative avviato dal Getty Conservation Institute di Los
Angeles, sono strutturate con unimpostazione simile e perseguono lambizioso
fine di costituire il bacino di confluenza di un pensiero globale e perfettamente
allineato su temi di ricerca che riguardano, pressoch esclusivamente, la storia
delle opere, lo studio dei materiali e gli aspetti tecnici della loro conservazio-
ne16; il che rende evidente e a tratti anche esplicita la posizione centrale e
dominante dellapproccio culturale nord-americano.
Una sfumatura diversa, e pi interessante, assumono invece altre elaborazio-
ni scientifico-culturali dambito europeo segnatamente della Svizzera italiana e
francofona oggi fra le pi vivaci e aggiornate. Si consideri, ad esempio, il pro-
15 LIcomos ha recentemente istituito lInternational Scientific Committee on Twentieth-Century Heritage

(ISC20C) appositamente dedicato alle problematiche che pone la tutela del XX secolo, raccogliendo al
suo interno altre istituzioni, come il Docomomo, lInternational Union of Architects-UAI e il TICCIH-In-
ternational Committee for the conservation of Industrial Heritage; in proposito, http://icomos-isc20c.
org/. Il comitato ISC20C, nato nel 2008, si riunito a Sidney, Australia nel 2009, a Dublino, Irlanda nel
2010 e a Madrid, Spagna nel 2011 con atti pubblicati online.
16 http://www.getty.edu/conservation/our_projects/field_projects/cmai/. Linizitiva stata inaugurata da
un preparatorio:in proposito, si veda Macdonald, S., Ostergren, G., (ed.), Developing an Historic Themat-
ic Framework to Assess the Significance of Twentieth-Century Cultural Heritage: An Initiative of the ICO-
MOS International Scientific Committee on Twentieth-Century Heritage, May 10-11 2011, GCI - ICOMOS,
The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles 2011 online.
[135]
SIMONA SALVO
twentieth century architectual heritage

Age
modernity others
Movements
socially
historically innovative technically
Concept
aesthetically
criteria
the unique
icon ordinary type
Typology
positive negative
Cultural
Conceptual appreciation
international national local

regional
Importance
back to original
Priority of pragmatic restoration
preservation economic re-use
documentation and conservation documentation only

Methods of
preservations
immediate short-term long-term

Urgency of
Strategic intervention
public private
international national local

Financing regional
Figura 8. Modello concettuale per il restauro dellarchitettura moderna (Relazione dattiloscritta per il convegno Docomomo
del 1992). Il Modello prevede 4 categorie dintervento: ripristino dello stato originario mediante completa demolizione
e ricostruzione delledificio nel suo assetto primitivo riproponendone i dettagli costruttivi e tecnologici; ripristino dello stato
originario mediante modifiche e correzioni tecnologiche parziali; restauro pragmatico che prevede la reinterpretazione
delledificio in base alla sensibilit storica ed estetica contemporanea ottenuto mediante lintroduzione delementi costrutti-
vi nuovi e mediante la trasformazione delledificio; riuso o ristrutturazione correnti, volti a preservare il valore economico
delledificio qualora il suo valore storico non sia di primo piano.
[136]
getto relativo alla costruzione di una Enciclopedia critica per il restauro e il riuso
dell'architettura del XX secolo rivolta a raccogliere idee sul futuro del patrimonio
del Novecento17. Ben costruito oltre che molto ben finanziato questo progetto
di ricerca raccoglie il contributo libero di una comunit scientifica internazionale
e multidisciplinare e sta producendo alcuni interessanti risultati. Seppure non
si faccia mai esplicito riferimento al retaggio storico e culturale europeo da cui
traggono origine e forza le idee su cui oggi esso fa leva, per lo pi radicato nella
scuola italiana del restauro. Ad essa si accenna appena, ricorrendo in modo inap-
propriato allappellativo restauro allitaliana, diminuitivo nel quale si coglie lin-
tenzione di tenere le distanze da una tradizione da cui, invece, si attinge a piene
mani. C da pensare, allora, che fra le attivit volte a conservare leredit del No-
vecento si dovr considerare anche di tutelare la cultura italiana del restauro per
il suo carattere di originalit e per la vitalit che ancora esprime: Un patrimonio
culturale scrive Paul Philippot e non semplicemente una teoria!
Concludere per riaprire il discorso
Seppure la Modernit che connota la civilt occidentale contemporanea se-

gni, in architettura e in altri ambiti, una profonda frattura con la tradizione, essa
afferma anche una inedita consapevolezza dellimportanza di conservarne le te-
stimonianze materiali. Questi vanno considerati due fondamenti culturali del No-
vecento che nascono complementari, quali facce di una stessa medaglia, e solo
apparentemente rivolti in direzioni opposte. Se vero che lattitudine a produrre
cultura attraverso il riconoscimento del valore delle testimonianze del passato
prerogativa della societ occidentale tardo borghese, lingresso del patrimonio
del Novecento nellalveo della tutela ha segnato il declino di un operare critico
ed effettivamente conservativo. Restauro e conservazione sono, di conseguenza,
palesemente entrati in collisione con un mondo per lo pi regolato da mecca-
nismi di tipo pragmatico e opportunistico che rifugge dallaffrontare limpegno
dellinterpretazione critica, con le difficolt che oppone un patrimonio complesso,
faticoso da decifrarsi in tutte le sue innumerevoli codificazioni, oltre che dimen-
sionalmente e numericamente esteso.
Il restauro dellarchitettura contemporanea resta, dunque, una questione aperta
e tutta da esplorare, in modo nuovo e diverso rispetto al passato, magari ripercor-
17 Il progetto, coordinato da Bruno Reichlin (Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, USI), Franz Graf
(EPFL - Politecnico di Losanna) e Vittorio Magnano Lampugnani (ETHZ - Politecnico di Zurigo) e finan-
ziato dalla Conferenza Universitaria Svizzera (CUS) con la collaborazione del SUPSI di Lugano e della
Fondazione Archivio del Moderno di Mendrisio, stato avviato nel 2008; a oggi sono stati organiz-
zati otto incontri internazionali attinenti alle problematiche che pone lintervento sullarchitettura del
Novecento e vari convegni tematici su temi e opere di particolare rilievo, con pubblicazione degli atti;
sulliniziativa si veda Reichlin, B., Pedretti, B., (ed.), Riuso del patrimonio architettonico, cit.
[137]
SIMONA SALVO
Figura 9. Conservative versus Creative Restoration, L. Krier, 1989. In contrasto con la Carta di Venezia scrive Krier
possiamo affermare che il valore dei monumenti antichi non risiede nellantichit dei loro materiali, ma al contrario nella
perennit dei loro principi. Una ricostruzione pedissequa, fatta con i materiali, le forme e le tecniche che sono serviti a
costruire loriginale, ha pi valore di un originale in rovina poich, come dice J. Fest, loriginalit di un edificio non risiede
nella sua materialit ma nel suo progetto originale; esso dunque eminentemente riparabile e ricostruibile senza perdere il
suo carattere unico (Architettura. Scelta o Fatalit, Bari 1995, p. 50).
rendo con metodo la traccia segnata dal pensiero critico e ripartendo dalla realt
costruita dellarchitettura. Essa va, dunque, posta in termini diversi rispetto al pas-
sato, riprendendo questioni essenzialmente di natura storico-critica, rivalutando le
origini settecentesche del restauro e, certamente, affrontando le innegabili proble-
matiche tecniche e operative che pongono i manufatti moderni, ancora per molti
versi sconosciuti. Di conseguenza, anche la storiografia architettonica andrebbe
in molti casi rivisitata per mettere in luce gli aspetti inediti, le incongruenze e le
incertezze che comunque esistono nonostante si tratti di fatti tanto recenti.
Esiste poi un capitolo tutto da riscrivere relativo alla verifica delleffettiva vul-
nerabilit e fragilit dei manufatti moderni che, si dice, sia dovuta ai materiali e
alle soluzioni costruttive con cui stata realizzata: lesperienza insegna, infatti,
che a fronte di alcuni edifici effettivamente sperimentali, costruiti per durare una
sola stagione, ne esistono altri che mostrano una resistenza al tempo e al degrado
paragonabile a quella dellarchitettura tradizionale. A seguire, andrebbe anche va-
lutata leffettiva responsabilit da attribuirsi allesposizione alluso e alla mancanza
sistematica di manutenzione nei processi di degrado che affliggono il patrimonio
architettonico del secolo scorso [figura 9]. Si tratterebbe, in sintesi, di riconsi-
[138]
Figura 10. Advertisements for Architecture, B. Tschumi, 1966. Laspetto pi architettonico di questoggetto risiede nello
stato di degrado in cui esso si trova. Tschumi afferma che la realt fisica e la vera storia delle architetture del Novecento
sono pi significative dellimmagine astratta che se n tramandata nel tempo ed avverte che le aspettative della societ
circa le architetture del passato esercitano unincidenza determinante sulla loro conservazione e trasmissione al futuro, in
tal modo riconoscendo linfluenza che il valore iconico di architetture come la villa Savoye esercita sulla trasmissione del
suo valore.
derare i termini di quellatto di riconoscimento del valore fino ad oggi fondato

sullarchitettura antica andando a sviscerare questioni come la tenuta della polarit
storico-estetica nella definizione del giudizio critico di unopera contemporanea;
la definizione della soglia temporale fra storia e cronaca che segna lingresso dei
manufatti pi recenti nellalveo della tutela; la reinterpretazione dei principi che
hanno regolato lapprezzamento dellantico fin dai tempi dellIlluminismo come,
ad esempio, la poetica del frammento, il concetto di rudere e la nozione di
patina storica; lindividuazione del limite entro cui degrado e invecchiamento
sono figurativamente sopportabili in un contesto formale qual quello dellar-
chitettura moderna; la considerazione del ruolo formativo che la funzione occupa
nellarchitettura moderna.
Passando a questioni operative, si tratterebbe anche di stabilire come conte-
nere il ruolo che gli autori occupano nel restauro delle loro opere; come regolare
il rapporto antico/nuovo in un contesto figurativo in cui la preesistenza , essa
stessa, nuova; come intendere la conservazione di materiali la cui vita gi
segnata a priori, ad esempio nelle materie plastiche; come intervenire o prevenire
gli effetti dellinvecchiamento e del degrado di quei materiali che sono estetica-
[139]
SIMONA SALVO
mente riluttanti a sopportare la risarcitura delle lacune, ad esempio nel caso del
calcestruzzo faccia a vista [figure 10].
Tali (e altre se ne potrebbero aggiungere) le questioni da cui ripartire per
proseguire nel solco del restauro tradizionalmente inteso, evitando di ripercor-
rere ampi tratti della riflessione e di ritornare (inutilmente) su quanto stato gi
analizzato, discusso, affinato in passato, ed oggi rintracciabile nella ricchissima
letteratura europea in materia di conservazione della memoria.
Resta, poi, ai Paesi uniti da una comune origine culturale latina e mediterranea
continuare ad elaborare idee, concetti e principi, pur nella consapevolezza di la-
vorare ai margini di un mondo sempre pi globalizzato.
[140]
LA CONSERVACIN DEL ARTE CONTEMPORNEO:
UN DESAFO PARA LA TEORA DE LA RESTAURACIN CRTICA?
CARLOTA SANTABRBARA MORERA*
Resumen: La Teora de la restauracin (1963) del terico y restaurador italiano Ce-

sare Brandi planteaba unas directrices metodolgicas y de principios de actuacin
que han sido claves para la praxis de la restauracin a nivel internacional desde la
Carta del Restauro de 1964. Salvando ciertas divergencias al respecto con el mun-
do anglosajn, estas directrices an siguen vigentes para el arte que entendemos
como tradicional, no siendo tan evidente su aplicacin en la restauracin del
arte contemporneo, lo que ha dado lugar a debates tericos en relacin a restau-
raciones de obras contemporneas, que se han venido realizando por diferentes
museos e instituciones a nivel internacional. Estas restauraciones han planteado
una situacin sobre la que no parece haber un fcil consenso, y en la que se apre-
cia un evidente confrontamiento entre la teora italiana y la alemana.
Palabras clave: Restauracin. Arte Contemporneo. Althfer. Schinzel. Brandi.
En primera instancia asombra que el arte contemporneo tenga que ser res-
taurado ya que su proximidad histrica debera eximirlo de ello, sin embargo
nos encontramos ante un tipo de obras que en los ltimos aos se han visto
altamente daadas y degradadas, sobre todo debido a la experimentacin en los
procedimientos artsticos, la utilizacin de materiales industriales de los cuales se
desconoca su envejecimiento y sobre todo a causa de la despreocupacin de los
artistas por el devenir material de la obra.
Los artistas actuales otorgan mayor importancia a otros valores artsticos, no
tanto a aspectos materiales, sino a conceptos abstractos como el contenido, el
mensaje, el proceso creativo experimental o a la forma en s misma, el diseo.
A todo ello hay que sumar el hecho de que hay obras contemporneas que
desafan las reglas clsicas de arte. S el artista incluye el deterioro como parte
* Licenciada en Historia del Arte y Restauradora. carlotasantabarbara@gmail.com
[141]
CARLOTA SANTABRBARA MORERA
integrante de la obra, tenemos derecho a contradecir su intencin? Por ejemplo,

los artistas que trabajan con la comida como medio de expresin y consideran su
autodegradacin como parte intrnseca de la vida de la obra. Este es el caso de
Dieter Rhot1, artista alemn que utilizaba el chocolate como material expresivo,
Joseph Beuys2 que utilizaba grasa de cerdo en sus obras, o Wim Delvoye que
realizaba obras de arte con pollos tatuados3.
Los criterios de restauracin actuales, consolidados desde hace ya dcadas a
travs de congresos, cartas y publicaciones, sostienen como principio absoluto
el respeto a la materia y a la huella del tiempo en la misma, un principio que se
acepta en la restauracin de arte antiguo, pero que sin embargo significativamente
no se puede aplicar en la restauracin de arte contemporneo. Esto es debido a la
prdida de valor que el artista otorga a la materia y a la importancia que adquiere
el mensaje, la intencin o la idea, y es ah en donde radica una cuestin bsica:
dnde reside la autenticidad del arte contemporneo? y en consecuencia, qu es
necesario conservar: la materia, la intencin del artista, bien sea esttica o concep-
tual, o tal vez solamente el proyecto?
La teora de la restauracin de Cesare Brandi
Frente a la actitud de los artistas contemporneos, la teora de la restauracin

actual se basa en gran medida en las ideas del italiano Cesare Brandi (1906 Siena,
1988 Vignano). Historiador del arte y restaurador, destaca por su Teora del Res-
tauro (1963), en la que sintetiz los conceptos bsicos de su pensamiento. Para
Brandi, la restauracin se define como: El momento metodolgico del reconoci-
miento de la obra de arte en su consistencia fsica y en su doble polaridad esttica
e histrica en orden a su transmisin al futuro4.
De esta definicin se desprende que se restaura slo la materia de la obra de
arte y que sta es prioritaria en los procesos de restauracin, porque es la que
ana la instancia histrica y la esttica. Asimismo, Brandi sostiene que el hecho
de que la materia pueda ser la misma no es suficiente para autorizarnos a com-
pletar un monumento inacabado o mutilado, porque la historicidad que adquirira
la materia por esta nueva utilizacin no debe ser retrotrada en el tiempo o se
cometera un falso histrico adems de esttico5. En estas ideas se basa la teora
actual de la restauracin, cuando afirma que las reintegraciones se han de reali-
1 Schokoladenmeer. Mar de chocolate. Diether Roth (1970) . Coleccin Macba. Barcelona.

2 Como por ejemplo su obra: Fettecke in Kartonschachtel, Esquina de grasa en caja de cartn. De Joseph
Beuys (1963). Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
3 Chickens. Wim Delvoye (1996).
4 Brandi, C., La restauratione, en Enciclopedia Universale dellArte, XI, Venecia-Roma, 1963, pp. 322-332.
5 Brandi, C., La restauratione, en op. cit., pp. 322-332..
[142]
LA CONSERVACIN DEL ARTE CONTEMPORNEO: UN DESAFO...?
zar con materiales diferentes a los originales de la obra de arte porque si no esta
materia nueva parecera antigua y por lo tanto se desvirtuara el valor histrico de
la obra de arte.
De esta manera, lo que consigue Cesare Brandi es aunar las dos instancias
que se haban defendido a lo largo de la historia, puesto que siempre se haban
enfrentado teoras que valoraban la obra de arte como documento histrico (Luca
Beltrami) y otras que la consideraban como un elemento meramente esttico
(Viollet-le-duc). Brandi caracteriza cada obra como algo nico y especfico, deno-
minndolo Unicum.
En base a la definicin que hace de restauracin, establece dos principios que
sern los pilares de toda la teora de la restauracin hasta nuestros das: en primer
lugar, se restaura slo la materia de la obra de arte; y en segundo, la restauracin
debe dirigirse al restablecimiento de la unidad potencial de la obra de arte, siem-
pre que esto sea posible sin realizar un falso artstico o un falso histrico, y sin
eliminar cualquier traza del paso de la obra de arte a travs del tiempo6.
De estos dos principios, Brandi extrae los tres criterios que se han venido utili-
zando de manera sistemtica en el mbito de la conservacin cientfica:
1) El mximo respeto por el original, la materia es insustituible porque consti-
tuye el valor esttico e histrico de la obra.
2) El reconocimiento de la intervencin sin cometer un falso histrico, es decir,
las reintegraciones han de ser siempre discernibles y fcilmente identificables. Tal
y como dice Brandi: la reintegracin deber permanecer invisible a la distancia
a la que la obra de arte debe ser observada, pero inmediatamente reconocible,
y sin necesidad de apoyo, en cuanto se realice una observacin cercana7. Para
reforzar su teora se basar en el concepto de laguna como interrupcin del tejido
figurativo, vaco que hay que neutralizar con la reintegracin de abstraccin cro-
mtica (trattegio), de tal modo que desaparece y se neutraliza a la vista.
3) Y, por ltimo, la repetibilidad de la intervencin, traducido errneamente
como reversibilidad en muchos casos, lo que quiere decir permitir a los restau-
radores del futuro que puedan volver a intervenir sin estar excesivamente condi-
cionados por intervenciones anteriores (lo que ha derivado en una direccin post
brandiana hacia la mnima intervencin)8, porque la intervencin nunca ha de
ser definitiva. En palabras de Brandi: toda intervencin de restauracin no debe
hacer imposible, sino facilitar, las eventuales intervenciones futuras9.
6 Brandi, C., La restauratione, en op. cit., pp. 322-332.

8 Bonsanti, G., Proposals for a Theory of the Restoration of Contemporary Art, en Mundici & Rava (ed.),
Whats Changing, SKIRA editore. 2013, Milano, p.125.
[143]
En cuanto a la temporalidad de la obra de arte, Brandi distingue tres tiempos:

el primero consiste en la creacin de la obra, el segundo transcurre hasta que
la obra adquiere la consideracin de obra de arte, el tercero se produce en el
momento de la recepcin de la misma por nuestra conciencia: La restauracin,
para ser una operacin legtima, no deber suponer que el tiempo sea reversible
ni abolir la historia. () Esta exigencia histrica deber traducirse no slo en la
diferenciacin de las zonas reintegradas, sino en el respeto de la ptina y en la
conservacin de testigos del estado previo a la restauracin10.
Mencionados los principios bsicos de la restauracin segn Brandi, ya slo
nos queda aludir a la naturaleza de la obra de arte en la que, segn el mismo
Brandi, la materialidad tiene gran relevancia: La consistencia fsica de la obra de
arte debe tener necesariamente prioridad porque representa el lugar mismo de la
manifestacin de la imagen, asegura la transmisin de la imagen al futuro, garan-
tiza en definitiva su percepcin en la conciencia humana11.
El conflicto entre la teora de Cesare Brandi y la prctica de la restauracin del arte

contemporneo
Esta atencin a la materia de la obra de arte es sin lugar a dudas, una de las
mayores diferencias entre la prctica de la restauracin del arte contemporneo
y los principios de restauracin preconizados por Brandi. En primer lugar, en el
arte contemporneo se suple la mano ejecutante del artista, por la generacin de
la idea como tal, la obra pierde en ocasiones todo su valor como objeto material
a favor del concepto. De hecho en ciertos casos las obras son encargadas sin nin-
guna manipulacin fsica por parte del artista. Tal es el caso de las esculturas de
hierro de Richard Serra, quien las disea y dibuja y despus las manda realizar a
un astillero, de un modo industrializado, revisando los trabajos pero sin participar
activamente en la fabricacin.
El arte contemporneo se expresa a travs de un nuevo lenguaje, que refleja
aspectos que son de nuestro tiempo y en base a lo efmero, lo provisional y lo
mutable12.
La percepcin que tenemos del arte antiguo y la distancia temporal facilita la
tolerancia hacia un aspecto esttico degradado y fragmentario, dado que es con-
secuencia de un tiempo innegable que ha dejado su huella en las obras de arte.
Pero en el arte contemporneo no existe esa perspectiva de lejana temporal, por

11 Brandi, C., Teoria del restauro, Roma, Edizioni di storia e Letteratura, 1963.
12 Rava. A., From and Memory; the conservation of Contemporary Art, en Mundici & Rava (ed.), Whats
Changing, Milano, SKIRA editore, 2013, p.125.
[144]
lo que cualquier alteracin es susceptible de ser maquillada para negar el tiem-

po y aferrarse a la imagen de contemporaneidad que reside precisamente en su
aspecto de obra recin terminada. De hecho, se han realizado restauraciones de
obras contemporneas en las que ha primado la instancia esttica sobre la histri-
ca, contradiciendo las teoras brandianas y planteando una nueva metodologa de
actuacin donde ha prevalecido la apariencia perfecta, sin ningn rastro del paso
del tiempo por encima de la obra, como reflejo de una historia material. Tal es el
caso de la pintura Who is afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue III, de Barnett Newman.
(1967-1968). En 1989 fue agredida por un vndalo, que cort de lado a lado el
lienzo de un modo dramtico. Para su restauracin y dado que Newman haba
fallecido, se consult a la viuda del artista y se encarg finalmente su restauracin
al restaurador estadounidense Daniel Goldreyer. Una vez restaurada la obra en
1991, su inmaculado estado levant sospechas y, tal y como se intuy, result
haber sido repintada por completo con pinturas alqudicas a rodillo, alterando de
forma irreversible la composicin material de la obra y su apariencia13.
Pero si en la pintura monocroma la realizacin de repintados y renovaciones
estticas es preocupante, lo es ms todava en la escultura realizada de un modo
industrial, la cual es ejecutada por manos ajenas al artista, siguiendo su diseo
o proyecto, por lo que su renovacin material no es cuestionada, ya que lo que
adquiere suma importancia es su apariencia. En este sentido es destacable el caso
de la escultura Mirador mirando de Jorge Oteiza (1958) [figura 1], situada en la
plaza de acceso al Artium de Vitoria, que fue rehecha en acero corten en 2003,
utilizndose un tipo de acero diferente al usado en origen.
Este cambio de material se fundamentaba en su mal estado de conservacin
y debido a que el acero corten no se pudo utilizar en el ao 1958, por no estar
permitida la patente en Espaa. De este modo, alegando motivos conservativos,
estticos y apoyndose en la intencionalidad del artista y su deseo primigenio de
utilizar acero corten, se realiz esta renovacin material tan drstica, que tal vez
no corresponde tanto con una restauracin como tal, sino con la reconstruccin
de una pieza basndose en un proyecto ideal.
En esta misma lnea de actuacin se encuentra la obra Carmen, de Alexander
Calder (1974) [figura 2], que se encuentra en el Patio Sabatini del Museo Nacional
Centro de Arte Reina Sofa14. El deterioro evidente de la pintura de recubrimiento
llev a plantear la necesidad de su restauracin, para lo que se consult a la Fun-
dacin Calder, quien orient en el proceso de restauracin, siendo intervenida de
un modo drstico, si lo comparamos con los procedimientos de restauracin tra-
13 Roetaeche, M., Conservacin y restauracin de materiales contemporneos y nuevas tecnologas, Madrid,

Editorial Sntesis, 2001, pp. 150-151.
14 Santabrbara, C., Conservacin de Arte Contemporneo. Historia y crtica. Diploma de estudios avanza-
dos. Departamento de historia del arte. Universidad de Zaragoza. Indito. Zaragoza. 2009.
[145]
Figura 1. Mirador mirando de Jorge Oteiza (1958). Fotografa de la autora.
Figura 2. Carmen, de Alexander Calder (1974). Fotografa de la autora.
dicionales. Se realizaron catas, eliminando posteriormente las diferentes capas de

pintura originales, y las que se haban sucedido en el tiempo, incluso las pruebas
de artista. Se puli por completo la superficie para dejar un aspecto liso e impo-
luto para, posteriormente, aplicar el nuevo recubrimiento de pintura de un modo
industrial15. Este proceso de repintado se realiz tal y como estipul la Fundacin
15 Snchez, J. A., Carmen, Alexander Calder, en Conservacin de Arte Contemporneo 10 Jornadas.

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofa. GE-IIC. Madrid. 2009.
[146]
Figura 3. Gismo, de Jean Tinguely (1960) VVAA. Modern art, Who Cares. The Foundation for the conservation of modern
art and the Netherlands institute for Cultural Heritage, Amsterdam. 1999, p. 22.
Calder, con pintura de la compaa Keeler & Long, la cual tena la misma frmula
que la usada por el artista y as, de este modo, no aadir ningn material diferente
al original16.
Esta restauracin plantea una cuestin importante: si la ptina defendida como
un valor indudable en el patrimonio artstico tradicional pierde su valor por com-
pleto en el arte contemporneo, dada la escasa distancia temporal que nos sepa-
ra, la duda surge al preguntarnos hasta cundo renovaremos nuestro patrimonio
artstico contemporneo, durante aos, dcadas o siglos; en el fondo lo que se
plantea es el debate en torno a la historicidad del arte actual, cundo una obra de
arte es histrica y no contempornea, y en qu momento se ha de respetar como
portadora de un valor histrico y no slo esttico.
Existe otro tipo de obras de arte contemporneas, las cinticas, cuya razn de
ser radica en el movimiento y por lo tanto su recuperacin es primordial a ex-
pensas de la sustitucin material de elementos que la constituyan. Tal es el caso
de Gismo, de Jean Tinguely (1960), perteneciente a la coleccin del Stedelijk Mu-
seum de Amsterdam, restaurada en la dcada de los noventa17 [figura 3].
Esta obra haba perdido su razn de ser como muestra de arte cintico, dado
que los elementos que conformaban el mecanismo que produca el movimiento
estaban en su mayora deteriorados. Por ello hubo que sustituir algunas piezas,
sobre todo las correas de goma, totalmente rotas y deterioradas, as como otros
elementos constituyentes de la estructura. Esta intervencin supuso la sustitucin
16 Roetaeche, M., Conservacin y restauracin de materiales contemporneos y nuevas tecnologas, Madrid,

Editorial Sintesis, 2001, p. 266.
17 Beerkens, H., Reconstruction of a moving life, en VV.AA., Modern art, who cares?, Amsterdam, Foun-
dation for the conservation of modern art and the Netherlands institute for Cultural Heritage, 1998,
pp. 23-41.
[147]
del material deteriorado original por otro tipo de elementos nuevos que sirvieran
para que la pieza se moviera y produjera el sonido para el que se haba conce-
bido. En este caso la esencia de la obra resida en el movimiento, no tanto en
la materia y su valor histrico, por lo que recuperar el sistema que permita esta
accin cintica era lo ms importante.
Otro de los problemas fundamentales en la conservacin del arte contempor-
neo es el prematuro deterioro de los materiales de origen plstico. Por ejemplo,
Construccin Lineal N.2, de Naum Gabo (1949) [figura 4], conservada en el Ste-
delijk Museum de Amsterdam, est constituida por hilos de nylon que al envejecer
amarillean y se quiebran, vindose los restauradores forzados a sustituirlos por
nuevos, dado que se trata de un material de fabricacin industrial. Pero en este
caso, como en otros de casustica similar, tendramos que plantearnos si la reno-
vacin material por completo de la obra afectar a su autenticidad y si percibire-
mos finalmente una obra de Naum Gabo de finales de los aos cuarenta o por el
contrario, una rplica actual. Tal vez su autenticidad ya no radique en el material
constitutivo, sino en el diseo de la misma.
Es aqu donde deben mencionarse teoras alternativas y nuevas aportaciones
a la historia de la restauracin, realizadas especficamente en el mbito de la res-
tauracin del arte contemporneo. Entre ellas la Teora del proyecto de Francesco
Lo Savio, una teora artstica que es contempornea a la de Brandi, quien pone
el protagonismo del arte en la idea y no tanto en la creacin material. Lo Savio
plantea que: El artista asumi el proyecto en s como el momento ms significa-
tivo del proceso artstico, acto original y decisivo de la creacin por eso encarga
la realizacin a terceros. Para l la ejecucin no cuenta, puesto que la obra ya est
completa como proyecto, antes de la formular la idea, con todos los nmeros y
medidas necesarios para su posible realizacin18.
En el arte contemporneo prima la idea sobre la materialidad de la obra de
arte, condicionando decisivamente la restauracin del arte contemporneo, ha-
ciendo entrar en crisis los criterios cientficos de restauracin admitidos en el
panorama internacional. Por lo tanto en la restauracin de arte contemporneo
se admite que la materia sea sustituida, mientras que en el arte antiguo hay un
sacrosanto respeto a la misma. Esta obsesin por la materia es un concepto here-
dado de la Ilustracin y del Romanticismo, movimientos que sentaron la base del
coleccionismo y del anticuariado contemporneos.
Al respecto cabra sealar tambin las reflexiones del terico y restaurador
Antonio Rava el cual seala que en muchos casos el objeto ya no es creado por
el artista con sus propias manos, a diferencia del caso de la pintura tradicional y
la escultura trabajada directamente con las manos del artista, por lo que la conser-
18 VV.AA., Conservar el arte contemporneo, San Sebastin, Nerea, 1992, p. 85.
[148]
Figura 4. Construccin Lineal N.2, de Naum Gabo (1949). Herman Aben, Kees Conservation of Modern Sculpture at
the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. From Marble to Chocolate. The Conservation of Modern Sculpture. Archetype Publi-
cations, London, 1995, p106.
vacin de estas obras exige nuevas prcticas que se encuentran en el centro del
debate todava hoy, en relacin a la transmisin al futuro del mensaje artstico. Y
si para mantener el mensaje primigenio es necesaria la sustitucin de elementos,
se tratar de un acto legtimo siempre que se documente con una nueva datacin
de la obra con motivo de dicho cambio19.
Por otro lado, si nos fijamos en la teora tradicional en relacin a la ptina,
Cesare Brandi defiende que su conservacin como testimonio del tiempo trans-
currido no es slo aconsejable, sino taxativamente obligada. Por el contrario,
sin embargo, en el mbito del arte contemporneo existen numerosos casos de
restauraciones, sobre todo las que se refieren a esculturas de gran formato, que
son pulidas, repintadas y cromadas de nuevo, incluso haciendo desaparecer las
capas de pintura originales. De este modo, en claro enfrentamiento con las tesis
de Brandi, en estos casos no slo no se respeta la instancia esttica de la materia
original, puesto que se sustituye por completo, sino que adems se pierde en gran
medida la instancia histrica cuando se eliminan los vestigios de las diferentes
policromas que puede haber experimentado una obra, con lo que se pierde evi-
dentemente la ptina que tanto defiende en sus escritos Brandi.
19 Rava. A., From and Memory, en op. cit., p. 150.
[149]
Estas actuaciones, habituales por otro lado en muchos museos y centros de

arte contemporneos, son contrarias a la teora de Brandi, puesto que este defen-
da el mximo respeto por el original. Sin embargo en el arte contemporneo la
unidad potencial de la obra de arte a veces est desligada de la propia materia,
es decir, la obra slo es un medio para transmitir la unidad potencial, nunca una
finalidad. Por ello en la restauracin del arte contemporneo es tan importante
la investigacin y conocimiento profundo de la obra de arte y de su mensaje,
ya que nos permitir discernir la importancia otorgada por el artista al aspecto
matrico o la ausencia de valor de este, a favor de la idea o concepto que quiere
manifestar.
En relacin al reconocimiento de la intervencin sin cometer el falso histrico
que preconiza Brandi, este adapt los sistemas de reintegracin a su intencin,
creando reintegraciones en forma de rayado, tramado simple, tramado modulado
y punteado, y en cuanto al color, se utilizaron tambin diversos sistemas tales
como la tinta neutra, seleccin del color, abstraccin cromtica, etc. Sin embargo,
en arte contemporneo estos sistemas de reintegracin de partes faltantes, lejos
de ayudar a mantener la unidad potencial de la obra, cobran un denotado prota-
gonismo y en la mayora de los casos, desvirtan la propia concepcin de la obra.
El reconocimiento de la intervencin frecuentemente dificulta o altera la unidad
potencial de la obra, en cuyos casos incluso un repinte ha sido considerado ms
adecuado que una reintegracin discernible.
Para este problema no ha existido una solucin sistematizada. Cada obra en
concreto necesita una intervencin distinta que se adapte a su contenido. En el
mbito del arte contemporneo parece difcil admitir un cuadro monocromo de
Mondrian con un tratteggio o puntillismo cuya reintegracin fuera claramente
discernible porque supondra una mancha figurativa en la visin esttica de la
obra, pero por otro lado parece difcilmente admisible desde el punto de vista
de la teora de la restauracin, aceptar la reintegracin mimtica de una obra de
vanguardia como esta si nos aferramos a los conceptos tradicionales de conserva-
cin, tales como el respeto a la materia original, la visibilidad de la intervencin
y su repetibilidad.
En relacin a este aspecto, Giorgio Bonsanti20 afirma que desde la teora italia-
na actual se plantea la imposibilidad de considerar la restauracin de una laguna
por medio de la reintegracin de seleccin cromtica de obras tales como las de
Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning o similares. Y es que aunque se trata de
obras de arte que se pueden definir como pinturas realizadas sobre un soporte
ms o menos tradicional (siendo tal vez una lona sinttica, pero al fin y al cabo,
un lienzo), aun as el retoque pictrico de una laguna realizado con la finalidad
20 Bonsanti, G., Proposals for a Theory, en op. cit., p.126.
[150]
de ser reconocido visualmente resultara totalmente incompatible con una imagen

ejecutada con la tcnica del dripping o con un gesto abstracto.
En cuanto a la reversibilidad del tratamiento, si es un punto ya cuestionable
en arte antiguo donde se conocen a fondo los materiales empleados y en muchos
casos es inevitable que la prctica contradiga a la teora y se realicen procesos
irreversibles, en el arte contemporneo cuyos materiales como ya hemos sea-
lado pueden ser totalmente inusuales, dicho principio es puesto totalmente en
entredicho. Si a esto aadimos que en muchas ocasiones la naturaleza material
de la obra queda supeditada al concepto, este criterio carecera de fundamento,
ya que podemos encontrarnos que el proceso de descomposicin de algunos
materiales (y por tanto de la obra en s), forma parte de la propia concepcin de
la misma, con lo cual surge una contradiccin inherente a la obra: para mantener
la unidad potencial de la obra de arte a nivel conceptual, hay que dejar que se
autodestruya, es decir, para conservarla hay que dejar que desaparezca.
Por tanto, tal y como hemos visto, la teora de la restauracin del terico
italiano Cesare Brandi se ve contradicha en gran medida por la prctica de la
restauracin, y es esta observacin emprica la que ya recogi de manera pionera
el restaurador e historiador del arte alemn Heinz Althfer en 1985, en su libro
Restauracin de pintura contempornea. Tendencias, materiales, tcnicas21. En
el mismo, Althfer pona de manifiesto un profundo cambio respecto a la restau-
racin del arte contemporneo, que evidenciaba una ruptura con el pensamiento
brandiano. El restaurador alemn se acercaba a la obra de arte desde un enfoque
mucho ms cercano en el tiempo, por lo que su actitud ante ella no era tanto
considerarla como documento histrico respetable en su materialidad, sino como
una manifestacin de intenciones que era necesario reinterpretar para poder ac-
tualizar el mensaje y que la obra no perdiera el significado que el artista quera
contar, puesto que para Althfer el valor de la obra de arte radicaba precisamente
ah. Althfer calificaba la teora y la prctica existente como un obstculo en la
praxis de las nuevas tendencias artsticas, manifestndose contrario al concepto
brandiano de unidad potencial, defendiendo por contra un punto de vista ms
acorde con la modernidad, a la vez que otorgaba a la multiplicidad valor de
concepto artstico, as como al concepto de degradacin fsica como intencin
artstica.
En palabras del mismo Althfer: No se trata aqu de simples consideraciones
tericas, anlogas por ejemplo a la cuestin del retoque neutro o del tratteggio,
sino de condiciones previas de importancia central, pues si no se toman en consi-
deracin, la obra de arte ser aniquilada no slo en su existencia fsica sino tam-
bin en su existencia espiritual. Esto es lo que sucede por ejemplo cuando obras
21 Althfer, H., Restauracin de pintura contempornea. Tendencias, materiales, tcnicas, Madrid, Ed.
Istmo, 2003.
[151]
de eat-art, como los enanos de chocolate de Dieter Roth o El ngel de los senos
azules de Richard Lidner son baadas en plexigls22.
El terico alemn consideraba necesaria una profundizacin en el problema de
la teora de la restauracin del arte actual para actualizar los criterios de la praxis
restauradora, y entenda que no hacerlo era peor que carecer de conocimientos
tcnicos; por ello demandaba la necesidad de una reflexin filosfica para poder
aplicar la ciencia y la tcnica de un modo correcto, es decir, encontraba totalmen-
te necesario revisar la teora, para poder llevar a cabo intervenciones reguladas y
respaldadas por una reflexin slida sobre el arte actual.
Para Althfer, el arte contemporneo puede ser agrupado en tres mbitos des-
de el punto de vista de la restauracin: en primer lugar, las obras que pueden ser
consideradas y tratadas de la misma manera que las piezas artsticas tradicionales;
en segundo lugar, las que tcnicamente generan nuevos problemas que hacen ne-
cesario probar e implantar nuevos materiales y tcnicas y, en tercer lugar, aquellas
que exigen un anlisis ideolgico preliminar al problema de la restauracin.
Los casos que pueden ocasionar divergencias respecto a la teora tradicional de
la restauracin son el segundo y el tercer grupo. En relacin a la segunda catego-
ra, Althfer considera que deberan adquirirse conocimientos ms profundos en
cuanto a nuevos materiales y tcnicas pertenecientes a las industrias actuales. Pero
en el tercer grupo sera necesario incorporar una reflexin terica que incorpore
la nueva situacin del arte moderno y que, por otro lado, tenga en cuenta las
distintas aportaciones de la historia del pensamiento pasado y actual23. Althfer
defenda que la obra de arte determinaba los mtodos de conservacin, y esto
tambin era vlido para la restauracin de aquel arte que rehusaba la conserva-
cin24. Siguiendo este planteamiento, realizaba una serie de preguntas retricas
sumamente importantes a las que, sin embargo, no dio respuesta, pero que ex-
puso como cuestiones sin resolver en la teora actual: El arte est hecho para no
morir nunca O quiz s?, Es ambigua la manifestacin del arte? Es su conserva-
cin un error en el fondo? Es imprescindible la restauracin?25. Althfer llegaba,
incluso, a poner en tela de juicio si era necesario conservar el arte y en tal caso,
cmo deberamos hacerlo. Lo que parece intolerable es el absoluto sacrilegio
que supona la intervencin restauradora que momificaba irreversiblemente el
arte como un hallazgo arqueolgico26. En este sentido preconizaba una teora
22 Althfer, H., Teora de la restauracin del arte contemporneo, en VV.AA., Comunicaciones de la 3

reunin de trabajo, Grupo Espaol de trabajo sobre conservacin y restauracin de arte contempor-
neo, Vitoria, Diputacin Foral de lava, Departamento de Cultura, 1991, p.100.
23 Althfer, H., Teora de la restauracin, en op. cit., p. 11.
24 Ibidem.
25 Ibidem.
[152]
de la restauracin que no estuviera dictada por los avances cientficos y tcnicos,

sino que fuese guiada por el conocimiento de la obra y su intencin: la correcta
interpretacin de la obra es requisito indispensable para su correcta restauracin.
Es, adems, la principal fuente de informacin sobre el tipo del objeto y sobre
la intencin artstica27. Este planteamiento resulta muy interesante porque pone
de manifiesto cmo el restaurador alemn introduca en el mbito de la restaura-
cin, ideas propias de la esttica contempornea y del arte conceptual coetneo
(Beuys, Tingueli, Manzoni, etc.), como es la aceptacin de la degradacin de la
obra (e incluso la desaparicin total de la misma).
En este contexto, Hiltrud Schinzel, la restauradora alemana discpula de Alth-
fer, ha aportado a la teora de la restauracin una visin nueva: la del espectador.
Para Schinzel la problemtica de la restauracin del arte contemporneo radica
precisamente en este aspecto: para quin restauramos y qu queremos restaurar,
por lo que habr que valorar muy bien si realmente queremos mantener el mate-
rial como soporte de una idea que formar parte de la historia del arte como algo
histrico, o si por el contrario queremos conservar este concepto hipotecando
el soporte del mismo y actualizndolo constantemente para que no se pierda la
esencia de la obra, el mensaje que quiere transmitir el autor. En cuanto al signifi-
cado del material y del contenido de la obra de arte, Schinzel destaca cmo la bi-
polaridad de Brandi (esttica e histrica), est siendo superada por la bipolaridad
material y de contenido espiritual en el arte contemporneo28.
Schinzel, en sus teoras, plantea tres mbitos de reflexin: en primer lugar, la
intencionalidad del arte contemporneo y sus contradicciones, en segundo lugar
el problema del original y la multiplicidad, y en tercer lugar, la reversibilidad
como justificacin de actuacin en la restauracin. En cuanto al primero, Schin-
zel expone cmo el arte contemporneo est ntimamente ligado al material que
constituye la obra, y por otro lado cmo la materialidad est cargada de conteni-
dos simblicos conceptuales, por lo que en la restauracin actual toda interven-
cin en el material supondr una alteracin de la idea inherente al mismo.
Es decir, Schinzel plantea la existencia de una doble tendencia, por un lado el
arte entendido tradicionalmente como materia que es utilizada para la represen-
tacin, esta materia es venerada como fetiche y elevada a un valor supremo en
cuanto a conceptos de materia original y de ejecucin tcnica del autor-artista, y
por otro una serie de objetos cotidianos sin valor aparentemente artstico elevados
a rango de obra de arte por el mero hecho de ser designados como tal. En este tipo
de obras podramos enmarcar la Fuente-Urinario (1917) de Duchamp, las Cajas de
27 Althfer, H., Teora de la restauracin, op cit., p. 13.

28 Van Damme, C., Schinzel, H., Ethics and the theory of conservation of contemporary art, en Modern art,
Who cares?, Amsterdam, Foundation for the conservation of modern art and the Netherlands institute for
Cultural Heritage, 1998, pp. 308-321.
[153]
Figura 5. Aliento del artista (1947) de Pietro Manzoni. Chiantore,O; Rava,A. Conservare larte contemporanea. Electa.
Venecia. 2005. pp. 92.
Brillo (1964) de Warhol o el Aliento del artista (1947) de Pietro Manzoni [figura 5].
Por otro lado, en el arte conceptual los materiales se ven cada vez ms reducidos,
las ideas y conceptos se expresan mejor a travs de un arte tcnicamente perfecto
y esta perfeccin de la superficie se consigue ms fcilmente mediante procesos
de fabricacin industrial, as la mano del artista va siendo arrinconada hasta que-
dar totalmente suprimida en el minimal y narrative art29. Schinzel sita el origen
de la corriente de superficies perfectas y homogneas, despersonalizadas, en el
constructivismo y en figuras como Malewich, De Stijl y la Bauhaus.
De este modo Schinzel plantea cmo el arte actual queda totalmente desper-
sonalizado, lo que interesa es poner en relieve cierta originalidad y los aspectos
estticos de las superficies y los acabados de los materiales, de tal modo que el
toque maestro de la mano del artista desaparece, dando paso a un arte basado
en la genialidad del concepto plasmado. Un ejemplo de lo mencionado podra
ser el caso de Richard Serra que ofrece directamente las propiedades de los ma-
teriales, no reproduciendo una textura sino dejando al material que evolucione
de forma natural.
El problema, por lo tanto, es cmo la restauracin conserva o respeta el paso
del tiempo en la obra de arte. En relacin al espacio pictrico, este se construye
por las calidades de las superficies y ya no por la figuracin, la materia deja de ser
un medio para la representacin y se convierte en objeto en si mismo, por ello la
pintura contempornea se acerca cada vez ms al concepto de objeto, como un
[154]
elemento esttico, no tanto representativo de una figuracin sino smbolo de una

idea o intencin esttica. En esta lnea podramos citar los cuadros de Soulages,
con sus superficies lisas o estriadas, de colores neutros, casi siempre negros y de
gran perfeccin tcnica.
En cuanto a las obras de arte que utilizan el tiempo como parte fundamental
del proceso de creacin artstica, el arte procesual, podemos citar la obra de James
Lee Byars The rose table of perfect (1995), que consiste en una bola de poliexpn
donde se insertan miles de rosas frescas que van degradndose durante el tiempo
de la exposicin, poco a poco, hasta que finalmente, cuando concluye la mues-
tra, las flores se han secado y conforman una imagen completamente diferente.
En este caso el artista incluye en la obra el proceso de deterioro como elemento
constitutivo de la misma, por lo que no debe plantearse la conservacin de las
flores secas como testimonio de la obra, aunque tcnicamente podra llegar a ha-
cerse, sino que cada vez que la pieza es expuesta deben colocarse flores nuevas,
intentando que duren lo mximo posible, rocindolas con agua cada da.
En suma, Schinzel plantea cmo el arte contemporneo no puede estar regido
por unas reglas nicas, sino que hay que indagar acerca de la intencionalidad del
artista y de su mensaje, sacrificando en algunos casos el valor histrico que nos
ofrece la materia original, lo que entra en clara contradiccin con las ideas postu-
ladas por Cesare Brandi.
En relacin a la teora de la restauracin italiana, la restauradora alemana nie-
ga una posicin de conciencia histrica positivista, de ah que el postulado de la
conservacin del arte a cualquier precio le parezca cuestionable. Schinzel plantea
una separacin entre el pensamiento lineal (histrico) y el pensamiento paralelo
(antropolgico), donde estara enmarcado este tipo de arte contemporneo que
hace uso del espectador de una forma emocional (arte de accin) o intelectual
(arte conceptual). Por lo tanto, en cuanto a la huella del paso del tiempo en la
obra, Schinzel expone que cuanto ms cercana est la obra a nosotros, tanto ms
reproducible ser, por ello lo que debe conservarse es la idea. De este modo
aprueba la posibilidad de la reproduccin de la obra, algo totalmente contrario a
lo que sostena Cesare Brandi, puesto que segn l con la reproduccin de la obra
se perdera la instancia histrica. En palabras de Schinzel, al concepto terico de
la inmaterialidad de la obra de arte contempornea como idea pura, est ligada la
posibilidad de reproducirla totalmente como ltima consecuencia. Sin embargo,
en relacin al arte efmero sostiene que la reproduccin no es materialmente posi-
ble, es decir, todo lo que est unido a un material efmero, no es reproducible en
sentido estricto. Esta afirmacin se debe a que la restauradora alemana considera
que el arte efmero no debe reproducirse, pero tampoco restaurarse, debe desa-
parecer porque esa es su intencin. De esta manera, Schinzel asume y preconiza
en sus teoras la no conservacin y la desaparicin de la obra de arte, mientras
que otros tericos, sobre todo en el mbito italiano, manifiestan abiertamente el
[155]
rechazo a la tentacin de aceptar el desvanecimiento de la obra de arte como algo

inevitable e inminente30.
Podemos concluir, por lo tanto, que la praxis de la restauracin de arte con-
temporneo cuestiona las teoras de Brandi y todava, a pesar del debate desarro-
llado en torno a este tema, no existen criterios de restauracin unificados para el
arte contemporneo. Si bien se estn realizando notables aportaciones tericas en
este campo (Althfer, Schinzel, etc), existe una polmica entre los defensores y
los detractores del legado terico de Brandi, de hecho algunos tericos plantean
la necesidad de una nueva Carta del Restauro31.
Como conclusin es preciso apuntar un serio problema que puede tener gra-
ves consecuencias respecto a la conservacin del arte actual: la ausencia de crite-
rios unificadores, puesto que este abarca diferentes manifestaciones artsticas de
una gran diversidad material y conceptual. Por lo tanto la restauracin y conserva-
cin del mismo es un reto todava sin respuesta evidente, a pesar de que se estn
realizando notables reflexiones al respecto. Lo que s existe, segn la restauradora
alemana Hiltrud Schinzel, es una metodologa basada en la documentacin, la in-
vestigacin y la mnima intervencin, buscando la unidad potencial, pero siendo
conscientes de que esta ya no reside en el objeto fsico, sino en la idea o intencio-
nalidad del artista, por lo que deberamos preguntarnos para quin restauramos,
puesto que la respuesta determinar los criterios de intervencin.
30 Bonsanti, G., Proposals for a Theory, en op. cit., p.129.

31 De martino, E., Arte contempornea: conservazione e restauro, en Minutes of the International confe-
rence held in Venice in October-November, Torino, Fondazione di Venezia-Allemandi, 2005.
[156]
EL PATRIMONIO INDUSTRIAL EN EL SIGLO XXI
Y SU RELACIN CON LA CIUDAD POSINDUSTRIAL
M PILAR BIEL IBEZ*
Resumen: El presente texto ofrece una aproximacin a los criterios de intervencin

en el patrimonio industrial a lo largo de las dos ltimas dcadas del siglo XX y la
primera del siglo XXI. El cambio de modelo econmico, uno de cuyos pilares es
la explotacin de los valores patrimoniales y culturales de la ciudad, es el contex-
to en el que situar la conservacin de este patrimonio en un nmero elevado de
casos. Aquellos edificios industriales que han sobrevivido a la ruina y el derribo,
se encuentran integrados en las nuevas funciones de la ciudad posindustrial. As,
se analiza y valora el consumo de la cultura en relacin con diversas estrategias
de promocin y prestigio tanto de instituciones privadas como pblicas. Se inicia
con el caso del Vapor Vell como ejemplo de promocin institucional. Se contina
con la relacin de la Caixa con el patrimonio industrial dentro de un contexto de
prestigio de marca; para finalizar con la relacin del mismo con el consumo de
ocio y cultura con la rehabilitacin de la estacin de Plaza de Armas en Sevilla y
la Alhndiga de Bilbao. En definitiva, este texto evidencia que un nmero elevado
de actuaciones en este patrimonio tiene por objetivo convertir la fbrica histrica
en un bien de consumo por encima del inters de preservar su valor histrico**.
Palabras clave: Patrimonio Industrial. Conservacin del Patrimonio Industrial. Ar-
quitectura Industrial.
1. Introduccin. Lo industrial est de moda
El patrimonio industrial est de actualidad. La prensa nos exhorta a visitar

museos industriales, nos presenta rutas o nos recomienda hoteles, restaurantes
* Profesora Titular de Historia del Arte, Universidad de Zaragoza pbiel@unizar.es

** Investigacin realizada en el marco del Proyecto Museos y barrios artsticos: arte pblico, artistas e insti-
tuciones (HAR2012-38899-C02-0), financiado por el Ministerio de Economa y Competitividad, y desarro-
llado en la Universidad de Zaragoza, del cual es investigador principal Jess Pedro Lorente Lorente.
[157]
M PILAR BIEL IBEZ
Figura 1. Glamour industrial, portada de El Viajero, 23-01-2010 dedicada a la cuenca alemana del Ruhr, elegida ese
ao como capital cultural europea.
ubicados en viejas fbricas; incluso nos invita a vivir en ellas convertidas en mo-
dernos lofts. La esttica industrial se ha puesto de moda y es adems un estilo de
decoracin. Como seala una web dedicada a la decoracin de interiores:
En este tipo de decoracin trata de conservarse todo aquello que le dio origen,
atesorando la esttica industrial, acompaada por vigas, pilares, ladrillos vistos
y acero inoxidable, as como tambin altos techos, amplios ventanales, espacios
bien iluminados y suelos de cemento o tarimas flotantes1.
No cabe duda que el antecedente de esta esttica se encuentra en la arqui-
tectura High Tech, tan popular en las dos ltimas dcadas del siglo XX. Este es-
tilo arquitectnico busca presentar la complejidad tecnolgica de la arquitectura
mediante la exposicin de sus componentes tcnicos y funcionales, de manera
1 http://www.opendeco.es/el-estilo-loft-y-la-decoracion-industrial/. [Fecha de consulta: 15 de enero de

2014].
[158]
EL PATRIMONIO INDUSTRIAL EN EL SIGLO XXI Y SU RELACIN CON LA CIUDAD POSINDUSTRIAL
que los materiales prefabricados, las paredes de vidrio, o las estructuras de acero
quedan a cara vista. Y as hasta hoy, momento en el que esta complejidad subsiste
banalizada en un estilo de moda.
No obstante, el paisaje industrial urbano propio de la ciudad moderna es prc-
ticamente eliminado en la ciudad posindustrial. Ya no es posible hablar de paisaje,
entendido este como el resultado de la convivencia de diferentes tipologas arqui-
tectnicas en un entramado urbano a lo largo de un periodo de tiempo amplio.
Actualmente, en la ciudad posindustrial tan solo perduran aquellos inmuebles
que por circunstancias diversas (su valor histrico, la implicacin vecinal en la
conservacin, la voluntad poltica o privada) han sido salvados de la piqueta e
integrados en las nuevas funciones de la urbe posindustrial [figura 1].
2. La ciudad posindustrial y el patrimonio industrial
En las dos ltimas dcadas del siglo XX, la ciudad moderna experimenta una
serie de cambios importantes en lo relacionado con su organizacin que afectan
tanto al mbito de la produccin como al del consumo y desembocan en el sur-
gimiento de la ciudad posindustrial2.
Desde el punto de vista de la produccin, la ciudad moderna asiste a un proce-
so de desindustrializacin. Aquellos sectores que protagonizan el despegue eco-
nmico posterior a la 2 Guerra Mundial como el minero-siderrgico, el textil o el
automovilstico, desaparecen y son sustituidos por un modelo productivo basado
en las nuevas tecnologas (microelectrnica, robtica o sistemas de informacin y
telecomunicacin). Este sistema productivo favorece una localizacin dispersa y
fragmentaria al poder ubicarse en reas que no necesariamente tienen que estar
prximas entre s. De esta manera, de un sistema de grandes factoras industriales
ubicadas en reas urbanas centrales se pasa a una organizacin en red donde
cada unidad productiva corresponde a una etapa del proceso productivo y su
localizacin es a nivel metropolitano3.
Desde el punto de vista de la estrategia econmica, la sociedad moderna desa-
rrolla el consumo de masas caracterstico del modelo fordista basado en la adqui-
sicin de productos estandarizados como los electrodomsticos, la vivienda o el
automvil. Un modelo homogneo que responde a las necesidades de una socie-
dad con unos estilos de vida homogneos. Sin embargo, a partir de la dcada de
los 80 del siglo XX, el consumo se fragmenta con la aparicin de mltiples tipos
de consumidores. Los estilos de vida se diversifican y la bsqueda del individualis-
mo se traduce en la necesidad de lanzar al mercado productos diferenciados que
2 Muoz, F., Urbanalizacin. Paisajes comunes, lugares globales, Barcelona, Gustavo Gili, 2010.
3 Ibidem.
[159]
M PILAR BIEL IBEZ
implican una segmentacin de la produccin en lotes ms pequeos. El consu-

midor, influenciado por la moda, compra productos con un ciclo de vida breve y
dispone de una amplia variedad de modelos para poder elegir.
En este contexto, el marketing y la publicidad adquieren un elevado protago-
nismo y su influencia se extiende desde el producto y la marca hasta el mbito
de los pases, las regiones y las ciudades. De manera que estas ltimas utilizan
sus estrategias para gestionar las relaciones de intercambio entre las ofertas y las
demandas urbanas. Algunas ciudades posindustriales manipulan sus valores in-
tangibles, especialmente los relacionados con la cultura y el patrimonio, para de-
sarrollar campaas promocionales siguiendo las estrategias de las grandes marcas
comerciales. La ciudad se concibe como un objeto de consumo en s misma. No
solo es el lugar donde se intercambian los productos sino que adems ella misma
muda en un producto para ser comprado.
Algunas ciudades se convierten en marcas en s mismas, en objetos de consumo
a los que se viaja, en las que se quiere vivir, que ofrecen experiencias o monu-
mentos que pueden llegar a ser iconos urbanos de consumo; destinos a los que
muchas personas viajan o suean ir como experiencia vital4.
A partir de los aos 80, tal y como indica Penny Sparke, el trabajo de muchos
diseadores britnicos (y de otras nacionalidades) se centra en crear experiencias,
en apelar a lo emocional y a lo inmaterial ya se trate de los contenidos de un
museo o del espacio urbano. Este enfoque es sntoma de cmo la cultura a finales
del siglo XX est ms orientada al consumo que a la produccin5.
Todos estos cambios suceden en un escenario de remodelacin urbana donde
los grandes vacos industriales se convierten en terrenos propicios para procesos
de transformacin que combinan la creacin de equipamientos culturales y espa-
cios pblicos con la construccin o remodelacin de barrios enteros. En estos pro-
cesos de regeneracin urbana, el destino de los obsoletos complejos industriales
tiene una suerte desigual. De tal manera que se asiste tanto a su arrasamiento y
desaparicin como a su conservacin total o parcial (p.e. el proceso de reconver-
sin de la cuenca minera del Ruhr).
En Espaa, los procesos de reconversin del modelo productivo de las principa-
les ciudades industriales6, como p. e. Barcelona y Bilbao, se traducen en la puesta
en marcha de un modelo de regeneracin urbana basado en la cultura con un plan
de marketing de la ciudad como trasfondo. Este proceso coincide con un movi-
4 Muiz Martnez, N. y Cervantes Blanco, M., Marketing de ciudades y place branding, en Pecunica:
revista de la Facultad de Ciencias Econmicas y Empresariales, n. extra 1. 2010, p. 142.
5 Sparke, P., Diseo y cultura una introduccin. Desde 1900 hasta la actualidad., Barcelona, Gustavo Gili,
2010, espec. pp. 221-283.
6 Borja, J. y Mux, Z. (eds.), Urbanismo en el siglo XXI. Una visin crtica. Bilbao, Madrid, Valencia, Bar-
celona, Barcelona, Edicions UPC, 2004.
[160]
miento de visibilizacin y revalorizacin de las estructuras industriales que quedan

obsoletas a travs de la convocatoria de encuentros cientficos o mediante la labor
reivindicadora de las asociaciones vecinales; a lo que se aaden las primeras decla-
raciones de proteccin de patrimonio industrial en el marco de la Ley de Patrimonio
Histrico del ao 1985 y de las distintas leyes autonmicas que siguieron a esta7.
Un patrimonio que, a pesar de su reciente reconocimiento, arraiga en la ciudada-
na con ms fuerza que otro tipo de bienes culturales con ms tradicin como por
ejemplo el patrimonio arqueolgico. Sin duda, su vinculacin con las actividades
humanas, su cercana en el tiempo y lo monumental de su presencia han propicia-
do, segn Jos Castillo8, su rpida patrimonializacin por parte de la sociedad.
3. El Patrimonio industrial dentro de la ciudad posindustrial. La fbrica y el consumo de

la cultura y el ocio
Las fbricas de la primera industrializacin que todava se mantienen activas

son, en estos momentos, escasas. Se puede citar algn ejemplo como la fbrica de
cervezas La Zaragozana (1901) en Zaragoza y Fundicin Averly (1880) factora que
hasta fechas recientes (ao 2012) mantena su produccin en esa misma ciudad
o la fbrica de armas de La Vega (1857) en Oviedo (en abril de 2012 anunci su
cierre). Lo comn es el abandono de la produccin y la reconversin funcional de
esta arquitectura puesta al servicio de nuevas necesidades sociales. De tal manera
que, el paisaje industrial histrico queda reducido a un hito urbano (una chime-
nea, un inmueble o una estructura tcnica como la gra La Carola, en Bilbao) y
este adquiere un elevado valor simblico: como vestigio material de la historia
industrial del barrio y como huella de una poltica conservacionista por la que la
administracin pblica o la entidad privada obtienen un prestigio social.
3.1. Una poltica de intervencin en busca de un prestigio social
Las primeras intervenciones relacionadas con la conservacin de la arquitec-

tura industrial se remontan a los aos 80, una dcada en las que grandes ciuda-
des como Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, Valencia o Zaragoza inician un proceso de
reconversin de sus vacos industriales. Son aos en los que prima un modelo
urbano que busca hacer ciudad, esto es dotar de equipamientos culturales y so-
ciales a barrios, fundamentalmente obreros, hasta esos momentos olvidados de las
polticas sociales de los ayuntamientos franquistas.
7 Biel Ibez, M P., La Catalogacin, la proteccin y la conservacin del patrimonio industrial, en Biel
Ibez, M P. y Cueto Alonso, G. (coord.), 100 Elementos del Patrimonio Industrial en Espaa, Madrid,
Institucin de Patrimonio Cultural de Espaa-TICCIH Espaa, 2011, pp. 66-73.
8 Castillo Ruiz, J., Concepto y conocimiento del patrimonio histrico, en Conocimiento y percepcin del
patrimonio histrico en la sociedad espaola, Madrid, Caja Madrid, 2012, p.50.
[161]
M PILAR BIEL IBEZ
Por regla general, estos barrios presentan grandes infraestructuras industria-

les que son demandadas por los vecinos para instalar en ellas los nuevos equi-
pamientos. Esta es la situacin de la ciudad de Barcelona9 antes de poner en
marcha el proyecto olmpico. As, el ayuntamiento decide la conservacin de
algunos hitos industriales que se destinan a servicios administrativos y a cubrir
las necesidades culturales y sociales de los vecinos. En general en estas actuacio-
nes no se conserva el conjunto industrial sino una parte significativa del mismo
(p.e. Barcelona, Can Fabra) destinando el resto del solar a espacio urbano o a
viales nuevos que mejoran las dotaciones de espacios libres o de comunicacin
de estos barrios.
Un ejemplo de lo sealado es el proceso de conservacin y actuacin en el Va-
por Vell (tambin conocida como fbrica Gell, Ramis i Cia) en el barrio de Sants.
Esta antigua fbrica de panas y terciopelos se ubica en la manzana delimitada por
las calles de Galileu, Miracle, Joan Gell y el pasaje de Serra i Arola. Se construy
entre 1840 y 1844, siendo este el ao de inicio de la actividad que perdur hasta
1891. Mandada construir por Joan Gell, fue la primera industria moderna insta-
lada en Sants. Tras su cierre, sus espacios fueron ocupados por diversos tipos de
actividades tanto industriales como de ocio, hasta que en el ao 1976 es adquirida
por la empresa Jorba Preciados, del grupo Rumasa, para proceder a su derribo y
levantar unos grandes almacenes. Ya desde 1973, los vecinos inician una campa-
a, Cop dull a Sants, reclamando la creacin en la fbrica de equipamientos para
el barrio. Esta defensa vecinal se prolongar hasta 1986, ao en que el ayunta-
miento de Barcelona aprueba el Plan Especial del Vapor Vell.
Del conjunto de naves y espacios que ocupaba el antiguo complejo industrial,
slo se conserva la nave principal para equipamiento y la chimenea, de 54 me-
tros de alto y con una base cuadrada de 4 metros de ancho [figura 2]. El resto del
solar se destina a suelo residencial y a la apertura de la calle de Joan Gell, que
llega desde la avenida de la Diagonal hasta la plaza de Sants. En el ao 1998 fue
declarada Bien Cultural de Inters Nacional10.
Se trata de un edificio de planta rectangular con cubierta a dos aguas, que
presenta planta baja ms cuatro alturas. Como materiales de construccin presen-
ta mampostera y ladrillo macizo mientras que para las cubiertas utiliza vigas de
madera reforzadas con tirantes metlicos apoyadas sobre columnas de fundicin.
9 Checa Artasu, M., Geografas para el patrimonio industrial en Espaa: el caso de Barcelona, en Scripta
Nova. Revista Electrnica de Geografa y Ciencias Sociales, Barcelona, Universidad de Barcelona, 1 de
agosto de 2007, vol. XI, nm. 245 (32). <http://www.ub.es/geocrit/sn/sn-24532.htm> [ISSN: 1138-9788].
[Fecha de consulta: 21 de enero de 2014].
10 Resolucin de 8 de mayo de 1998, del Departamento de Cultura, por la que se da publicidad al Acuerdo del
Gobierno de la Generalidad, de 15 de abril de 1998, de declaracin de bien cultural de inters nacional, en la
categora de monumento histrico, de El Vapor Vell de Sants en Barcelona, BOE n. 131, de 2 de junio de 1998.
http://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-1998-12806. [Fecha de consulta: 21 de enero de 2014].
[162]
Figura 2. Chimenea del Vapor Vell. Foto de Carlos Cols.
La rehabilitacin de esta gran nave es diseada por Josep M Julia Capdevila11

entre los aos 1998 y 2000, quien en esos momentos detenta el cargo de Director
de Proyectos del Departamento de Arquitectura del Ayuntamiento de Barcelona.
La intervencin consiste en la adecuacin de las plantas 3 y 4 como biblioteca
con acceso por la calle de Joan Gell y, de la planta baja ms las 1 y 2 como es-
cuela pblica con acceso por la calle Galileo, disponiendo el patio de juegos en la
zona exterior de la calle Milagro. En la actuacin se conserva la estructura original
del edificio y se restauran las partes deterioradas aunque la configuracin espacial
sufre una gran transformacin como consecuencia de los nuevos usos [figura 3].
Este tipo de actuaciones, entre las que tambin podemos citar la recuperacin
del Matadero de Zaragoza12, estn vinculadas con las necesidades de equipamien-
tos sociales de los barrios desde el punto de vista de los usos y en ellas se busca
el equilibro ente la arquitectura preexistente y el proyecto contemporneo desde
el punto de vista de la intervencin arquitectnica. No obstante, el conjunto his-
trico es cercenado en un nmero elevado de casos.
11 Basiana, X., Checa Artasu, M. y Orpinell, J., Barcelona Ciutat de fabriques, Barcelona, Ivanov, 2000, p.
104.
12 Hernndez Martnez, A., Conservamos o destruimos el patrimonio industrial?: El caso del matadero
municipal de Zaragoza (1888-1999), en Artigrama, n. 14, 1999, pp. 157-182.
[163]
M PILAR BIEL IBEZ
Figura 3. Alzado principal del Vapor Vell. Foto de Carlos Cols.
3.2. El consumo de la cultura: la fbrica y el museo
La poltica de promocin de la nueva ciudad posindustrial necesita elementos

emblemticos con los que identificarse, pues solo cuando los equipamientos son
relevantes la nueva ciudad es atractiva y puede rentabilizarse desde la ptica
inmobiliaria. De este modo, la regeneracin urbana que promueven ciudades
espaolas como Barcelona o Bilbao en la dcada de los 90 del siglo XX se cen-
tra en la reutilizacin de espacios concebidos para el consumo de tiempo libre,
de ocio, de entretenimiento o de cultura en general, siempre con la suficiente
capacidad para generar nuevas identidades urbanas, habitualmente revestidas
de arquitectura espectacular. Se produce la llegada de los arquitectos estrella y
el culto por la obra de arte13. En esta dcada y siguientes, el museo, tal y como
han analizado varios autores14, como institucin cultural se dota de una serie de
13 Sudjic, D., La arquitectura del poder. Como los ricos y poderosos dan forma a nuestro mundo, Barcelona,
Ariel, 2005.
Layuno Rosas, M ., Museos de arte contemporneo en Espaa. Del Palacio de las Artes a la arquitec-
tura como arte, Gijn, Ediciones Trea, 2004.
14 Layuno Rosas, M ., Museos de arte contemporneo y ciudad. Los lmites del objeto arquitectnico, en
Almazn Toms, David y Lorente Lorente, Jess Pedro (coord.), Museologa crtica y arte contemporneo,
Zaragoza, Prensas Universitarias de Zaragoza, 2003, pp.109-123.
Hernndez Martnez, A., Lestetica del deterioramento e dellimperfezione: una tendenza in crescita nel
restauro architettonico, en Palladio. Rivista di Storia dellArchitettura e Restauro, Roma, Istituto Poligra-
fico e Zacca dello Stato, n. 50, julio-diciembre 2012, pp. 1-18.
Patrimonio industrial y arte contemporneo: una nueva geografa cultural, en I Jornadas andaluzas
de Patrimonio Industrial y de la Obra Pblica (25,26 y 27 de noviembre de 2010, Sevilla), actas editadas
por la Fundacin Patrimonio Industrial de Andaluca), Sevilla, 2012, pp. 1-10 (edicin digital).
[164]
funciones no artsticas. Es lugar de entretenimiento, de reunin, centro de pro-

duccin; pero sobre todo es fermento de procesos de revitalizacin urbana tal y
como sucede con ejemplos como el Museo Guggenheim de Bilbao o el Centro
de Cultura Contempornea de Barcelona15. En un nmero nada desdeable de
casos, los nuevos museos y centros de arte contemporneo se instalan en des-
aliados edificios industriales que son sometidos a fuertes actuaciones estticas
desde la arquitectura contempornea, como puede ser el caso, entre otros, del
Instituto Aragons de Arte y Cultura Contemporneos en los antiguos talleres del
Hospicio Provincial, en Zaragoza.
Este tipo de operaciones no solo se encuentran vinculadas con la promocin
de la ciudad posindustrial. Tambin se localizan casos que son el resultado de una
cuidadosa operacin de marketing de una entidad que concibe la promocin de
la cultura como parte de su identidad de marca tal y como sucede con el modelo
CaixaForum promovido por La Caixa.
La Caixa es una entidad financiera que tiene sus orgenes en la Caja de Pensio-
nes para la Vejez y de Ahorros de Catalua y Baleares fundada en el ao 1904 por
Francesc Moragas Barret. Su finalidad inicial es estimular el ahorro y la previsin
y su mbito de actuacin se cie originariamente a los territorios de Catalua y
Baleares. A partir del ao 1917, la Caja dedica parte de su excedente a la realiza-
cin de obras sociales y la promocin cultural y cvica. En 1976, Jos Vilarasau
es nombrado director general de la entidad y con l arranca un periodo de mo-
dernizacin que culmina con la renovacin de su imagen de marca y una nueva
poltica de accin cultural.
Hasta estos momentos, el nombre tradicional con el que opera la caja (Caja
de Pensiones para la Vejez y de Ahorro) se acompaa de una marca ms corta
La Caixa y de un eslogan la Caixa de Catalunya y Balears, en un intento
de colocarse como un referente para estos territorios utilizando el cataln, en
un momento en el que su uso est muy restringido como consecuencia de la
poltica lingstica del Franquismo. En definitiva, cuando Jos Vilarasau llega a
la entidad, su imagen corporativa es confusa: utilizan el sello tradicional de la
Caja de principios de siglo XX, el logo simplificado con el icono del edificio de
Via Laietana y el eslogan La Caixa. Vilarasau toma la decisin de unificar todo
bajo una nueva imagen, que transmita tanto la idea de catalanidad como la de
modernidad.
En 1979, el estudio Landor es contratado por Vilarasau para llevar a cabo este
cambio de imagen, estando al frente del mismo Claude Alverson. Uno de los ob-
El patrimonio industrial, un legado del siglo XIX: su recuperacin para usos culturales, en Sauret,
T. (ed.), El siglo XIX a reflexin y debate, Mlaga, Universidad de Mlaga, 2013, pp. 238-289.
15 Sudjic, D., La arquitectura del poder op. cit.
[165]
M PILAR BIEL IBEZ
jetivos propuestos es integrar en una sola imagen el conjunto de actividades que

desarrolla la Caixa, tanto desde el punto de vista financiero como social, de forma
interrelacionada e igualitaria. Para alcanzar este objetivo, el estudio californiano
propone:
(...) encargar a un artista de renombre mundial una creacin suya y utilizarla
como representacin visual del banco es en s mismo una reafirmacin de la
responsabilidad social y cultural de la comunidad financiera y refleja el carc-
ter cataln en su mecenazgo de las artes. La seleccin del maestro Joan Mir
satisface muchos de los requisitos de la Caixa: nacido en Catalua, residente
en Baleares y mundialmente reconocido, Mir posee la singular capacidad de
comunicarse eficazmente con todos los posibles segmentos de mercado de la
Caixa, su principal clientela en Espaa y la internacional. Su arte es al mismo
tiempo ingenuo, fantstico e imaginativo, pero tambin elegante y sofisticado.
Posee la fuerza del arte primitivo, pero tambin la gracia de lo sutil. Este con-
cepto de diseo supone una ambiciosa y vibrante apuesta en el mundo de la
comunicacin Financiera16.
Ante la reticencia de algunos directivos a esta solucin, Vilarasau indic que
los grandes financieros eran precisamente a menudo los grandes mecenas del
arte contemporneo y que la banca, las altas finanzas y el arte haban sido tradi-
cionalmente buenos compaeros de viaje17. Finalmente, La Caixa encarga a Mir
un tapiz del cual se extraer la estrella, inicialmente de ocho puntas finalmente de
cinco, que se convierte en logotipo de La Caixa y en su smbolo de modernidad
e internacionalidad. En 1981 se presenta la estrella mironiana aprovechando la
inauguracin del Museo de la Ciencia de La Caixa18. Es el inicio de una polti-
ca de promocin del arte contemporneo que se desarrollar con el modelo de
CaixaForum ubicado, en los dos casos ms emblemticos (Barcelona y Madrid) en
antiguas fbricas estratgicamente situadas en la trama urbana.
A partir de 1985, Jos Vilarasau inicia la coleccin de arte contemporneo de
la Caixa bajo la direccin artstica de Mara Corral. Esta coleccin est integrada
por unas ochocientas obras de arte contemporneo. Inicialmente, se localiza en
el Paseo San Joan pero esta sede pronto queda pequea. Por ello, la Fundacin
La Caixa considera que la antigua fbrica textil Casarramona, situada en la plaza
de Espaa, en el entorno de la Feria de Muestras, del Museo Nacional de Arte de
Catalua y frente al reconstruido Pabelln de Mies Van der Rohe, es el sitio ideal
para su coleccin y el arranque de un modelo integrado de cultura: CaixaForum.
Bajo el lema CaixaForum la nueva fbrica del arte, pretende convertirse en una
plataforma de divulgacin, atento con las inquietudes y las necesidades sociales
y culturales que genera la sociedad. Familias, estudiantes, grupos de personas
16 Sanchs, I., Biografa de una estrella, Madrid, Pennsula, 2001, p. 145.

17 Ibidem, p. 154.
18 Ibidem, p. 184.
[166]
mayores y escuelas, han descubierto en CaixaForum un nuevo punto de encuen-

tro19.
Inaugurado el 2 de marzo 2002, CaixaForum Barcelona es un proyecto en el
que se incluye un centro de exposiciones adems de un conjunto amplio de in-
fraestructuras culturales como mediateca, biblioteca, auditorio y sala de conferen-
cias, lugares dedicados a desarrollar un intenso programa de actividades sociales
y educativas (talleres literarios y artsticos para nios y adultos, lecturas poticas,
programacin de cine, msica, jornadas de arte multimedia, etc.)20.
El edificio original es la Fbrica Casarramona construida entre 1909 y 1911 por
el arquitecto Josep Puig i Cadafalch. El edificio se considera una de sus ltimas
obras modernistas de inspiracin neogtica. Cerrada la fbrica en 1920, despus
de la guerra civil se us como caballerizas de la polica montada hasta 1992, a
pesar de ser propiedad de La Caixa desde 1963. El conjunto fue declarado Monu-
mento Histrico Artstico21 en el ao 1976. El edificio consta de varias naves, tres
paralelas unidas por una transversal, dos de las cuales son utilizadas como lugar
de produccin, de almacenamiento y tambin de venta al por menor.
La intervencin en las naves es del arquitecto Roberto Luna y se caracteriza
por respetar la estructura y el aspecto exterior del edificio. Las naves han sido
modificadas mnimamente para destinarlas a exponer parte de la coleccin y
exposiciones temporales. La restauracin de fachadas y tratamiento del ladrillo
se ha realizado bajo la direccin de Francisco Javier Asarta. Y la zona de acceso
al edificio es un proyecto del arquitecto japons Arata Isozaki. Este se realiza a
travs de dos grandes rboles-escultura de acero corten que sealan la entrada
subterrnea al edificio, y un patio interior de mrmol escalonado utilizado como
escenario para actividades musicales y de danza. En definitiva, y como se indica
en el Informe Anual del ao 2000, en la nueva sede de la Fundacin La Caixa se
unir la arquitectura modernista con la arquitectura de vanguardia22 [figura 4].
Esta actitud de combinar lo viejo con lo nuevo se expresa de manera ms
radical en el siguiente CaixaForum23 que se inaugura en Madrid. En este caso, el
19 Informe anual 2002, La Caixa, http://obrasocial.lacaixa.es/deployedfiles/obrasocial/Estaticos/pdf/Infor-

macion_corporativa/2002/Caixaforum2_esp.pdf, p. 11. [Fecha de consulta: 15 de enero de 2014].
20 Ibidem.
21 Decreto 248/1976, de 9 de enero, por el que se declaran monumentos histrico-artsticos de carcter
nacional varias obras del arquitecto Puig y Cadafall, https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1976/02/17/pdfs/
A03316-03317.pdf. [Fecha de consulta: 15 de enero de 2014].
22 Informe anual 2000, La Caixa, http://obrasocial.lacaixa.es/deployedfiles/obrasocial/Estaticos/pdf/Infor-
macion_corporativa/2000/centos_culturales.pdf, p. 75. [Fecha de consulta: 15 de enero de 2014]
23 Hernndez Martnez, A., El museo como reclamo turstico de la ciudad. Caixa Frum Madrid y el Mata-
dero de Madrid, en Integracin y resistencia en la era global. Evento terico X Bienal de La Habana,
2009, La Habana: Bienal de La Habana, SEACEX y Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y de Cooperacin,
pp. 133-146.
[167]
M PILAR BIEL IBEZ
Figura 4. Alzado principal de CaixaForum Barcelona. Foto Ascensin Hernndez.
equipo de arquitectos Herzog y De Meuron intervienen o, como se indica textual-

mente en la Memoria Anual de 2008, construyen a partir de la recuperacin de
la antigua central elctrica del Medioda de Madrid24. En Madrid se opta por un
edificio industrial menos singular que para el caso barcelons pero situado en el
paseo del Prado, en la denominada milla de los museos, al lado del Museo del
Prado, del Thyssen y del Reina Sofa de Arte Contemporneo.
La central elctrica del Medioda es un edificio de 1900 construido por el arqui-
tecto Jess Carrasco y Encina, compuesto por dos naves de ladrillo sobre zcalo
de granito con un lucernario central y cubiertas a doble vertiente. El proyecto de
Herzog y De Meuron, inaugurado en marzo de 2008, tan solo respeta su geometra
inicial pues modifica los vanos (en unos casos se han cegado los existentes y en
otros se abren nuevos), recrece las fachadas (ya que se ha elevado una planta ms
adems de proceder a la excavacin del subsuelo en un intento de ganar metros
cuadros) y elimina el zcalo de granito (para generar una plaza pblica de la que
careca esta manzana de la ciudad) [figuras 5 y 6].
En definitiva, se opta por mantener la imagen del conjunto pero al vaciarlo se
despreciaron los valores histricos, arquitectnicos y tecnolgicos que albergaba
el artefacto arquitectnico de la antigua central.
24 Informe Anual 2008, La Caixa, http://obrasocial.lacaixa.es/deployedfiles/obrasocial/Estaticos/pdf/Infor-

macion_corporativa/2008/38_caixaforum_madrid_ESP.pdf, p. 38. [Fecha de consulta: 15 de enero de
2014].
[168]
Figuras 5 y 6. Exterior y detalle de una sala de CaixaForum Madrid. Foto de Carlos Cols.
3.3. El consumo del ocio: del centro comercial a la experiencia del ciudadano
Esta actitud conservacionista desarrollada tanto por instituciones pblicas

como privadas y puesta al servicio de fines propagandsticos (polticos y/o cor-
porativos), se completa con su vinculacin con las estrategias de consumo de la
ciudad posindustrial. Y as, en el momento de optar por un nuevo uso, el patri-
monio industrial bajo la estrategia de su conservacin se convierte en contenedor
de diversos modelos de ocio que tienen por objetivo incentivar el consumo de la
sociedad.
Una estrategia comercial de estas caractersticas y que est cobrando fuerza es
() aquella de situar los centros comerciales en ubicaciones que aseguren el
flujo de peatones, como estaciones de ferrocarril, intercambiadores de transpor-
tes y aeropuertos. Renfe, en este sentido ha emprendido un camino innovador,
siguiendo las huellas de iniciativas semejantes en el resto de Europa, con la
creacin de empresas como NECSA (Nuevos Espacios Comerciales S.A.). NEF-
SA (Nuevas Estaciones de Ferrocarril, S.A.) etc. encauzadas desde 2005 a travs
de ADIF (Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias) con el fin de optimizar
el espacio de las estaciones (en desuso y nuevas) con la promocin de Riofisa,
de cara al comercio integrado25.
Este modelo de negocio comercial localizado en una infraestructura ferroviaria
se ha plasmado en los proyectos de las estaciones de Plaza de Armas, en Sevilla,
en Mlaga, en la de Prncipie Po de Madrid y en Barcelona-Sants y est en marcha
en otras ciudades espaolas como A Corua, Vigo, Alicante, Albacete, Cartagena,
25 Vah Serrano, A., La perspectiva territorial y urbana de los grandes equipamientos comerciales en Anda-
luca, Sevilla, Consejera de Obras Pblicas y Transportes y Universidad de Sevilla, 2007, p. 47.
[169]
M PILAR BIEL IBEZ
Miranda de Ebro, Valladolid, Zamora, Lleida, Logroo, Huelva, Jan, Cceres, Gi-
jn y Valencia.
El motivo para reconvertir la estacin histrica en una estacin comercial
es el valor aadido que posee, ya que son autnticos hitos urbanos en la confi-
guracin de las ciudades, tanto por el marcado relieve que imprime su presencia
como por las notables y singulares aportaciones arquitectnicas que embellecen
los espacios que ocupan26.
La cultura del consumo que nos rodea convierte la rutina de comprar en
una actividad de ocio: pasar el da en un centro comercial es un entretenimiento,
especialmente si ofrece una experiencia total. Los centros comerciales constitu-
yen, de este modo, lo que George Ritzer (1996) denomina como las modernas
catedrales de consumo a las que vamos a practicar nuestra religin de consu-
midores y qu mejor espacio para practicar esta religin que una vieja catedral
de la industria.
Un ejemplo de este proceso de reconversin de estacin ferroviaria a estacin
comercial es el caso de la conocida popularmente como Estacin de Crdoba o
estacin de Plaza de Armas en Sevilla. Su construccin se inici en el ao 1898
siguiendo el proyecto de los ingenieros Nicols Surez Albizu y Jos Santos Silva,
quedando inaugurada en 1901. Se trata de una estacin de trmino perteneciente
a la compaa ferroviaria M.Z.A. (Madrid-Zaragoza-Alicante). Su armadura de cu-
bierta imita la levantada en la sala de mquinas de la Exposicin de Pars de 1897.
Asimismo, el diseo de sus fachadas se inscribe en la corriente neomudjar con
referencias a edificios histricos como la Alhambra de Granada27 [figura 7].
En el ao 1982, el arquitecto Antonio Barrionuevo y los ingenieros Damin
lvarez y J. Caada intervinieron en la rehabilitacin de su vestbulo manteniendo
su actividad hasta el ao 1990. En esta fecha, es declarada como Bien de Inters
Cultural con categora de Monumento por la Junta de Andaluca28.
Como consecuencia de la exposicin universal de Sevilla del ao 1992, entra
en servicio la estacin de Santa Justa y la veterana de Plaza de Armas acoge parte
del pabelln de la ciudad. En este proceso de cambio de uso, se derriban todos
los edificios e infraestructuras auxiliares de la estacin a excepcin del edificio de
pasajeros. Al mismo tiempo, se procede a la reordenacin del espacio exterior si-
26 http://www.riofisa.com/track-record/estaciones-comerciales.aspx?page=2. [Fecha de consulta: 15 de

enero de 2014].
27 http://www.iaph.es/patrimonio-inmueble-andalucia/resumen.do?id=i21890. [Fecha de consulta: 15 de
enero de 2014].
28 Real Decreto 1380/1990, de 8 de noviembre, por el que se declara bien de inters cultural, con categora
de monumento, la Estacin de Ferrocarriles, situado a en la plaza de Armas, sin nmero (estacin de
Crdoba), en Sevilla. https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1990/11/10/pdfs/A33098-33099.pdf. [Fecha de con-
sulta: 15 de enero de 2014].
[170]
Figura 7. Fachada principal del Centro de Ocio y Comercio Plaza de Armas en Sevilla. Foto de Carlos Cols.
Figura 8. Interior del Centro de Ocio y Comercio Plaza de Armas en Sevilla. Foto de Carlos Cols.
guiendo el proyecto de los arquitectos Antonio Gonzlez y Vctor Prez Escolano.

El desmantelamiento de las vas permite recuperar la relacin de la ciudad de Se-
villa con el ro Guadalquivir y abrir una gran plaza pblica en la zona de entrada
de los trenes. Este proceso implica despojar al edificio de pasajeros del conjunto
de infraestructura ferroviaria que lo dota de sentido.
[171]
M PILAR BIEL IBEZ
Tras la exposicin, el edificio se abandona hasta que en 1999 se reabre como

Centro de Ocio y Comercio Plaza de Armas. Este establecimiento comercial alber-
ga varias salas de cine, locales de restauracin y tiendas de modas. La actuacin
de transformacin en centro comercial es ejecutada por la sociedad NECSA, em-
presa conjunta entre Riofisa y Adif. Para su adecuacin se interviene en el edificio
histrico, que se conserva casi sin alteraciones, y en la zona de andenes, donde
se levantan mdulos para contener los servicios de comercios y restaurantes.
Finalmente, se cierra el testero de entrada y salida de los trenes con una nueva
vidriera de acero y cristal. En definitiva, la conservacin a medida y el uso del
hito patrimonial al servicio de un proceso de transformacin de la ciudad y de las
necesidades de una empresa inmobiliaria [figura 8].
El caso de la Alhndiga de Bilbao supera el modelo de centro comercial y avan-
za hacia un espacio de consumo de ocio y cultura dirigido al ciudadano; si bien
desde el punto de vista de la conservacin del patrimonio presenta un resultado
muy similar. En la nueva Alhndiga se trata de aunar la cultura (la alta cultura
pues dispone de una sala de exposiciones aunque con vocacin generalista29)
con actividades variadas como la lectura, el deporte, el cine, la cocina (ms propias
del ocio popular). Siguiendo las palabras del arquitecto diseador del Espacio Phi-
lippe Starck: el complejo es un lugar libre, donde la gente va a conocerse, besarse
y sentir. Un espacio formidable, lleno de energa y entusiasmo30.
La Alhndiga31 se localiza en una de las manzanas del Ensanche de Bilbao, en
Indautxu, y el proyecto es del arquitecto Ricardo Bastida. Entre 1905 y 1909 Bas-
tida levanta un edificio de pilares de hormign articulado en torno a dos patios
interiores y cerrado con unas fachadas de un diseo muy cuidado, pues aunque
se trata de un edificio industrial, su localizacin lleva al arquitecto a componer
unos alzados de una alta calidad esttica. El ritmo acompasado de los vanos de-
fine unos alzados horizontales rotos por la presencia de cinco torres situadas en
los ngulos. Este edificio se mantiene en activo hasta el ao 1976. Desde ese mo-
mento, y hasta su transformacin en un centro de ocio y cultura en el ao 2004,
se presentan diferentes proyectos (aparcamiento 1988, centro cultural propuesto
por Senz de Oiza y Fullaondo y el escultor Oteiza en 1989, sede de la fundacin
Guggenheim, o equipamiento deportivo en los aos 90). Y, aunque cada uno de
ellos propone un uso diferente, todos tienen en comn el punto de partida: la
desaparicin del edificio. Para evitar esta posibilidad, Departamento de Cultura
del Gobierno Vasco declara la Alhndiga monumento en diciembre de 199832.
29 Al sol de la Alhndiga, en El Viajero Bilbao, 26-02-2011 p 3.

30 Ibidem.
31 Crcamo Martnez, J., Alhndiga municipal de Bilbao, en Patrimonio Industrial en el Pas Vasco, Vito-
ria, Departamento de Cultura del Gobierno Vasco, 2012, pp. 737-742.
32 Decreto 397/1998 de 22 de diciembre por el que se califica como Bien Cultural, con la categora de
Monumento, el edificio de la Alhndiga Municipal de Bilbao (BOPV 20/01/1999). http://www.euskadi.
[172]
En el ao 2000 dentro de las actuaciones de Bilbao Ra 200033, el ayuntamiento

decide ubicar en la vetusta alhndiga un complejo dedicado al ocio, la cultura y
el deporte. Para ello, entre 2001 y 2002, el arquitecto Jos Luis Burgos procede a
la demolicin de la estructura interior y a la excavacin de los cinco stanos. En
este proceso, se conserva, adems de las fachadas, la primera cruja de pilares,
tal y como se exige en la declaracin de proteccin. En 2004 se inaugura el apar-
camiento y en 2005 se procede a la restauracin de las fachadas. En ese mismo
ao, Philippe Starck es contratado para disear el complejo de ocio y cultura.
Para ubicar en su interior las diversas actividades levanta tres cubos (ocio, cultura,
deporte) soportados por gruesos pilares y girados respecto a los ejes que definen
el permetro del edificio primigenio dejando un cuarto espacio vaco a modo de
gora. Junto a Starck, trabajan Thibaut Mathiey, quien se encarga de la imagen
corporativa del complejo, y Lorenzo Baraldi, especialista en escenografa, quien
recrea en las columnas que soportan los cubos los diferentes estilos de la arquitec-
tura tanto occidental como oriental. Estas columnas, de tres metros de altura, son
de mrmol, bronce, madera, acero, ladrillo, terracota vidriada, cemento y piedra
de Lecce e imprimen un ambiente entre teatral y ldico al conjunto [figura 9].
Thibaut Mathieu seala en una entrevista que:
() no se trata de un centro comercial. La futura Alhndiga es un complejo
multicultural, pero no desde un punto de vista estricto. Los usuarios podrn
visitar exposiciones, pero tambin ir al gimnasio, darse un buen masaje en el
balneario o cenar en un restaurante. Es un espacio por y para el ciudadano. De
hecho, el logo est formado por cuatro imgenes intercaladas de la ciudad y
dos jvenes. Integracin y entusiasmo34.
En definitiva, el equipo de Starck crea un moderno complejo de ocio con una
aspiracin elitista. Esto se alcanza tanto por la oferta, en la que se incluyen expo-
siciones (el consumo de arte actual como un elemento de distincin cultural y por
lo tanto social) como por la propia arquitectura y diseo, en este caso aunado en
la siempre polmica y singular figura de Philippe Starck. Sobre la eleccin de este
arquitecto-diseador la pgina web del diario El Correo seala:
Ms all de las impresionantes cifras que ha barajado el proyecto, la expecta-
cin del mismo reside en gran medida en la capacidad de fascinacin de Starck,
un diseador acorde a la prestigiosa lista de arquitectos y urbanistas que desde
hace aos dibujan el presente y el futuro de Bilbao35
net/cgi-bin_k54/ver_c?CMD=VERDOC&BASE=B03A&DOCN=000019003&CONF=/config/k54/bopv_c.
cnf. [Fecha de consulta: 15 de enero de 2014].
33 http://www.bilbaoria2000.org/ria2000/index.aspx. [Fecha de consulta: 15 de enero de 2014].
34 http://info.elcorreo.com/bilbao/inauguracion-alhondiga/entrevistas/el-ho-es-una-expresion-de-sorpre-
sa-que-nos-llega-a-todos/. [Fecha de consulta: 15 de enero de 2014].
35 http://www.proyectosbilbao.com/laalhondiga-reportaje.html. [Fecha de consulta: 15 de enero de 2014].
[173]
M PILAR BIEL IBEZ
Figura 9. Interior de La Alhndiga, Bilbao. Foto de Carlos Cols.
A lo que se suman, las declaraciones del protagonista: Quiero hacer algo

formidable, lleno de energa, de entusiasmo. En definitiva, un edificio con la ele-
gancia de la inteligencia y la belleza de la felicidad36. La eleccin de Philippe
Starck, un personaje meditico ms conocido como diseador-estrella que como
arquitecto, la explica Marian Egaa, consejera delegada de La Alhndiga:
() la obra no sera sencilla, el edificio fue declarado monumento en 1989, por
lo que haba que respetar la fachada y la primera cruja, la planta deba verse
y ningn aadido podra sobrepasar la altura de los torreones. El proyecto no
dejaba lugar para lucimientos en fachada, por ello un interiorista era lo mejor.
Starck no es arquitecto pero colabora con un estudio que firm por l37.
Este triunfo del diseo sobre la arquitectura se encuentra tambin en el interior.
Y as, en la misma noticia se dice que las autoridades solicitaron un edificio sobrio
alejado del glamur; pero aun as la alhndiga est llena de lo que los propios em-
pleados llaman starckadas, como por ejemplo: en el auditorio el escenario tiene
un marco como si se tratara de un cuadro y dos butacas amarillas en un patio de
butacas grises; o como la biblioteca municipal tiene un ambiente de librera de
diseo. Hay rincones con silloncitos, estanteras con ruedas y los libros estn
ordenados por reas temticas en vez de por signatura38. A todo esto se une el
diseo del mobiliario y la sealtica [figura 10]. Asimismo, Starck ha trabajado en
el entorno exterior, con el diseo de las aceras y el parque inmediato. En defi-
36 Ibidem.
37 Al sol de la Alhndiga, en El Viajero Bilbao, 26-02-2011 p 3.
38 Ibidem.
[174]
Figura 10. Uno de los accesos de La Alhndiga, Bilbao. Foto de Carlos Cols.
nitiva, un diseo global, donde la tarea del diseador es crear experiencias, por
encima de cualquier otro valor y donde nos podramos preguntar: la arquitectura
sigue siendo la madre de todas las artes?, Importa la arquitectura, en este caso la
histrica?, y cul es el papel que juega en todo este proceso la conservacin del
patrimonio?
En definitiva un modelo en el cual el arte y la cultura edulcorados por el barniz
del diseo son instrumentalizados por las instituciones pblicas y privadas con
la finalidad de reforzar la identidad local, generar empleos en el sector creativo y
la provisin de actividades de ocio populares y disuasorias respecto a cualquier
cuestionamiento o conflicto. Un modelo cultural orientado al consumo y no al
conocimiento.
4. A modo de conclusin
El patrimonio industrial est de moda pese al proceso de destruccin al que

ha sido sometido especialmente en los grandes centros fabriles como Madrid,
Barcelona, Bilbao, Valencia o Avils, entre otras ciudades. Se trata de un proceso
lento pero sistemtico, con una sustitucin de los vacos industriales por nuevos
edificios. No obstante, de esta destruccin se salvan algunos casos concretos,
hitos histricos, a los que se les dota de un valor simblico en una estrategia de
[175]
M PILAR BIEL IBEZ
recuperacin del pasado industrial que, en ningn caso, implica una narracin
histrica completa.
Una vez decidida la conservacin de estos monumentos, es necesario dotarlos
de nuevas funciones entre las que destacan las relacionadas con los equipamien-
tos sociales, las vinculadas a la cultura y a las nuevas formas de ocio y consumo.
De todas ellas, las que causan un mayor impacto meditico, por sus arquitectos
estrella y sus propuestas arriesgadas, son las vinculadas a los nuevos modelos
musesticos de finales del siglo XX.
Este acomodo, en un nmero elevado de casos, se realiza sobre edificios pro-
tegidos en los que la proteccin legal no ha sido lmite ni obstculo para impedir
su vaciamiento, eliminacin de su estructura o amputacin de parte de sus ele-
mentos. Estos criterios de intervencin no se cuestionan y la pertinencia de su uso
no se somete a una crtica, aunque los edificios sobre los que se interviene perte-
necen a la herencia cultural de la sociedad. En definitiva, el patrimonio industrial
est sometido a una banalizacin propia de la sociedad posindustrial que lleva a
la ciudadana a perder la conciencia de la importancia de la historia del trabajo,
una etapa clave sin la cual habra sido imposible llegar hasta la situacin actual.
[176]
LA PERIFERIA DE LA CIUDAD COMO PATRIMONIO:
ESTRATEGIAS PARA LA INTERVENCIN
NOELIA CERVERO SNCHEZ*
Resumen: Los conjuntos de vivienda social construidos en Espaa durante el pe-

riodo de la Autarqua presentan en la actualidad unas condiciones de habitabili-
dad reducidas, as como problemas de tipo urbanstico y social. Muchas son las
cuestiones a tener en cuenta a la hora de plantear cul es la va ms adecuada
para intervenir en ellas, que tratarn de evaluarse a travs de distintas operaciones
para contribuir al desarrollo de este modelo de actuacin: han de tratarse como
versiones actualizadas que se integran en la ciudad y generan vida?, o por el con-
trario habra que aplicar polticas ms radicales de remodelacin urbana?
Palabras clave: Rehabilitacin Urbana. Remodelacin. Conjunto Residencial. Ob-
solescencia. Periferia.
Herencia de espacios habitados
Los sucesivos procesos de crecimiento urbano que han venido dilatando las
redes infraestructurales hasta la actualidad, han generado reas metropolitanas
dispersas que constituyen un collage complejo en torno a la ciudad tradicional1.
La suma de distintos estratos constituye la sea de identidad de un paisaje, en el
que el conocimiento de lo que hoy son y significan las viejas tramas heredadas,
es esencial para enfrentarse con los problemas que en l se plantean. De hecho,
la naturaleza de estos anexos y la tendencia de su entorno ms cercano condicio-
nan que hoy estn ya integrados en un continuo coherente o sigan manteniendo
su carcter suburbano, influidos por procesos de ruptura o discontinuidad. La
tendencia natural de estos territorios a una progresiva fragmentacin, unida a la
* Arquitecto. Profesora Asociada de Expresin Grfica de la Arquitectura. Escuela de Ingeniera y Arqui-

tectura de la Universidad de Zaragoza. ncervero@unizar.es
1 Arias Sierra, P., Periferias y nueva ciudad. El problema del paisaje en los procesos de dispersin urbana,
Sevilla, Secretariado de Publicaciones Universidad de Sevilla, 2003, pp. 245-246.
[177]
NOELIA CERVERO SNCHEZ
fuerte disminucin de sus densidades y de su complejidad, exigen procesos pa-

ralelos de desarrollo y de conservacin, que primen su transformacin frente al
consumo insostenible de suelo2.
En Espaa, los colonizadores de estas reas perimetrales son en muchos casos
los grupos de vivienda masiva que surgen entre los aos cuarenta y los prime-
ros setenta del siglo pasado. Construidos de forma precipitada para absorber la
falta de vivienda en los ncleos ms industrializados, se han convertido en una
tipologa edificatoria extendida en la ciudad contempornea. Su origen se debe
a una rgida poltica que se concibe de manera unitaria para todo el pas y su
morfologa, a una intensa investigacin que maneja referencias del Movimiento
Moderno buscando optimizar sistemas constructivos, tipologas y modelos de
agrupacin. La incompleta puesta en prctica de los principios del racionalismo,
debido a una precipitacin de los procesos y a una limitacin de recursos eco-
nmicos, provoca que esta base experimental se materialice en conglomerados
residenciales de escasa calidad y difcil evolucin urbanstica. La uniformidad de
estas intervenciones, por lo general desvinculadas del entorno y de las realidades
locales, supone un impacto tanto en el paisaje perifrico como en sus propios
habitantes.
Con el paso del tiempo estos desajustes iniciales se van incrementando y,
unidos a una total falta de control y mantenimiento, y a una intensificacin de
su carcter autnomo, dan lugar a una rpida degradacin que desencadena una
triple obsolescencia. En primer lugar, una obsolescencia fsica de la edificacin
que motiva una prdida progresiva de habitabilidad por el desarrollo de una serie
de carencias constructivas. En segundo lugar, una obsolescencia conceptual que
se refleja tanto a escala domstica, con tipologas muy compartimentadas que
difcilmente se adaptan a los modos de vida actuales, como a escala urbana con
altas densidades y espacios libres desarticulados y carentes de actividad. En tercer
lugar, y como consecuencia de las dos anteriores, una obsolescencia sociocultural
caracterizada por una prdida de poblacin selectiva que lleva a la excesiva uni-
formidad de un vecindario con escasos recursos, sobre el que inciden problemas
de segregacin y dificultades de adaptacin.
A pesar de sus condiciones de partida y de la situacin en la que han llegado
hasta nuestros das, estos conjuntos habitacionales constituyen el testimonio vivo
de una poca. No poseen un valor intrnseco, pero forman un contexto histrico
pasado y humano presente, por lo que si se estudian desde el mbito patrimonial,
debera aplicarse una ptica totalmente diferente de la que podra manejarse en
una restauracin monumental. La especificidad de su problemtica y su grado de
proteccin suponen una ampliacin del tradicional concepto de Patrimonio en la
2 Lpez de Lucio, R., Ordenar el territorio, proyectar la ciudad, rehabilitar los tejidos existentes. Premios
Nacionales de Urbanismo 2004/2005/2006, Madrid, Ministerio de la Vivienda, 2009, p.124.
[178]
LA PERIFERIA DE LA CIUDAD COMO PATRIMONIO: ESTRATEGIAS PARA LA INTERVENCIN
que han de tenerse en cuenta factores que ataen no solo a la edificacin, sino
tambin a los mbitos urbanstico y social. El fin de estos mecanismos es preservar
el entorno de unas edificaciones que podran ser sustituidas o recuperarse, pero
que en cualquier caso deberan aportar unos niveles de habitabilidad y un com-
portamiento energtico adecuados para el momento actual. Por otra parte, el he-
cho de que este tipo de bienes no puedan considerarse de manera aislada se debe
por un lado, a que cualquier cambio que se realice en ellos afecta al conjunto de
la ciudad y a la poblacin que lo habita, y por otro, a que la integracin total de
estos conjuntos viene definida por su vinculacin con el contexto ms cercano y
con la distribucin socioeconmica global.
Este planteamiento da lugar a un modelo de intervencin cuyo objetivo es
conseguir una revitalizacin de estas reas y no solamente una rehabilitacin
constructiva. Para ello, la intervencin material sobre la edificacin y las infraes-
tructuras en las que se apoya debera ir acompaada de una intervencin inmate-
rial que se ocupe de aspectos de tipo histrico, social, cultural, medioambiental,
econmico y temporal. Si se actuara exclusivamente en aspectos materiales o
fsicos se activaran procesos de gentrificacin3, por los que la poblacin inicial es
sustituida por otra de mayor poder adquisitivo, trasladando el problema a otras
reas. Si se trataran solamente los aspectos intangibles, se estimulara el abandono
por parte de las familias ms normalizadas en busca de mejores condiciones, con
la consecuente degradacin del tejido social. Por tanto, la complejidad de estas
operaciones consiste en que exigen la puesta en marcha de manera simultnea de
actuaciones materiales e inmateriales para que los efectos en los distintos mbitos
se retroalimenten aportando al conjunto habitacional un nuevo ciclo de vida con
efecto global y duradero, y consiguiendo as su reciclaje4.
Reciclaje frente a remodelacin
La relacin entre las frmulas edificatorias del Movimiento Moderno y los

efectos de segregacin urbana viene siendo barajada desde la dcada de los
setenta, cuando comienza una campaa a nivel mundial para desacreditar la vi-
vienda social. Su simblico punto de partida podra ser la voladura del barrio de
Pruitt-Igoe, en Saint Louis (Estados Unidos), en 19725. Cuando se inaugura, en
3 Proceso de transformacin urbana en el que la poblacin de un sector deteriorado es desplazada pro-

gresivamente como consecuencia del aumento de precio de sus viviendas.
4 Valero Ramos, E., Reciclaje de polgonos residenciales, una alternativa sostenible, Congreso SB10mad
Sustainable Building Conference, 2010, http://www.sb10mad.com/ponencias/archivos/area_a.htm. (Fe-
cha de consulta: 26.02.2013).
5 Hall, P., Ciudades del maana. Historia del urbanismo en el siglo XX, Barcelona, Serbal, 1996. pp. 373-
412.
[179]
Figura 1. Demolicin del Barrio Pruitt Igoe, Saint Louis. Estado inicial e imagen televisada de su segunda demolicin.
[http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Pruitt-igoe_collapse-series.jpg].
1955, es aclamado internacionalmente como el prototipo experimental inspira-

do en la Carta de Atenas, pero la falta de mantenimiento provoca un acelerado
proceso de decadencia y abandono que termina convirtindolo en un guetto. La
solucin de demoler el conjunto, altamente difundida por los medios de comu-
nicacin [figura 1], pone en evidencia el fracaso de los programas pblicos de
vivienda social y de la arquitectura moderna6. Desde entonces se denuncia el
efecto negativo de este tipo de arquitectura en sus habitantes, argumentando que
no permite la maduracin hombre-territorio. El desprestigio de la vivienda pblica
se extiende a lo largo de la dcada de los ochenta traducindose en un nmero
inmenso de demoliciones y convirtindose en instrumento poltico, pese a la ca-
rencia de vivienda tanto en Europa como en Estados Unidos.
Junto a esta tendencia a la tbula rasa, paradjicamente tan propia del Movi-
miento Moderno, coexiste una nueva conciencia del territorio y los recursos como
bienes finitos, que lleva a plantear la transformacin urbana a travs de operacio-
nes comprometidas con los modelos preexistentes. Este tipo de intervenciones se
guan por criterios de eficacia econmica, social y medioambiental y, frente a las
demoliciones, evitan la generacin de residuos slidos, rentabilizan las infraes-
tructuras existentes y resuelven problemas de integracin social manteniendo la
poblacin original7. Los arquitectos franceses Druot, Lacaton y Vassal, defensores
de que actuara partir de algo es ms enriquecedor que borrar huellas del pasa-
do, proponen una total reinterpretacin de las ideas del racionalismo, que consi-
deran un proceso inconcluso. Con este punto de partida se apropian del pasado y
6 Sambricio, C., et al., La Vivienda Protegida, historia de una necesidad, Madrid, Ministerio de Vivienda,
2009, pp. 218-219.
7 Valero Ramos, E., La cuestin: la obsolescencia de las barriadas residenciales, en Revista Ciudad Viva,
2009, n. 3, pp. 16-19.
[180]
Figura 2. Rehabilitacin de la torre Bois-le-Prtre, Pars. [Druot, F.; Lacaton, A. Y Vassal, J.p., Metamorfosis de altura.
Rehabilitacin de la torre Bois-le-Prte, Pars, Arquitectura Viva, 2011, n. 139, pp. 88 y 92].
construyen sobre l: no derribar nunca, no restar ni remplazar, sino transformar

y utilizar siempre. Estudian las barriadas como bienes patrimoniales capaces de
generar valor, y por ello consideran importante reivindicar su posicin, analizarlas
en funcin de su uso y diagnosticarlas. Sin necesidad de realojar a la poblacin
durante las obras, plantean rehabilitaciones profundas con las que adaptan los
tipos de vivienda y modifican radicalmente la esttica de los edificios. Su preocu-
pacin por los habitantes que los ocupan se manifiesta en su forma de tratar el
espacio pblico como extensin del interior, mediante un tipo de urbanismo que
surge de la individualidad8.
La finalizacin de la intervencin en la torre de Bois-le-Prtre en 2011 [figura
2] supone la materializacin de los postulados de estos arquitectos9. Se trata de
un edificio en altura de la dcada de los sesenta que forma parte de un conjunto
habitacional al norte de Pars, en el que se aplica un proceso de metamorfosis que
des-densifica la edificacin y la transforma incrementando los espacios privativos
tanto al interior como al exterior. Las plantas bajas e intermedias se esponjan para
introducir servicios y equipamientos, y se diversifican las tipologas permitiendo
que los usuarios opten a otro modelo domstico. La estrategia principal consiste
en dotar al edificio de una nueva piel que disponga galeras acristaladas y terra-
zas delante de cada vivienda para que el espacio de cada vecino sea ampliado
segn el caso, de un 60 a un 100% de superficie. Los muros se rasgan uniendo el
interior a estas extensiones bioclimticas que, protegidas con paneles y cortinas
trmicas, realizan la funcin de controlar la entrada de luz, la radiacin solar y la
8 Druot, F.; Lacaton, A. y Vassal, J.P., Plus: la vivienda colectiva, territorio de excepcin, Barcelona, Gustavo
Gili, 2007, pp. 10-25.
9 Druot, F.; Lacaton, A. y Vassal, J.P., Metamorfosis de altura. Rehabilitacin de la torre Bois-le-Prte,
Pars, en Arquitectura Viva, 2011, n. 139, pp. 88-99.
[181]
ventilacin, y aaden transparencia a la fachada. Este tipo de ejemplos construi-

dos son importantes por su efecto llamada, y por la confirmacin que suponen
respecto a la viabilidad de estos proyectos que podran incrementar la vida til de
reas completas de la ciudad.
Estrategias de intervencin en Espaa
No se puede decir que en Espaa exista una tradicin especfica de interven-

cin en reas consolidadas de carcter habitacional como sucede en otros pases
europeos10. Aunque posee uno de los parques de vivienda ms infrautilizados de
Europa es uno de los pases que menos han invertido en su gestin, volcando
hasta ahora sus esfuerzos en seguir construyendo. En cualquier caso, encontramos
procesos aislados de remodelacin y de rehabilitacin, que pueden ser analiza-
dos para evaluar su contribucin a la regeneracin de los conjuntos de vivienda
masiva.
Procesos de remodelacin urbana
La remodelacin urbana consiste en la sustitucin de la edificacin por otra de

nueva planta, ordenada a partir de la reestructuracin global del tejido urbano11.
Se trata de un proceso de complejsima gestin que, por su carcter renovador,
elimina cualquier tipo de referente y exige el realojo temporal de la poblacin
provocando en ella una ruptura difcil de superar. Se lleva a cabo cuando existen
patologas edificatorias irreversibles de tipo estructural a las que se suele sumar
una inadecuacin funcional de las viviendas. A pesar de que esta estrategia de
intervencin ha venido siendo aplicada desde los aos ochenta en Madrid y pos-
teriormente en Barcelona, supone la adopcin de un criterio homogneo que
puede no ser adecuado sin diferenciar situaciones particulares. Por otra parte,
exige la concentracin de fuertes inversiones de capital en un nmero reducido
de barrios, cuestin que hace imposible su aplicacin de manera generalizada.
La falta de un autntico plan generador de estrategia territorial en las primeras
remodelaciones madrileas provoca que estas no supongan ningn efecto de
incorporacin urbana ni socioeconmica en los territorios tratados. Los rgidos
planteamientos iniciales del Programa de Remodelacin de Barrios12 dan lugar
10 En el informe Les principales tendances de la politique du logement dasn les pays de la CEE (Naciones
Unidas,1980), se plantea ya la disquisicin entre demolicin y reconstruccin o rehabilitacin como un
problema vigente en los pases de la Comunidad Econmica Europea.
11 Blos, D., Los polgonos de vivienda social: perspectivas hacia su recuperacin en Espaa, Francia y Bra-
sil, Barcelona, ETSAB, 1999, p. 324.
12 Se gesta con anterioridad a la creacin de las Autonomas en 1979 y extiende su actividad hasta 1996
abarcando treinta reas del municipio madrileo, con un volumen total de suelo afectado de 837,8 ha.
[182]
Figura 3. Remodelacin urbana del Poblado Dirigido de Orcasitas, Madrid.

[Rodrguez-Villasante, T., et al., Retrato de chabolista con piso. Anlisis de redes sociales en la remodelacin de barrios
de Madrid, Madrid, Revista ALFOZ-CIDUR, 1989, pp.121 y 143].
a operaciones que conceden excesiva importancia al proceso edificatorio y una

total falta de atencin hacia otras necesidades de sus habitantes. Este es el caso
de la remodelacin del Poblado Dirigido de Orcasitas (2.964 viviendas, 40,27
ha) en 1976 [figura 3], dirigida por los arquitectos Manuel Gutirrez, Jos Ignacio
Casanova y Eduardo Hernndez. Tras su construccin en 1957, pronto comienza
a acusar patologas estructurales causadas por asientos en las cimentaciones, as
como una rpida degradacin en paralelo de su edificacin y de su tejido social.
La fuerza de un movimiento vecinal que reivindica la mejora de las condiciones
de las viviendas, consigue el reconocimiento por parte del Estado de una deu-
da social para con ellos, y su compromiso de actuacin global, asegurando el
realojo de toda la poblacin en el barrio. La operacin se basa en la reposicin
de las dos tipologas previas, en vivienda unifamiliar y bloque abierto, mante-
niendo una morfologa urbana discontinua, con contraposiciones claras y super-
ficies desproporcionadas de espacios libres carentes de funcin. Al considerar la
vivienda un fin en s misma, realmente no se consigue uno de los objetivos de
partida del Programa, el de crear ciudad, sino que, como resultado, perviven
los factores negativos que impedan la generacin de vida en el interior del con-
junto. En el exterior, los vacos circundantes no reciben ningn tratamiento que
promueva su apertura o relacin con la malla urbana que los rodea. Adems la
falta de inclusin de usos de carcter productivo, provoca que no se llegue a
combatir la monofuncionalidad, por lo que el polgono es incapaz de renovar o
variar su composicin social13.
Desde mediados de los aos ochenta centra su actividad en rehabilitar realizando tan solo remodela-
ciones en casos irreversibles.
13 Rodrguez-Villasante, T., et al., Retrato de chabolista con piso. Anlisis de redes sociales en la remodela-
cin de barrios de Madrid, Madrid, Revista ALFOZ-CIDUR, 1989, pp.142-146.
[183]
Figura 4. Remodelacin urbana del Barrio Va Trajana, Barcelona. Estado inicial y modificado.
[Sol, J., et al., Reviure els Barris, Barcelona, Departament de Poltica Territorial i Obres Pbliques Generalitat de
Catalunya, 2001, pp. 247 y 248].
En el rea metropolitana de Barcelona, ante la gran cantidad de barrios en los

que la calidad es tan nfima que la rehabilitacin se considera inviable, la Gene-
ralitat de Catalunya aplica a lo largo de la dcada de los noventa el Programa Re-
viure els barris14 centrado en sustituir la edificacin. La actuacin en el barrio Va
Trajana (656 viviendas, 6,00 ha) entre 1995 y 2005, gestionada y ejecutada por el
Institut Catal del Sl (INCASL) de la Generalitat de Catalunya y proyectada por
los equipos de arquitectos Ventura-Gil-Ventura, L35, Moiss Gallego y Joan Jorba,
y Jordi Bosch y Joan Tarrs, supone un avance respecto a situaciones anteriores
[figura 4]. Su factor de xito consiste en que a la hora de plantear la ordenacin de
la nueva edificacin se tienen en cuenta los condicionantes territoriales exteriores
a la propia rea de intervencin. Construido en 1952, en una zona limtrofe con
Sant Adri de Bess y rodeado de infraestructuras e industria, su vida transcurre
al margen de la ciudad hasta que en 1995 se pone en marcha la transformacin
radical del barrio para solucionar su marginalidad. La fragilidad social alimenta
una degradacin fsica de construcciones tipolgicamente caducas y aquejadas
de aluminosis, cuya disposicin perpendicular a las vas del tren que delimitan el
sector, genera espacios libres sin salida clara. La nueva ordenacin del conjunto15
establece una banda de bloques lineales paralelos a la lnea ferroviaria que se
relacionan con ella a travs de un zcalo comercial revitalizador de la actividad y
14 Se inicia a principios de los noventa y su alcance crece de forma espectacular a lo largo de esa dcada.
En la actualidad es gestionado por la empresa pblica de la Generalitat de Catalunya INCASL.
15 Los condicionantes del proceso consisten en que deben construirse las viviendas nuevas antes de
eliminar las existentes, y que los vecinos han de ser reubicados dentro del trmino municipal al que
pertenecen. Pradas, R., Via Trajana ms enll de la frontera, Barcelona, Institut Catal del Sl, 2010.
[184]
liberan un espacio libre en el que se disponen torres residenciales y equipamien-

tos16. Estas medidas activan el funcionamiento interno del polgono, pero queda
pendiente establecer lazos urbanos que lo vinculen con la ciudad y consigan su
insercin socioeconmica en ella.
La nica solucin para que este ltimo aspecto no quede sin resolver, es incen-
tivar la participacin creciente de la ciudadana a lo largo de todo el proceso. El
mejor ejemplo de cooperacin entre los distintos actores (Administracin, tcnicos
y usuarios) es la remodelacin realizada en el barrio Trinidad Nova (1.941 vivien-
das, 20,00 ha) de Barcelona, que comienza en 2002 con la aprobacin de un Plan
Especial de Reforma Interior y una primera fase de sustitucin de 250 viviendas
proyectada por el arquitecto Manuel Ruizsnchez. El barrio se construye en 1957
en un terreno de topografa difcil, con infraestructuras que no le dan servicio y
generan serias incompatibilidades con la edificacin, pero cuya situacin es ideal
para unir los ncleos colindantes con el centro metropolitano. La idea en 1997 de
crear un Plan Comunitario, ideado para encauzar la participacin ciudadana para
conseguir una intervencin integrada, lo convierte en un laboratorio de ensayo de
diversas metodologas colaborativas entre tcnicos y usuarios para conseguir un
ecobarrio basado en la sostenibilidad urbana17. Los criterios de intervencin se
toman de manera consensuada entre los representantes vecinales, el Ayuntamien-
to que se responsabiliza del planeamiento e INCASL que se encarga de la cons-
truccin de las nuevas viviendas que sustituyen a las 900 afectadas de aluminosis.
La idea es formar un barrio caracterizado por la construccin respetuosa con el
entorno, la eficiencia energtica de las viviendas, y la utilizacin de energas re-
novables y de sistemas de reciclaje de agua18. La posibilidad de que la vivienda
protegida se complemente con vivienda libre, la potenciacin de las posibles rela-
ciones con los barrios vecinos y la apertura de nuevas vas de comunicacin son
acciones de una misma estrategia volcada en la revitalizacin del barrio a todos
los niveles.
Procesos de rehabilitacin integral
La rehabilitacin urbana es un modelo de intervencin enfocado a la mejora

de la habitabilidad y de los componentes constructivos de la edificacin para
su adaptacin a la normativa de obra nueva, as como a la reurbanizacin de
espacios libres, viales y redes de infraestructuras. Es concebido desde el recono-
cimiento de la especificidad del rea y de su potencial de relacin con la ciudad,
16 Sol, J., et al., Reviure els Barris, Barcelona, Departament de Poltica Territorial i Obres Pbliques Gene-
ralitat de Catalunya, 2001, pp. 246-257.
17 Velzquez Valoria, I., La participacin social en el proceso de Remodelacin de Trinitat Nova, en Ciu-
dades para un Futuro ms sostenible (Fecha de consulta: 10.04.2012).
18 Sol, J., et al., Reviure els Barris, op. cit., pp. 224-229.
[185]
y se inscribe como parte de un proyecto global de conservacin de la estructura

urbana, con posibilidad de sustitucin puntual de edificacin irreversible o que
dificulte su integracin. La eleccin del grado de actuacin depende de las pato-
logas que presenta la construccin, de las demandas de los residentes y de las
posibilidades del rgano gestor19.
En la mayora de las intervenciones realizadas hasta los aos noventa en Es-
paa, es dudosa la aplicacin del trmino rehabilitacin con el sentido que se le
da en la actualidad, debido a que estn enfocadas a la conservacin o mejora de
la edificacin, pero no responden a una operacin urbanstica ms amplia20. Es-
tas labores de mantenimiento comienzan a realizarse por iniciativa pblica como
respuesta a las protestas vecinales en la dcada de los setenta bajo el nombre de
Proyectos de Reparaciones Extraordinarias y conviven con otro tipo de operacio-
nes de carcter ms intenso que se ponen en marcha cuando las condiciones de
habitabilidad y las caractersticas del proyecto inicial no se adecuan a los patrones
de vida exigibles.
Es en estos primeros procesos de experimentacin cuando se estudia la po-
sibilidad de aplicar rehabilitaciones profundas con redistribucin de viviendas o
incremento en la superficie de las existentes. La mayora de las intervenciones de
este tipo queda sobre el papel, debido a su complejidad estructural y funcional,
pudindose destacar la realizada en el polgono madrileo Juan Tornero (1098
viviendas, 6,72 ha) entre los aos 1992 y 1993, que corre a cargo del Instituto de
la Vivienda de Madrid (IVIMA). La construccin original de 1959, sufre problemas
de sobreocupacin, por lo que se proyecta una transformacin morfolgica con
ampliacin de superficie en planta, mejora de los espacios comunes y consolida-
cin estructural mediante micropilotaje. La operacin consiste en la yuxtaposicin
junto a una de las fachadas de una estructura portante que contiene la ampliacin
de los cuartos hmedos y la incorporacin de un espacio multifuncional semia-
bierto21, de tal manera que no es necesario el realojamiento de los habitantes
durante la obra. Las razones que en este caso llevan a realizar una rehabilitacin
frente a una remodelacin son ms de tipo prctico que conservativo o vinculado
a la sostenibilidad del proceso. Son determinantes: el reducido tamao del rea
intervenida, la prctica inexistencia de espacios libres intermedios, el ahorro de
traslados temporales de la poblacin, y la dificultad de cambio de una estructura
urbana incapaz de asumir la densidad resultante de aplicar los parmetros actua-
les de habitabilidad. Es de imaginar que los costes de esta operacin experimen-
19 Blos, D., Los polgonos de vivienda social, op. cit., p. 333.

20 Busquets, J.; Ferrer, A. y Calvet, L., Evaluacin de las necesidades de rehabilitacin, Madrid, Cegraf,
MOPU, Direccin General de Accin Territorial y Urbanismo, 1985, p.20.
21 Se interviene en 416 viviendas con una superficie til media de 37 m2 no compatible con la familia media
de 6 miembros, y suponie un incremento del 35% del rea privativa.
[186]
tal, superiores en un 1,5% a una remodelacin con derribo, nueva construccin y

urbanizacin, y en un 15,4% a la simple reposicin de la edificacin22, supongan
un factor determinante para que este tipo de intervenciones no hayan conseguido
extenderse en nuestro pas.
Ms habituales en la actualidad son las rehabilitaciones integrales de carcter
mediano, que se plantean para garantizar las condiciones mnimas de habitabili-
dad y la adecuacin estructural y funcional. Constructivamente implican la mejora
del comportamiento higrotrmico de la envolvente, la actualizacin de las insta-
laciones y los elementos comunes, y la adecuacin de la accesibilidad mediante
el tratamiento de los ncleos que son complementados con ascensores. Este es
el tipo de actuacin que se est llevando a cabo en varios grupos de vivienda
protegida construidos en Zaragoza entre los aos cuarenta y setenta del siglo
pasado. Una de ellas es la realizada en el Grupo Alfrez Rojas (656 viviendas,
4,39 ha), con propuesta urbanstica y proyecto piloto del equipo ACXT IDOM coordi-
nado por Eduardo Arags y Ana Morn, que comienza a realizarse en el ao 2006
[figura 5]. El conjunto residencial, construido en 1957, presenta carencias cons-
tructivas de tipo funcional: falta de estanqueidad y de aislamiento trmico de la
fachada y cubierta, caducidad de las instalaciones y mal estado de conservacin
de los espacios comunes. En el ao 2001 es catalogado como Conjunto Urbano
de Inters, junto con otros grupos de la ciudad de caractersticas semejantes, como
medida para controlar su conservacin. Posteriormente, en 2004, el Ayuntamiento
a travs de la Sociedad Municipal Zaragoza Vivienda sienta las bases metodol-
gicas para estudiar en profundidad la realidad fsica y social de estos grupos, y
llevar a cabo una intervencin urbana a largo plazo con criterios de innovacin,
conexin y sostenibilidad medioambiental23.
Se trata de una rehabilitacin energtica, no solo por el propio concepto del
proceso, sino por el ahorro de las emisiones a lo largo del nuevo ciclo de vida de
la edificacin24. La optimizacin de instalaciones y el revestimiento de fachadas
complementados con la incorporacin de captadores solares en cubierta, son me-
didas que consiguen incrementar el grado de confort y la eficiencia energtica de
la edificacin, con reducciones del 37% en el consumo anual medio por vivien-
da25. La aplicacin de estas medidas a nivel de barrio constituira un instrumento
22 Blos, D., Los polgonos de vivienda social, op. cit., pp. 341-348.
23 Ruiz Palomeque, L.G. y Rubio del Val, J., Nuevas propuestas de Rehabilitacin Urbana en Zaragoza:
estudio de Conjuntos Urbanos de Inters, Zaragoza, Sociedad Municipal de Rehabilitacin Urbana de
Zaragoza, 2006.
24 La intervencin en el grupo Alfrez Rojas gan el Premio Nacional Endesa a la Rehabilitacin ms efi-
ciente 2010.
25 Comprobado en la rehabilitacin realizada con el mismo criterio en el Grupo El Picarral de Zaragoza. Ru-
bio del Val, J., Rehabilitacin Urbana en Espaa. La experiencia de Zaragoza, en Mster en Ecodiseo
y Eficiencia Energtica en Edificacin, Zaragoza, 31 de marzo de 2011.
[187]
Figura 5. Rehabilitacin integral del Grupo Alfrez Rojas, Zaragoza. Estado inicial y modificado.
[Material de elaboracin propia].
importante en favor de la sostenibilidad, capaz de combatir la pobreza energtica

en estas reas. Desde el punto de vista formal, este tipo de intervencin influye de
manera decisiva en la nueva imagen del conjunto, en cuya apariencia tradicional
y montona se introduce una sensacin de innovacin y revitalizacin exterior,
manteniendo su unidad y coherencia formal.
La dimensin urbanstica de los polgonos de vivienda protegida como reas
potenciales de intervencin de amplia extensin territorial, determina en mu-
chos casos el carcter de la operacin. Esta escala de paisaje urbano est muy
presente en la actuacin integral del barrio de Camp Red (568 viviendas,
2,30 ha) de Palma de Mallorca [figura 6]. Se pone en marcha en 2008 con propuesta
edificatoria del equipo de arquitectos NIU dirigido por Joan Cerd26 y se trata de
una rehabilitacin mediana de la edificacin con modificacin puntual de la trama
urbana. Desde su construccin en 1954, la conflictividad social que se respira en
el barrio, el mal uso del espacio pblico y la progresiva devaluacin de los indi-
cadores de bienestar de las viviendas, llevan al Consorci per a la Rehabilitaci In-
tegral de Barris (Consorci RIBA) del Ayuntamiento de Palma a realizar estudios de
la poblacin y de la realidad cercana, para posteriormente plantear programas de
rehabilitacin de vivienda, equipamientos y tratamiento urbano, integracin econ-
mico-social e innovacin27. La actuacin sobre el sistema inicial de bloques lineales
consiste en eliminar los bloques de vivienda transversales a la direccin dominante,
que impiden la fluidez de las circulaciones, y perforar los longitudinales con pasos
intermedios, para favorecer la permeabilidad del espacio pblico a travs de ellos.
Las actuaciones sobre el bien construido son ms invasivas que en el caso anterior
26 http://www.niuarquitectura.com/inicio.php. (Fecha de consulta: 10.12.2012).

27 Equipo del Consorci RIBA, La rehabilitacin integral de barrios: Un modelo centrado en la ciudada-
na, Comunicacin Congreso Internacional Rehabilitacin y Sostenibilidad. El futuro es posible, 2010,
http://www.rsf2010.org/es/comunica. (Fecha de consulta: 22.02.2013).
[188]
Figura 6. Rehabilitacin integral de Camp Red, Palma de Mallorca. Estado inicial y modificado.
[http://www.niuarquitectura.com/inicio.php].
debido a que, adems de actualizar las condiciones de las viviendas y darles una
imagen renovada, pretenden modificar el uso del espacio pblico desde la mor-
fologa edificatoria. Como en el resto de las intervenciones de carcter integral,
la existencia de un proyecto global, con estudios de su relacin con el entorno
y la totalidad del ncleo urbano que hagan posible la programacin de acciones
puntuales a largo plazo, es fundamental para garantizar la coherencia del proceso.
Procesos de transformacin urbana
En la actualidad, tanto los planes integrales de remodelacin como los de

rehabilitacin estn enfocados a detener el deterioro edificatorio, incrementar la
sostenibilidad del tejido urbano, preservar los valores patrimoniales, reforzar la
cohesin social y favorecer la actividad econmica. A pesar de que su escala de
actuacin y objetivos son los mismos, hasta el momento las herramientas urbans-
ticas que regulan estos dos tipos de intervencin siguen contemplndolos como
procesos estancos28. Sin embargo, como regla general lo deseable sera que dentro
de un permetro diverso pudieran desarrollarse actuaciones mixtas capaces de
adaptarse a las distintas necesidades de la edificacin y de la trama urbana. La
transformacin del barrio barcelons de La Mina (2.727 viviendas, 21,21 ha), desa-
rrollada por un Plan Especial de Reordenacin y Mejora aprobado en 2002, consi-
gue cruzar estrategias diferenciadas aportando la solucin adecuada a situaciones
singulares dentro de la misma unidad de ejecucin [figura 7]. La reconversin
fsica del barrio queda finalizada en 2010 recibiendo todo tipo de premios, entre
ellos el Premio Europeo de Urbanismo de ese mismo ao29, por suponer la mate-
28 Rubio del Val, J., y Molina Costa, P., Estrategias, retos y oportunidades en la rehabilitacin de polgonos
de vivienda, en Revista Ciudades, 2010, n. 13, pp. 15-37.
29 Premio Nacional de Urbanismo en 2006, Premio Europeo de Urbanismo 2010 e inclusin en el VIII
catlogo de buenas prcticas del Comit Habitat Espaol.
[189]
Figura 7. Transformacin urbana del Barrio de La Mina, Barcelona. Estado inicial y modificado.
[Material facilitado por Sebasti Jornet].
rializacin de un proceso de regeneracin urbana, en el que los distintos mbitos

se integran en un proyecto transversal en cuanto a instrumentos y contenidos.
Situado dentro del trmino municipal de Sant Adri de Bess, el polgono de
La Mina se construye en 1971 como unidad vecinal de absorcin de los ncleos
de chabolas dispersos por las inmediaciones. Se caracteriza por una fraccionada
estructura urbana, en la que la concentracin de dotaciones, actuando como vaco
central entre dos reas residenciales, se ve complementada por una tensa relacin
entre las piezas construidas y las inmensas superficies de espacios libres30. Los in-
tentos de modificar la situacin de grave declive social que presenta desde la pri-
mera dcada de vida son infructuosos. Su ubicacin marginal comienza a cambiar
a mediados de los aos noventa cuando la prolongacin de la avenida Diagonal y
las actuaciones relacionadas con el Frum de las Culturas 2004 resitan esta rea
en el continuo metropolitano, dotndola de un nuevo valor posicional.
La transformacin del barrio arranca con la constitucin en el ao 2000 de un
Consorcio entre la Diputacin, la Generalitat, y los Ayuntamientos de Sant Adri y
Barcelona para dirigir y ejecutar una intervencin hbrida. La operacin, proyec-
tada por el equipo de arquitectos formado por Sebasti Jornet, Carlos Llop y Joan
Enric Pastor, se fundamenta en tres ideas bsicas: centralidad para conferir identi-
dad al conjunto, diversidad para aadir complejidad a nivel fsico, social y econ-
mico e intercambio para evitar la atrofia y la fractura social31. Urbansticamente, se
materializa modificando por completo el vaco central con la construccin de un
30 Sainz Gutirrez, V., Repensar la vivienda, reinventar la ciudad. La transformacin del barrio barcelons
de La Mina, en Proyecto, Progreso, Arquitectura, 2011, n. 5, pp. 108-127.
31 Lpez de Lucio, R., Ordenar el territorio, op. cit., pp.124-171.
[190]
eje urbano condensador de los tres principios bsicos, una rambla generadora de
nuevos espacios de actividad, equipamientos y arquitecturas residenciales. Segn
Sebasti Jornet: cortar para volver a coser, pero poniendo una buena cremallera,
en lugar de un simple zurcido. Para disear el espacio pblico se trabaja con la
idea de densidad urbana, referida a la distancia y la relacin entre las piezas, as
como a la coherencia de los espacios que definen32. La edificacin residencial se
mantiene en su mayor parte mejorando sus condiciones de habitabilidad y accesi-
bilidad, se substituyen determinados inmuebles de manera selectiva y se aaden
nuevas tramas para conseguir una mezcla tipolgica de viviendas, que potencie la
diversidad del barrio. Se distribuyen adems las dotaciones, buscando sus mejores
localizaciones para favorecer flujos transversales a la rambla e intercambios del
barrio con el resto de la ciudad. Finalmente, en paralelo a estas actuaciones se
desarrolla un plan de actuacin que abarca los mbitos socioeconmico, laboral,
educativo, de convivencia y de participacin ciudadana. Este otro tipo de inter-
vencin, imprescindible para conseguir la reconversin total del rea, se progra-
ma con unos tiempos muy diferentes al de la transformacin fsica.
Retos de la metodologa de intervencin
Como conclusin, la degradacin fsica del paisaje urbano revela dificultades

de tipo econmico, social o cultural no evidentes a simple vista, pero que carac-
terizan de manera general nuestras periferias. En trminos generales, el proceso
de gestin, las caractersticas y demandas de la poblacin afectada, y los posibles
problemas a nivel constructivo y urbanstico generados por estas tipologas re-
sidenciales obsoletas, son factores determinantes para dictaminar el proceso de
intervencin ms adecuado para cada operacin. El factor comn a todos ellos
es que han de ser planteados con una dimensin territorial, que domine sobre
actuaciones sectoriales de carcter parcial.
Frente a procesos de remodelacin o de construccin de nuevas reas urbanas,
las actuaciones de tipo conservativo toman como punto de partida el respeto por
las infraestructuras heredadas y la conciencia de los recursos como bienes limita-
dos que en la medida de lo posible hay que preservar. Si se atiende a su rentabili-
dad medioambiental, estos procesos resultan eficaces tanto durante su ejecucin,
al evitar la generacin masiva de residuos por demolicin y de emisiones por la
posterior construccin de nuevas estructuras, como durante la nueva vida de las
32 El Plan Especial est basado en una ordenanza flexible para no forzar soluciones excesivamente rgidas.
Se conjugan aspectos irrenunciables de higiene, orden y significacin urbana definiendo tres tipos de
alineaciones: fija u obligatoria, flexible o deslizante y libre en reas de movimiento.
Jornet, S., Llop, C. y Pastor, J.E., Plan de transformacin del barrio de La Mina (2001-2010), en Revista
Ciudad Viva, 2008, n. 2, pp. 28-29.
[191]
edificaciones al mejorar su comportamiento energtico adecundolas a un confort

aceptable para las condiciones actuales de habitabilidad. Suponen adems una so-
lucin econmicamente ventajosa33, resultando ms viable que pudieran hacerse
extensivas, y una garanta social, evitando el mximo nmero de realojos durante
el proceso y solucionando problemas de integracin con programas especficos
paralelos.
Como reto pendiente para implantar este tipo de intervenciones, habra que
generar una metodologa basada en tres aspectos fundamentales: una planifica-
cin tcnica del problema necesaria para solucionar patologas constructivas y
deficiencias urbansticas, unos mecanismos de gestin y participacin ciudadana
adecuados para que la intervencin pueda desarrollarse totalmente y no quede
inacabada, y unos modos de financiacin enfocados a involucrar a un sector
privado que hasta ahora se ha venido manteniendo al margen. Asimismo, por
tratarse de un modelo de actuacin nuevo, a pesar de que maneja objetivos, es-
calas, agentes, recursos, procesos, y marcos normativos y de gestin propios, la
rehabilitacin urbana no constituye an un rea de actividad definida. Se hace
necesario por tanto cubrir vacos como la ausencia de legislacin y normativa
propias, de tecnologa adecuada y de tcnicos especializados para llegar a cons-
tituir un sector especfico e independiente con el que se rectifiquen los patrones
urbansticos actuales**.
33 Como demuestran las rehabilitaciones medianas realizadas en Zaragoza, en las que la intervencin
en una vivienda supone un 38% del presupuesto de ejecucin de otra equivalente de obra nueva con
demolicin. Ruiz Palomeque, G., Conjuntos de Zaragoza. Mtodo de planificacin tcnica y gestin para
la rehabilitacin y la regeneracin urbana, en Seminario Regeneracin urbana integrada: cohesin
social, responsabilidad ambiental e integracin urbana, octubre 2012. http://www2.aq.upm.es/Depar-
tamentos/Urbanismo/blogs/re-hab/seminario-re-hab-cohesion-social-ii-casos/ (fecha de consulta: 25-02-
2013).
** Mi agradecimiento al apoyo econmico recibido por la Universidad de Zaragoza y el Banco Santander,
proyecto UZ2012-TEC-03. A Juan Rubio del Val por sus indicaciones previas y a Pilar Biel Ibez por sus
comentarios y observaciones que contribuyeron a mejorar este texto.
[192]
[194]
INTRODUCTION
There is an array of disciplines that participate in the kaleidoscopic world of

historic heritage which add complementary and enrich the views on the pro-
blems of its trust and management, the criteria for its preservation and restoration,
professional ethics and deontology, social perception and enjoyment of cultural
goods and so many other aspects which contribute a large amount of bibliogra-
phy. It is precisely in this academic context of exchanging experience, knowledge
and ideas where this publication arises as a product of the international seminar
Preserving the past, planning the future. Tendencies in 21st century monumental
heritage, celebrated in Zaragoza on 11and 12 April, 2013, attended by scholars
and professors from both national and international universities with which the
University of Zaragoza have kept institutional relationships for many years.
The aim of this meeting was to analyze the present situation of monumental
restoration, going deeply in the tendencies, the problems, the debates arising in
the last years, in order to consider new approaches for the future. As a starting
point, we must take into account the long history of monumental heritage resto-
ration as a modern discipline, linked to the emergence of the concept of heritage
itself as an Illustration-inherited idea, to the appearance of historical awareness
regarding the past, a feature that characterizes Contemporaneity. Monumental
restoration is, therefore, a historically and critically based discipline, nurtured by
the contributions of Contemporary Architecture, History, Technology and Science,
recognizing the cultural values of the object to be restored, which are those that
justify its preservation, with accepted methodology and criteria (above all the do-
cuments named International Charters, in addition to the laws of every country).
These reference criteria, as professor Giovanni Carbonara named them, are the
point towards restoration must be conducted: visual notoriety, reversibility, mini-
mum intervention, respect for authenticity; despite these concepts being clearly a
tendency (critical restoration), not all professionals agree on them.
As professor Stella Casiello states: Above all it is necessary to preserve as
much as possible, since the monument is a tangible document containing in itself
an important background knowledge; any intervention whatsoever on the buil-
ding must, therefore, seek the minimum loss and guide its physiologic transforma-
tion. At the same time, the intervention must be brought about critically, based on
the deep knowledge of the work, where time layers and degradation itself acquire
[195]
complex meanings as additions to or destroyers of the piece1 and she carries on:
restoration, then, must establish some duties: to restitute the lost balance, to show
the concealed values where, by means of a small loss of material, an otherwise
threaten material, to make discreet functional adaptations according to ethical
principles, and to abate the degradation keeping the works authenticity2.
The truth is that restoration is a key theme in contemporary culture dealing
with some fundamental aspects such as history and memory, on which, it seems,
there is not yet a conceptual unity. We have difficulties in evaluating it, defining
it, and we find antithetical criteria (from reconstruction to conservation). It is a
contradictory and complex area that moves by means of antinomies: material/
form, new/old, true/false, production/reproduction, etc., and so it deserves new
approaches.
And, what does it happen with present time? There is a strange paradox now,
as the Italian architect B. Paolo Torsello pointed out: investments and attention
on historical heritage grow, but in the last decades the interest on theoretical ela-
boration has waned, whereas all Europe commits in the defence and reassessment
of Architecture, landscape and cultural and artistic objects3. Yet, goes on Torsello:
Restoration, a scarcely visited, even disdained, area before is now suddenly in-
habited. There are many and, at the same time, divergent and conflicting voices
related to the trust of heritage, because everyone seeks his own professional inte-
rest () Today we can say that the conservation of historical and artistic heritage
appeals to a variety of subjects and themes, notwithstanding the contradictory
plurality of interests and aims4. And what is threatening: The objects, which once
suffered neglect, are today on the verge of being crushed by excessive care, above
all by heterogeneous approaches and the confusion of the languages applied to
its fragile material5.
In this contradictory scenario, there emerge at least two requirements. The
first one is seemingly of a linguistic nature since it has to do with the terminology
used in restoration which on one hand comes from different contexts (history,
aesthetics, architecture, building, technology) and on the other hand, produces
different meanings. Terminology runs in a transversal way which involves many
disciplines, being often ambiguous and confusing, thence the necessity for, first
of all, clarifying the terms in order to later deal with the criteria, the contents.
This is not a worthless task at all, since there are so many important questions
in monumental restoration such as the role of history, the role of memory, the
1 Torsello, B. P., Che cos il restauro?, Venezia, Marsilio, 2005, p. 31.

[196]
INTRODUCTION
consequences the broadening of the concept of heritage has, and more formal
aspects such as the meaning of restoration as architectonic plan, the relationship
between new architecture and the existing one, the influence of aesthetics, taste
and contemporary art in restoration.
It must be taken into account, as some authors have already stated (in Italy,
Giovanni Carbonara, B. Paolo Torsello himself, among others; in Spain, Ignasi
Sol Morales), that from the end of the 70s, with the arrival of postmodernism,
history has become a consumer product and architecture itself has lost capacity for
theoretical self-reflection, but in specific exceptions that tend to global sociologi-
cal and aesthetic reflections like those by Rem Koolhas (Delirious NY)6. Therefore,
a reflection on restoration seems to be most appropriate, which is what has led us
to this point. The publication of this book allows us to gather many views from
different and complementary disciplines, history of art and architecture, which
help and need each other, and from two cultural perspectives, Italian and Spanish,
together with an extremely interesting contribution from Latin America, with a lot
of similitudes and differences as well. In fact, the particular situation in our coun-
try, where restoration has been carried out with a somehow creative freedom,
has led to some authors to talk about restoration a la espaola, what most times
bewilders (and is sometimes the envy of) colleagues from other countries.
This book reunites ten different views on our discipline by experts with a long
researching and professional run. It is started with a series of works reflecting on
general questions that introduce the reader into a general panorama of the situa-
tion. The first contribution analyses the relationship between the restoration and
safekeeping of monumental heritage, by JOS CASTILLO RUIZ, art historian and
professor in the University of Granada, who states that architectonic restoration
must be understood as one more activity within the set of actions that make up
the safekeeping of Historical Heritage, and so we must consult it in order to assess
properly the tendencies in restoration today. He focuses on those aspects he con-
siders more relevant, because of their being signals that show its future direction
(tendencies), for constituting important challenges to overcome (challenges), or,
finally, for generating illusions (hopes). Next, ASCENSION HERNNDEZ MAR-
TNEZ, art historian and professor in the University of Zaragoza, reflects on the
terminology used in architectonic restoration today, and
shows the tendency in the last years to avoid the use of the term restoration
in favor of some others such as transformation, recycling, reusing, reassessment,
appropriation or mutation. According to the author, this semantic shift lays bare
the rejection to some of the criteria for the restoration of historical buildings, for
a greater freedom when restoring monuments, which threatens the transmission
[197]
of the historical and cultural values of heritage. And from the University of Sao
Paulo (Brasil), the architect and professor BEATRIZ MUGAYAR KHL, offers a
more-than-needed essay on the ethics of the preservation of cultural heritage,
establishing that the reasons why a certain society preserves its heritage must be
analyzed, since these are the basis of the theoretical principles that sustain the
praxis of restoration. According to her, to work with coherent criteria and a solid
methodology is a must, avoiding and refusing arbitrary interventions that are tied
to personal and sector interests. These measures should guide the ethical and
deontological principles of our discipline so as the cultural goods may be reliable
documents that transmit the cultural values and, as such, real support for the his-
torical and collective memory knowledge.
Within the professional praxis, LUIS FRANCO LAHOZ, architect and professor
in the University of Zaragoza, reflects on the role of the architect in the restoration
today, a complex and joint activity where the different disciplines try and find an
agreement on the formative clues and last sense of every monument, regarding its
metamorphoses, its material and constructive support, and the values that define it
as a monument. For professor Franco Lahoz, architectonic planning in restoration
has taken up the practice that aims at adding to the transformation of the building
and keeping in tune with the old, without denying its contemporaneity.On the
same way, the analysis of the restoration from the point of view of the architecture,
are the next two essays. The architect and professor RICCARDO DALLA NEGRA,
from the University of Ferrara (Italy), analyses the situation of monumental archi-
tecture, towards which two attitudes has been planned: the planning culture,
which tends to consider as legitimate to intervene with contemporary language
regardless of previous architecture, and the conservation practice, aware of the
distance between past and present and therefore of necessity to keep the prints of
history. Debate between both sides has provoked many misunderstandings and
contradictions analyzed in his text. Next the architect and professor CLAUDIO
VARAGNOLLI from the University of Chiara-Pescara (Italy), deepens on the use
and consume of the heritage built in Italy in the 21st century through a selection
of significant buildings restored in the last years. Among them, Tadao Andos in-
terventions in Punta della Doganna and Renzo Pianos in Fondazione Vedova, in
Venice, or that by Emmanuelle Fidone in San Pietro, Siracusa. Professor Varagnolli
considers not an optimistic acceptance of this but a criticism aiming at the unders-
tanding of the contributions of these instances to monumental restoration, linking
them to recent theories that try to overcome the long ago consolidated positions,
keeping the intelectual conquests of the field of restoration.
Completing the contributions from Italy, architect and professor SIMONA SAL-
VO deepens on a particular point of monumental restoration from the point of
view of the Italian culture: the interventions carried out in 20th-century archi-
tecture, pointing out the belief that, according to its peculiarities, the traditional
[198]
INTRODUCTION
criteria taken from granted in the restoration activity could not be applied. In fact,
professor Salvo confirms the greater amount of repristino activities than of resto-
ration ones. The same happens in contemporary art, that is why relationships with
visual arts were established. On this line, CARLOTA SANTABARBARA MORERA,
art historian and restorer, analyses in her doctoral essay the conservation of con-
temporary art (University of Zaragoza), as a result of which is her contribution to
this book, where, from the analysis of the restorations of significant works of art
in different museums and international institutions, the criteria for the restoration
are compared, which leads to reflect on the diversity of criteria and the evident
confrontation today between the Italian and German restoration theories, and the
questioning of the ideas of Cesare Brandi.
The existing heritage presents, at the same time, new fields that must be
analyzed such as industrial heritage and social housing, with which this book
ends. M PILAR BIEL IBAEZ, professor in the University of Zaragoza, deals with
the situation of the first one in the 21st century, and relates it to the new condi-
tion of the city in this new millennium. The shift in the economic pattern, one
of its pillars being the exploitation of heritage and cultural values of the cities, is
the context where professor Biel places the conservation of this heritage, which
in a many instances tries to turn the historical factory into a consumer product
regardless of its historical values. Lastly, NOELIA CERVERO SANCHEZ, architect
and professor in the University of Zaragoza, states how to preserve social housing
developments, specially regarding the conciliation of their living conditions, redu-
ced in many instances, with their different assessments (historical, architectonic,
urban, social, etc). What strategies must be followed? Should we consider them
up-to-date versions that integrate into the city and generate life? Or, on the other
hand, should be more radical policies on urban development imposed?
These are some of the reflections professor Cervero contributes.
Once the contents have been stated, this introduction cannot finish without
the essential acknowledgements. First of all, the Institution Fernando el Catli-
co, which has always accepted with a extraordinary generosity all our academic
projects for years and, besides, we would like to acknowledge the contribution
of the following research projects: El Patrimonio Agrario. La construccin cultural
del territorio a travs de la actividad agraria, directed by professor Jos Castillo
Ruiz, from the University of Granada (Proyecto I+D+i, reference: HAR2010-1589
C02-C01, 2012-2013), Museos y barrios artsticos: arte pblico, artistas, institucio-
nes, directed by professor Jess Pedro Lorente Lorente (Proyecto I+D+i referencia:
HAR2012-38899, 2013-2015), Indicadores de sostenibilidad en la rehabilitacin de
la vivienda social y la regeneracin urbana, directed by Belinda Lpez Mesa from
the University de Zaragoza (Proyecto I+D+i, referencia: UZ2012-TEC-03, 2013, Re-
search Projects sponsored by Banco de Santader). Without them this book could
not be possible since they have allowed the international scope of their outcomes
[199]
by means of the translation of every essay into English, which constitutes the se-
cond half of the book, because our intention is to spread as much as possible a
key question: the conservation of our cultural heritage, where every reflection and
analysis is needed to create a forum, a space for common analysis which allows
us to go as far as possible in our discipline. This is the task we are in charge of as
academic and scientific people involved in preservation of our cultural heritage,
open to discussion and compromised as responsible citizens in this task which
falls to society as well.
M Pilar Biel Ibez y Ascensin Hernndez Martnez

Department of History of Art. University of Zaragoza
[200]
CULTURAL HERITAGE IN THE 21ST CENTURY: TENDENCIES,
CHALLENGES AND HOPES. EFFECTS ON
MONUMENTAL RESTORATION
JOS CASTILLO RUIZ*
Abstract: we must understand architectural restoration as an activity within the set

of actions that made up the safeguarding of national heritage, so it is essential to
turn to it when properly evaluating the tendencies in present time restoration. This
is the task of our work. For this reason we have focused on those aspects in the
safeguarding we consider more relevant now, for either being the signs that lead
the future path (tendencies), or for constituting important challenges to overpass
(challenges) or, finally, for generating illusion (hopes).
Key words: Historical Heritage. Protection. Listed Cultural Properties. Restoration.
Citizen Engagement.
1. Introduction. The legitimacy of the criteria for restoration established

by safeguarding
As Antoni Gonzlez states, architectural restoration is a simultaneously tech-

nical, scientific, creative and social discipline1, which explains the succession
throughout history of so many theoretical and methodological alignments, as many
as present times (in Cesari Brandis words) have been recognized and judged in
the monuments. However, this historical quality in restoration cannot be mistaken
as autonomy or scientific independence (despite of its being a constant ambition),
because restoration is but an evaluating and performing process on the contents
and meanings of specific cultural properties, the architectural heritage (or the
monuments), hence its contribution to this recognition cannot be detached from
* Professor of History of Art. University of Granada. jcastill@ugr.es

1 Gonzlez Moreno-Navarro, A., La restauracin objetiva (mtodo SCCM de restauracin monumental),
Barcelona, Diputacin, 1999, p. 12.
[201]
JOS CASTILLO RUIZ
that globally made by the monuments proper discipline2, the safeguarding of

historical heritage3.
To clarify the principles, aims or drives that sustain monumental restoration in
the first decades of the 21st century cannot be achieved without turning into those
that characterize, in a general way, the safeguarding of cultural properties. How-
ever, it is very difficult to introduce in a briefly way a general scope of it, hence
our option to focus on those aspects we consider more relevant today, for either
being the signs that lead the future path (tendencies), or constituting important
challenges to overpass (challenges) or, finally, generating illusion (hopes).
Before that, we want to mention a principle we consider absolute due to this
interweaving and/or subordination of restoration to safeguarding: the legitimacy
of the principles (intervention rules or criteria) instituted by the protection (com-
pulsory regulations established in national and international levels) to architec-
tural restoration. Those established in the different Cartas del restauro, as those
incorporated in the different national legislations, should be obeyed not as the
interferences of the legislator in any scientific field but as the establishment of
a set of rules considered inherent to Historical Heritage Safeguarding. We mean
principles such as authenticity, respect to historical truth or the need to pass cul-
tural properties to future generations, and which have in restoration criteria such
as the prohibition of reconstructions, distinction between the old and the new,
defense of historical additions or the use of compatible materials, their technical
transcription.
So, it is under the perspective of the defense of general interest (which is un-
derlying in the principles of the safeguarding) that we must obey the restoration
criteria legally set up, which, besides, allows citizens to claim for its fulfillment
in those cases (unfortunately too many) in which the decisions made by profes-
sionals and institutions are clearly detrimental to the preservation of monument
values.
2. Tendencies. The new emerging (and fringe) heritages
The safeguarding of Historical Heritage is, besides a scientific practice, a dis-

cipline solidly laid down with a long historical development, which has been
2 Castillo Ruiz, J. Los fundamentos de la proteccin: el efecto desintegrador producido por la considera-
cin del patrimonio histrico como factor de desarrollo, in Patrimonio Cultural y Derecho, n. 8, 2004,
pp. 11-36.
3 We demand in this text the use of Historical Heritage, since we understand that the scope of tangible or
intangible properties under the concept of culture (which justifies the general using of the term Cultural
Heritage) perfectly fits the concept of history, even from a historic point of view (past or recent), which
is the unavoidable essence of Heritage (be it called Historical or Cultural).
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CULTURAL HERITAGE IN THE 21ST CENTURY: TENDENCIES, CHALLENGES AND HOPES
provided with a solid and stable theoretical, scientific and methodological corpus.
However, as any other social disciplines, it is related to history, so its solidity and
stability is not incompatible with changes or its evolution.
The safeguarding scope where we find a further degree of evolution and in-
novation is the concept of Historical Heritage, which, following a constant line
throughout its history does not stop enlarging itself, giving room to new values or
unlisted properties. Nowadays, there are two aspects that better define this evolu-
tion of the concept of Historical Heritage:
The merging or interrelation of heritage categories of different nature and
value (natural and cultural, material and intangible properties) in a given
territorial area. In order to formulate and typify this merging of patrimonial
masses, different concepts are being established. Some concepts, the fewer,
with the holistic intention of identifying the set of properties to be listed:
here we may use concepts such as Heritage (without adjectives), territorial
heritage4 and, to a lesser extent, landscape5. And other concepts, the more,
to include new kinds of regional properties, such as Cultural Landscape
(and the derivations that, typified in some way, emerge: Historical Urban
Landscape, Rural Landscape, Industrial Landscape), Cultural Route, Heritage
Zone, Historical Site, etc.
The acknowledgement of new values and kinds of properties. Although the
number of values incorporated to Historical Heritage in the last years is
quite large (landscape, industrial, technological, linguistic, audiovisual, etc),
the following two groups are the most relevant in this important expansion
of values and properties: Intangible Heritage, whose powerful rush into the
field of protection may be regarded as a real revolution of unknown effects
on the basis of Historical Heritage. And properties related to human activ-
ities: to the already accepted Industrial Heritage we must add many others
in progress of legal establishment: Agrarian, Mining, Education, Military and
4 It is in the administrative and historiographic fields (not so often in international legislation) that we find
many reflections and proposals on these concepts. We underline in this respect: Ortega Valcrcel, J., El
patrimonio territorial: El territorio como recurso cultural y econmico, in Ciudades: Revista del Instituto
Universitario de Urbanstica de la Universidad de Valladolid, n 4, 1998, p. 33-48; Martnez Yez, C., Pa-
trimonializacin del territorio y territorializacin del patrimonio, in Cuadernos de Arte de la Universidad
de Granada , n. 39, 2008, p.251-266; lvarez Mora, A., (Dir.), Patrimonio y Territorio, Valladolid, Instituto
de Urbanstica de la Universidad, 1998; Verdugo Santos, J., El territorio como fundamento de una nueva
retrica de los bienes culturales, in PH, Boletn del Instituto Andaluz del Patrimonio Histrico, 53, 2005,
p. 95.
5 I would like to mention two editions out of the large bibliography in this field: Zoido Naranjo, F., El
paisaje un concepto til para relacionar esttica, tica y poltica, in Scripta Nova, Vol. XVI, n. 407, July
10th 2012, pp. 1-19. Available in http://www.ub.es/geocrit/sn/sn-407.htm (consulting date July 22nd
2013) and Mata Olmo, R., La dimensin patrimonial del paisaje. Una mirada desde los espacios rurales,
in Maderuelo, J., (Dir.), Paisaje y Patrimonio, Madrid, CDAN, Abada Editores, 2010, p. 31-73.
[203]
JOS CASTILLO RUIZ
University Heritage6, etc. Although to a lesser extent, the consequences in

the safeguarding derived from the incorporation of these properties will
also be important.
One of the most clearly noted effects of these tendencies in the evolution of
the concept of Historical Heritage is the confusion and controversy generated
around the criteria used to list a given property. This confusion proceeds in dif-
ferent ways:
In the regional dimension7. The increasingly important inclusion of the re-
gional dimension of the Historical Heritage is posing many questions about
the criteria used for its formal identification and valuation, a confusion ex-
tending into protection itself. We can identify many problematic situations.
The first one is the confrontation generated between the vague model of
protection (and heritage recognition) established by the instruments for re-
gional planning (guaranteed by the 2000 European Landscape Convention)8,
and the model derived from Historical Heritage laws, based on the listing of
particular regional properties by entities such as Cultural Landscape or, in
the case of Andalucia, the Heritage Zones, and, generally speaking, to the
maximum protective level, Cultural property (Bien de Inters Cultural).
The second one, is the difficulty we find to delimit the regional listed prop-
erties. Although this delimitation should not pose major problems, from the
point of view of the regional cultural evaluation, the imposition of a sharp
and powerful protection program derived from the listing as Asset of Cul-
tural Interest imply to reconsider the criteria in order to minimize the listing
effects, reducing the limits to their maximum, which means to subvert the
essence of regional properties.
6 We would like to contribute, as an example, the definition of Agrarian Heritage we have elaborated in the
Pago Project (being us its main researchers) and established in the so called Charter of Baeza on Agrarian
Heritage. Agrarian Heritage consists on the set of natural and cultural, material and intangible properties,
generated by or used for the agrarian activity throughout its history. From this definition on the number
and variety of goods which may be considered Agrarian Heritage is very ample. We may distinguish
following the traditional classification of properties used in the heritage regulations between movable
properties (tools and implements used for farming, transportation, storage and production of cattle and
harvests, documents and bibliographic objects, etc), singular immovable property (building elements con-
sidered in a singular way: farmhouses, orchards, centers for agrarian transformation, barns, fences, thresh-
ing floors, etc), lineal immovable property (landscapes, rural settlements, irrigation systems, singular rural
ecosystems, livestock trails, roads, etc), intangible culture (linguistics, belief, rituals, festivities, knowledge,
gastronomy and culinary culture, handicraft techniques, living treasures, etc.) and general heritage ( local
varieties of crops, native animal breeds, soils, seeds, vegetation, wild animals, etc). Castillo Ruiz, J., (dir.),
La Carta de Baeza sobre Patrimonio Agrario, Sevilla, UNIA, 2013 (published).
7 Castillo Ruiz, J., La dimensin territorial del Patrimonio Histrico, in Castillo Ruiz, J., Cejudo Garca, E.
y Ortega Ruiz, A. (eds.), Patrimonio histrico y desarrollo territorial, Sevilla, UNIA, 2009, p. 26-48.
8 Zoido Naranjo, F.,El paisaje y su utilidad para la ordenacin del territorio, in Zoido, F. y Venegas, C.
(coord.), Paisaje y Ordenacin del Territorio, Sevilla, Consejera de Obras Pblicas y Transportes y Fun-
dacin Duques de Soria, 2002.
[204]
The last controversial question related to this regional dimension is the

confusion between regional properties with a safeguarding and objective
character, and properties with an instrumental and relevant character. It
usually happens to cultural tracks or regional heritage management, where
the listing depends on ad hoc issues (property, tourist resources, political
party in power, urban pressure, etc), and are generally linked to the cre-
ation of cultural tourism products or management systems economically or
politically viable.
In the temporal dimension. One of the ways to expand the concept of His-
torical Heritage is through the increasing approach of its boundaries to the
present. This is the case of industrial heritage, contemporary architecture
and, above all, of all heritages linked to popular culture or those consid-
ered living treasures (including those before mentioned). In this case, its
unavoidable constant reenactments in present times throw great confusion
into the temporal limits of Historical Heritage. Once the abstract but very
objective (and legally secured) limits of antiquity has been overcome (50,
60 or 100 years), it is essential that other limits are established in order to
objectify the heritage practice. From our point of view the criteria to clarify
these temporal limits should be the following:
Distinction between past and present9. There must be a significant rup-
ture between the original context of the property and the present time.
This rupture may be of a very different kind: to abandon or to radically
change its use, functional, material, or technological obsolescence, irre-
versible modification of the urban or legal situation, definite loss of the
associated ideological connotations, etc.
The existence of serious danger of destruction or deterioration.
Social recognition of the propertys relevance.
The compliance to the ethic principles of today we will further com-
ment.
In the ethical dimension. Up to the bursting of Intangible Cultural Heritage,
the Historical Heritage was determined by two factors that did not allow to
express historical or ethical judgments: the past condition (which subdued
the History qualification to the relativity of the historical time in which the
property took place) and its prevailing tangible nature (which reduced its
evaluation to material, technical or artistic criteria). However, with the emer-
gence of intangible properties, together with many others that are stretching
9 As Franoise Choay states, the Historical Heritage is .made up of the continuous accumulation of a
variety of objects grouped according to their common belonging to the past. Choay, F., Alegora del
Patrimonio. Barcelona, Gustavo Gili, 2007, p. 7
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JOS CASTILLO RUIZ
the limits of Historical Heritage, this ethical dimension appears under many
other dimensions. We underline the most important ones:
Acknowledgement for cultural diversity10. Although it is actually a devel-
opment in the already acknowledged cultural rights, the international so-
ciety wishes in this case to defend cultures and social groups threatened
by social, economic and cultural globalization, hence its ethical attitude.
Defense of sustainable development. In this sense, the attitude towards
those cultural properties related to human activities with a great envi-
ronmental impact is very interesting and controversial. Should mining,
industrial, agrarian or fishing practices (infrastructures as well) that sup-
pose a serious environmental impact or damage be protected? In the
case of Agrarian Heritage, this issue has been very controversial in the
proceedings of the Charter of Baeza on Agrarian Heritage, due to the
confrontation in the rural world between traditional practices (defended
by agroecology) and those set up after the so called Green Revolution.
We have finally chosen the principles that sustain traditional customs as
values for agrarian heritage (and which come into force in a sustainable
and dynamic use of natural resources, in a respectful adaptation to envi-
ronment and, finally, in low environmental troubles) and open the door
to any other property that, linked to industrialized agriculture, may be a
major contribution to the history of culture or human science (machin-
ery, genetically-modified varieties, crop and irrigation systems, etc).
Deplorable historical events. The need to pay homage to all people
who suffered the terrible events of the Second World War and the Nazi
horror has given way to the appearance throughout Europe of different
initiatives (museums, interpretation centers, listing of sites, etc.)11 with
the unequivocal aim of both rejection of the events and claiming for
the victims (ethical attitude). The pedagogic aim of not repeating the
past has to be added to the previous one. In the Spanish case, this sit-
uation has also arisen but with an important difference: the recovering
of historical memory related to the Civil War and Francos dictatorship
is based on (in addition to the acknowledgement of those who suffered
violence or persecution, which is the main aim) the withdrawal from the
public buildings and spaces of all those symbols and monuments of
10 The most important reference in this respect is the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Pro-
motion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, where cultural diversity is regarded Common Heritage
of Mankind
11 See Poulot, D., Le muse dhistoire de la France : une culture nationale en voie de disparition?, in
e-rph. Revista electrnica de Patrimonio Histrico, n. 2, june 2008.(http://www.revistadepatrimonio.es/
revistas/numero2/institucionespatrimonio/estudios/articulo.php). (Consulted on July 15th, 2013).
[206]
exaltation, personal or collective, of the military upraising, of the Civil

War and the Dictatorships repression12. Although these ethical issues
are justified in the heritage field for being historical events and historical
properties still alive today (once again the problem of time limits com-
mented above), the danger of this attitude is that it may be used as alibi
for its stretching out to other past events (no longer active nowadays),
whose revision may cause serious heritage problems. The instances are
many. In the Spanish case, to mention a few: the lost of the religious
and resistance-against-Muslims condition in the Camino de Santiago, the
exaltation of the Spanish nationalism in the popular uprising against the
French invasion, the concealment or revision of the discovery and occu-
pation of America, etc.
Regarding the fundamental rights of man and animals. One of the most
important issues in the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangi-
ble Cultural Heritage is the restriction established in the definition of In-
tangible Heritage, when noting that for the purposes of this Convention,
consideration will be given solely to such intangible cultural heritage as
is compatible with existing international human rights instruments, as
well as with the requirements of mutual respect among communities,
groups and individuals, and of sustainable development. If we add to
this the consensus reached in the previous meetings13 to exclude any
reference to religion, we find that ethical (and religious) principles be-
come a first order factor in heritage listing, so it becomes inevitable their
stretching into Intangible Heritage (and, why not, into the Cultural Heri-
tage). Besides, another problem that might arise between the community
that holds the element (to which UNESCO acknowledges total legitimacy
and responsibility, to the extent of stating its decision to list it or not to)
and the rest of citizens (perhaps belonging to the same group) who may
notice in these listed practices attitudes, behaviors or values contrary to
the present human rights (and animal rights, which are not listed in the
Convention). The main instance in Spain is bullfighting14, but there are
12 Law 52/2007, 26th December, that recognizes and amplifies rights in favor of those who suffered per-
secution or violence in the civil war and dictatorship. Art. 15.
13 Brugman, F., La Convencin para la salvaguardia del Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial, in Carrera Daz,
G. y Dietz, G. (coords.), Patrimonio Inmaterial y gestin de la diversidad, PH Cuadernos n. 17, Sevilla,
IAPH, Consejera de Cultura de la Junta de Andaluca, 2005, p. 62.
14 Despite the large amount of public shows in addition to bullfighting involving bulls in Spain (whose
epitome may be the Toro de la Vega in Tordesillas, Valladolid), the main conflict in Spain arose with
the prohibition of bullfighting in Catalonia (in force from January 1st 2012). This provoked the listing of
bullfighting as a Cultural Property in other communities such as Madrid, Castilla la Mancha, or Murcia.
The most interesting aspect of this may be its ideological orientation, since analyzing the content of these
acts we only find a grandiloquent declaration of principles of scarce law effects on the properties (not
[207]
JOS CASTILLO RUIZ
many other examples related to equality15, cultural diversity16, childhood,

environment or religious freedom.
3. Challenges
Historical Heritage has many challenges to face regarding safeguarding, begin-

ning with the first one, that of guaranteeing the conservation (above all for the
increasing range that has lately acquired). Of all these, we would like to focus on
one related to the very essence of Historical Heritage which Victor Hugo masterly
stated in 1852 in his pamphlet on the safeguard of the Monuments, War against
the Demolishers. He said that there are two things in a building: its use and its
beauty. Its use belongs to its owner and its beauty to everybodyto destroy it is then
to overcome a right17. With these words (legally translated by Giannini into the
concept of divided property18), a basic principle on protection is set up: the ne-
cessity to harmonize the private interest and the general interest underlying in any
kind of cultural property. For us, this difficult coexistence between the collective,
the social, the general and the particular is yet one of the main challenges Cultural
Heritage faces today whose solution (or normal development) is very complex.
Among other reasons because of the multiple dimensions this relationship has. We
are going to make reference to some of them:
The main one, from our point of view, the physical and intellectual public
access to heritage. Guaranteed by the Spanish Constitution (art. 46) and
sanctioned and developed by all laws on Historical Heritage in Spain, its
practical application is residual and, even more serious, ignored and, so,
unclaimed by both citizens and administrations. The right to a free public
specified) that made up the listed Cultural Property. To this respect see: Hurtado Gonzlez, L., Cuestio-
nes competenciales sobre la fiesta de los toros: a propsito de su posible declaracin legal como bien
de inters cultural, in Administracin de Andaluca. Revista Andaluza de Administracin Pblica, n.
83, 2012, pp. 13-47.
15 The most interesting to us is the long conflict regarding the celebration of the Alarde de Hondarribia
(Guipzcoa), where women have legally managed their right to participate in the parades (in the mixed
company of Jaizkibel) despite their neighbors rejection, offensively manifested every year by all kind of
ways (black umbrellas, Mickey Mouse masks, garbage bags, etc). We might add many other cases such
as the Easter brotherhoods (where female participation is bad considered), performances such as the
Misteri dElx, where the female roles are performed by men, etc.
16 The most interesting example is the Moors and Christians festivity, spread along the Spanish Levante,
where the Christian victory is sometimes festooned with unnecessary and cruel humiliations to the
defeated. We may also mention the commemoration in Granada every 2nd of January of the Capture of
Granada by the Catholic Monarchs.
17 Hugo, V., Guerre aux dmolisseurs, in Revue de Deux Mondes, 1 March, 1832, p. 26 Available in:
http://www.revuedesdeuxmondes.fr/user/details.php?author=HUGO&subject=&title=&mon-
th1=1&year1=1829&month2=7&year2=2013&content=&code=28148. (Consulted on 30th July 2013).
18 Giannini, M. S., I beni culturali, in Rivista Trimestrale di Diritto Pubblico, anno XXVI, 1976, p. 3-38.
[208]
visit contained in the Spanish legislation should appear in the frontispiece

of every public safeguarding institution.
The distortion provoked in relation to this harmonization between public
and private by the consideration (almost indisputable since undisputed)
of Historical Heritage as a development factor. This is contribution to the
starting out of every kind of initiatives to improve Historical Heritage (tracks,
interpretation centers, accommodation into hostel services of relevant his-
toric buildings, urban planning, etc). The supposed interest achieved by
these initiatives (working places and wealth generation) is legitimating per-
formances of dubious heritage validity, which supposes a confrontation to
public interest (and collective right) inserted in the necessity to preserve cul-
tural properties. No doubt we are facing a very harmful confrontation (and
supplanting) of general interests for the safeguarding of Historical Heritage.
The outburst of an intermediate level between general and private interests,
that of communitys or social groups. The link with the society, or local
population, where the property is located has always been taken into ac-
count by Historical Heritage. Nevertheless, Intangible Cultural Heritage en-
tails the recognition of rights to local governments or social groups which
have customary generated the listed heritage. These rights are yet to be
formally defined, although a way is being opened in relation to intellectual
property, which is being explored in a context very close to cultivated bio-
diversity. In this late case, the acknowledgement of the intellectual property
of farmers, local communities and native cultures to traditional knowledge
associated to local diversity and native breeds19, and, hence, the rights to
their commercial exploitation.
Less concerned (theoretically, but not personally) about a growing ten-
dency (above all in Mediterranean countries, and specially increased now
by the economical crises) that raises the social alarm. We are referring to
privatization (whether definite, by means of selling, or temporal, by leasing)
of public cultural properties20. If the coordination between both general and
19 In addition to the acknowledgement of these rights in the Convention on Biological Diversity (UN,
1992) or the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (FAO, 2011),
there is an Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources created by the
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to analyze and regulate everything related to property
rights of traditional knowledge associated to plant and genetic resources. In the 2003 Convention for
the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, the UNESCO acknowledged the right of groups and
communities (which are not defined) to their heritage (in fact, the criteria to declare what is and what is
not heritage depends on them, not on parameters that evaluate them on a comparative basis), but does
not acknowledge the right to intellectual property on them, being the Governments responsibility to
safeguard the heritage.
20 It is in Italy where this fact raised earlier and in a more virulent way. See Capelli, R., Politique e poietiche
per larte, Milano, Electa, 2002 y Settis, S., Italia S.p.A., Lassalto al patrimonio culturale, Torino, Einaudi,
2002.
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JOS CASTILLO RUIZ
private interests (articulated on the basis of the obvious preponderance of

general interest) were effective, the public or private condition of the holder
would be irrelevant. The evident failure of this coordination is what causes
alarm in the population (and among professionals), since a property from
public administrations is less likely to comply with its social function.
And a last question. It is unacceptable that restrictions upon the property
right imposed to particulars, which derived from the listing (no matter the
degree) of their property as Historical Heritage, should be unfailingly ob-
served by them (and by society in general) as an illegitimate interference
deserving compensation by public administrations. This kind of cultural
exception should be eradicated since these limitations are similar to (and
sometimes less burdensome to owners) those imposed by different reasons
(alimentary control, citizen security, road safety, rights at work, environ-
mental respect), to any other good (a house, a car, a discotheque, a
farm) which respond to the principle, sanctioned in our Constitution, of
the propertys social function.
4. Hopes
We believe, although it might sound somehow illusory, that Historical Heritage

cherishes and gives a lot of encouraging hopes. We can underline some of them
confined to our country. These are the following:
One of them is the richness, variety, diversity, relevance and territorial balance
of the Spanish Historical Heritage. This allows the development of activities of
different range and scope on cultural properties, which turns them into a very
important cultural, social, economic, educative stream, very present in the ordi-
nary dynamics of society. To this, we have to add a very satisfactory conservation
degree of these properties.
Another one is the huge development under the democratic period of His-
torical Heritage, increasing significantly the listing of properties as well as the
number of actions developed on them (and multiplying the funding as well). The
importance of Historical Heritage in the assimilation by the Spanish society into
the Estado de las Autonomas21 should be mentioned.
But above all, the main hope, for us, is people, citizenship. Despite the low
degree of awareness of Historical Heritage in Spain, in the last few years we are
witnessing an organization and mobilization of people in favor of Heritage (its
21 See: Castillo Ruiz, J., La defensa y conservacin del Patrimonio heredado, in Rico, F., Gracia, J., y Bonet,
A. (eds.), Literatura y Bellas Artes. Coleccin Espaa siglo XXI. Vol. 5, Madrid, Editorial Biblioteca Nueva,
Instituto de Espaa, Fundacin Sistema, 2009, p. 450-490.
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Heritage) which makes us cherish hopes for its right conservation and safeguard-
ing in the future. In this sense, the information given by the first poll made in
Spain about Historical Heritage promoted by Fundacin Caja Madrid is very re-
vealing. Out of the many conclusions22, I would like to highlight those referring to
the high degree of public awareness regarding the need to conserve and preserve
Heritage, the general opinion that public administrations are responsible for the
preservation of Historical Heritage, or the more than acceptable citizen involve-
ment in its conservation.
In addition to this data, from our particular analysis of the Spanish heritage
situation through the Observatory for the Spanish Historical Heritage (OPHE)23 we
conclude that there is a motive for hope, first for the proliferation of all kinds of
associations (above all in the local scope), second, for the quick citizen response
(through social platforms) every time an aggression to cultural properties is made
and, finally, for the increasing professionalization and capacity of these citizen
movements, manifested in legal actions24.
This does not mean that there are no contradictions, limitations, deficiencies
and mistakes in relation to public involvement in Historical Heritage. We would
like to analyze some questions in this regard:
The first of them is that referring to the legitimacy of public involvement. Spe-
cifically to the identification of social groups or citizens that have legitimacy to
participate, claim, enjoy or take advantage of the Historical Heritage.
In this sense, an inalienable principle of Historical Heritage is its condition of
property of general interest, which refers to everybody (despite their culture or
nationality) being the safeguarding of Heritage. In addition to this unquestionable
principle, cultural properties have many other dimensions (national, regional, lo-
cal, etc) and, above all, many social and economic effects, resulting therefore in
the diversification and differentiation of the involved people according to the
dimension or effect we point out. Therefore, taking general interest as the starting
point, we should aim at the harmonization of all different social dimensions. How-
22 Morate Martn, G., (dir.), Conocimiento y percepcin del Patrimonio Histrico en la sociedad espaola,
Madrid, Caja Madrid, 2012.
23 http://www.ophe.es/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=69. (Consulted on 30th
July, 2013).
24 For us, the main symbol of this new era of social involvement is the social movement that arose around
the demolition of the Cabanyal district in Valencia. The diversity of actions, the national and international
relevance of its demands, the variety of the groups implied (resident and non-resident), the strength
and endurance of the legal actions and its success (among others, the first declaration as dispossession
by the central government of a heritage action promoted by an Autonomous Community) are some of
the many reasons that explain the exemplariness of this movement See: Herrero Garca, L.F., y Soldevilla
Liao, M., La plataforma Salvem El Cabanyal: doce aos de lucha ciudadana, in e-rph. Revista electr-
nica de Patrimonio Histrico, n. 6, june 2010. Available in: http://www.revistadepatrimonio.es/revistas/
numero6/iniciativas/experiencias/articulo.php. (Consulted on 30th July, 2013).
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JOS CASTILLO RUIZ
ever, there are many conflictive points. One of them is that of the role the implied
population should play (owners, residents, workers, users, etc) in the protection,
especially as Properties of Cultural Interest, of listed cultural properties. From our
point of view, the leadership of the population should be strong (its active and
continuous participation must be guaranteed) but not determinant, not even ex-
clusive, above all in the listing process. Despite the backfire effect of the listings
on the affected population, we cannot forget these are made in order to safeguard
the cultural values of general interest properties, which have to transcend the par-
ticular interest of the citizens.
Social involvement in Historical Heritage lacks also a major participation of
young people in citizen movements (in contrast with the situation in Environment
or in any other social field). One of the reasons that explain this situation (in addi-
tion to the poor and inadequate presence of heritage subjects in education curric-
ulums) is the excessive link of citizen defense actions (above all, the associations)
with conservationist past, knowledge and targets. If we want to achieve a larger
involvement of young people, we should incorporate to these citizen organiza-
tions some aspects such as sustainable development, social integration, cultural
diversity, fight against globalization and speculation, authenticity, nature concern,
etc. All subjects very close to life expectations of young people that we find in
many safeguarding activities: house rehabilitation in historical centers, defense of
buildings and spaces threatened by urban speculation, defense of the sustainable
development program included in rural heritage, etc.
5. Effects on heritage restoration
The need to integrate restoration into the safeguarding process makes all these
tendencies, challenges and hopes to be repeated in the field of restoration, what
justifies or explains criteria or attitudes related to the intervention on the material-
ity of cultural properties. To point some of them:
The inadequate balance between the extension of the concept Historical Res-
toration, especially immovable properties, and the formulation of the restoration
criteria. In the last years, as stated in many chapters of this book, Architecture
has put its eyes on the buildings with memory, the preexisting ones, carrying out
projects which are aesthetically and symbolically very brilliant, due to the free
and unconditional use of the buildings cultural keys25. In most of the cases, these
beating buildings use to become part of the new emerging or fringe heritages
that in the last decades have showed up into Historical Heritage. This situation
25 Out of the many examples to be analyzed in this book, it is the transformation of the building in the old
Medioda Electric Station made by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron into Madrids Caixaforum that
we consider the most representative
[212]
motivates, somehow, the questioning of the criteria of restoration, due to the ef-
fective capacity to generate new urban or regional symbols, difficult to refute by
any discipline or safeguarding principle. It is urgent to clarify concepts, deactivate
confusing strategies, and invalidate pseudoscientific attitudes.
Restoration is a very defined and stated practice, with very contrasted and
assimilated methodological requirements which cannot be obliterated when it
comes to historical buildings. Very different are the architectural projects on im-
movable historical properties whose listing status are not established (i.e. they are
not listed or they are in a summary way). This cannot be mistaken as restoration,
despite its attempt to appropriate its high scientific and cultural meaning. But this
does not imply its invalidation either, because most times those projects allow ad-
vancing in the heritage construction, not as much of the property as the heritage
category of property (industrial, agrarian, etc.) to which it belongs.
The translation to restoration of the effects of the new productive purposes of
safeguarding. The main focus of safeguarding to generate income favors the re-
sources, projects and wishes to be directed mostly towards the development of
activities related to virtual and real recreations (food, historical events, ways of liv-
ing, etc), due to their high capacity to increase the enjoyment (and so the interest)
of visitors and tourists of heritage sites. Most of these are management activities
which do not require a straight action on the property, but they are so powerful
that the scientific method, restoration, cannot obviate their social power and di-
mension. Of course, it is not crazy to state that there is a clear correspondence
between these performances and recreations of monuments or historical sites and
the less and less repressed and reviled acceptance of the reconstruction of monu-
ments (real and legal as well) by restoration.
The difficult incorporation of public engagement in the process of restoration.
Antoni Gonzlez has largely demonstrated throughout his long and brilliant career
as the SPAL director of the Barcelona Diputacin that citizen involvement in the
restoration process is, besides needful, feasible and very profitable. But citizen
involvement is not always possible or profitable for the designing of the inter-
vention, causing important troubles. We should take into consideration different
aspects: restoration requires a high degree of technical, historical and scientific
knowledge, which restricts its full understanding. Society clearly chooses those
kind of interventions related to reconstruction and setting26, which makes it diffi-
cult to understand the conservationist models. There is also a rejection on behalf
of the citizens of the incorporation of contemporary materials and forms into the
historical buildings and sites, which does not necessarily revert to more conserva-
26 Despite the different historical and cultural context in which was stated, Riegls reasoning to explain
this compelling desire is still valid: newness artistic value. Riegl, A., El culto moderno a los monumentos
Caracteres y origen. Madrid, Visor, 1987.
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JOS CASTILLO RUIZ
tionism, despite its being the most accepted idea. All this makes it difficult to keep
the balance between scientific and technical requirements, the legitimate role of
the culture administration (responsible of the general interest to be respected in
every intervention) and the feeling of the citizens. Of course, the solution is not
to underestimate public opinion, but to generate a system of constant explanation
and participation of society, in the line of the objective restoration already expe-
rienced and reinforced by the discovery of the open for repairs of the Vitorias
Cathedral27.
27 Lasagabaster, I., La restauracin democrtica. La Catedral de Santa Mara de Vitoria, in Henares Cullar,
I., (ed.), La proteccin del Patrimonio Histrico en la Espaa democrtica, Granada, Universidad, Caja
Madrid, 2010, pp. 183-214.
[214]
RESTORATION, TRANSFORMATION, RECYCLING.
THE DRIFTING OF THE DISCIPLINE BEYOND
THE CONSOLIDATED CRITERIA
ASCENSIN HERNNDEZ MARTNEZ*
Abstract: there is a last tendency in architectonic restoration to avoid the use of the
term restoration in favour of other such as reusing, reassessment, appropriation
or mutation. According to the author, this terminological shift makes evident a
rejection of taken-for-granted criteria in the field of historical buildings restoration
supporting less planning restraint when working on the monuments, which entails
a threat to the transmission of heritages historic and cultural values. Recent works
in different countries are studied as a basis for these arguments.
Key words: Historical Heritage. Restoration. Transformation. Recycling. Architec-
ture.
New terms for new concepts?
In January 2013 the Spanish magazine Arquitectura Viva changed its format
in an issue dedicated to what traditionally would have been called monumental
restoration, but which significantly was entitled Transformations. The second
life of buildings. In the foreword, the magazines director, the famous critic and
architect Luis Fernndez-Galiano1, did not speak about values but capital, neither
did he use the term restored buildings but transformed architectures, as if
the meanings of these words (values, restorations) implied something obsolete,
old-fashioned, useless. It is very significant Ferndez Galianos use of terms clearly
linked to the world of economics, such as capital, together with adjectives like
thermodynamic, informative and symbolic, in preference to the material,
historical and social values of architecture. He is not the only one to use these
* Professor of History of Art. University of Zaragoza. ashernan@unizar.es

1 Fernndez Galiano, L., Transformaciones, in Arquitectura Viva, n. 148, 2013, p. 3.
[215]
words yet. In fact, the repetition of words such as reusing, re-qualification, re-
cycling2 (this is the favorite one because it is quoted ad nauseam in many articles
and texts published in Spain in the last years!3), words that, preceded by the prefix
re-, suppose an intensification, a reinforcement, an emphasis that should make
us think that something in the world of monumental heritage restoration is taking
place, taking into account that the interventions to which these words are applied
are far away from what we consider restoration. Other terms currently used come
from the fields of contemporary art (appropriation), interior desing (alteration)4
and even from Science (mutation).
Is this terminological variety a sign of a change in the discipline? It is difficult
to know it yet. However, the proper task of the art historian is to investigate these
questions, to critically and historically determine what they convey. This may not
happen in countries such as Italy, where it exists a centenarian and apparently
solid tradition of architectonic restoration, whereas in the rest of Europe, and in
Spain in particular, there is a complex and striking situation since that avoids the
use of the term restoration. In fact, in our professional field, it is taken for grant-
ed that considerations about restoration are almost exclusively restricted to Italy,
to such an extent that we use the expression restoration alla italiana, since dis-
cussions in the rest of Europe focus on technical rather than theoretical matters5,
and there is a great number of authors who underline the absence in our country
of a real discussion about the criteria and theory of restoration6.
But, what have we understood by restoration so far? Apart from a few dis-
agreements of some incidental authors (logical in every walk of life), a certain
kind of consensus about the nature of restoration has been adopted decades ago:
a process that must keep an exceptional character, its aim being to preserve and
reveal the aesthetic and historic value of the monument, and based on respect
for the original material and authentic documents. It must stop at the point where
2 Italics in this text correspond to the author.

3 Among them, the monographic issue RECLAIM. Remediate Reuse Recycle, from the magazine a + t, num-
ber 1 39-40, 2012.
4 Scott, F., On altering architecture,, London and New York, Routledge, 2008.
5 Torsello, B. P. (Paolo (ed.): Che cos il restauro? A. Bellini, G. Carbonara, S. Casiello, R. Cecchi, M. Dezzi
Bardeschi, P. Fancelli, P. Marconi, G. Spagnesi Cimbolli, B.P. Torsello. Venice: Marsilio Editori, 2005,
page. 9.
6 About this matter the following may be consulted: Rivera, J., Restauraciones arquitectnicas y Democra-
cia en Espaa, in BAU (Revista de Arquitectura, Urbanismo, Arte y Diseo), ), Revista del Colegio Oficial
de Arquitectos de Castilla y Len Este y Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Castilla-la Mancha, Ao II, n. 4
(1990), Valladolid, pp. 24-41; Grassot, L., El azaroso paso del Rubicn de la restauracin monumental en
Espaa, in Informes de la Construccin, vol. 44, No. 427, sept-october 1993, pp. 5-15; Jimnez Martn, A.,
Rememorando 25 aos de intervenciones en el patrimonio histrico, in 25 aniversario de las Jornadas
Internacionales de Intervencin en el Patrimonio Histrico-Artstico, Actas de las XIII Jornadas de inter-
vencin en el Patrimonio Histrico-Artstico. En el umbral de la memoria (Logroo, 3 to 6 november,
2005), Logroo, Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de La Rioja, 2007, pp. 23-77.
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RESTORATION, TRANSFORMATION, RECYCLING. THE DRIFTING OF THE DISCIPLINE
conjecture begins7, and about some of its features: restoration must extend the
life of the work of art in its physical integrity, with all the available technologi-
cal means; restoration must safeguard the permanence of the prints of time that
characterize the monument as a whole and in its different parts, notwithstanding
any aesthetic or historical opinion; at last, restoration must ensure the possibility
of using the monument when these forms and functions may be adopted in a
logical way, without contradicting the previous aspects8. In the same way, there is
an agreed methodology of the discipline which serves as a guarantee of a proper
restoration: the previous study (the analysis of the monument, its circumstances
and the problems to be solved in all possible aspects: historic, material, architec-
tural, symbolic), the posing of the objectives to achieve, the architectural project,
the execution of the work and the divulgation of the action.
However, as we have said, the use of the word restoration is being currently
avoided in a conscious way on behalf of other such terms as transformation, re-
cycling, reusing, re-qualification, appropriation or mutation9, a word that it is also
applied to contemporary architecture to explain the deep changes motivated in
the discipline by the real-estate bubble, the detachment from the iconic buildings
and the return to aspects such as sustainability, humility, containment, architecture
as a social and cultural fact10.
As a specific example of this attitude, the famous Dutch architect Rem Koolhas
avoids the word restoration, preferring preservation. In a provocative conference
held in 2004 at the Columbia University11, Koolhas reflected on the situation of
cultural heritage, giving some provocative ideas which years later he materialized
in Cronocaos, an exhibition arranged in the framework of the 2010 Venice Bien-
nial12. Looking back in time, Koolhas stated that we were at a ridiculous point in
which preservation had overpassed us, in which excessive conservationism, pre-
sided by what he called the lobby of authenticity, antiquity and beauty, had be-
come an epidemic that is destroying our cities, because it provokes gentrification
(the shifting of the lower income inhabitants in favor of tourists and upper class
inhabitants), adding that, when a building is preserved it is turned into something
artificial.
7 This is the definition for restoration in the Restoration Charter, 1972, cfr. Torsello, op. cit. p. 142.
8 Torsello, B. P., Che cos , op. cit., p.142.
9 Linazasoro, J. I., Mutaciones del patrimonio, in Arquitectura Viva, n. 148, 2013, p.7.
10 Arquitectura mutante. Regreso a la esencia de una profesin tocada por la crisis, in Babelia, cultutal
magazine by El Pas, n. 1091, 10.20.2012.
11 Koolhas, R., Preservation is overtaking us, in Future Anterior. Journal of Historic Preservation, 2004,
vol. I, n. 2, pp. 1-3; Otero-Pailos, J., Suplemento al manifiesto de preservacin de OMA, in Quaderns,
n. 263, 2011, pp. 41-52.
12 Stoppani, T., Altered States of Preservation. Preservation by OMA/AMO, Future Anterior. Journal of
Historic Preservation, 2011, vol. VIII, n. 1, pp. 97-109.
[217]
The Cronocaos exhibition was especially virulent against institutions and move-
ments such as UNESCO, criticized by Koolhas for their excessive protectionism,
proposing, in fact, to reduce the indiscriminate list of buildings to protect; even
more, in a provocative way, Koolhas suggested the necessity of writing a list of
junk buildings to be demolished (Convention Concerning the Demolition of World
Cultural Junk)13 as a complement to the famous Convention Concerning the Pro-
tection of the World Cultural Heritage signed in Paris in 1972.
It is obvious that Koolhas attitude responds to a polemical and limited opinion
on restoration, but it is producing a great response due to his position as a leader
of contemporary architecture. The word preservation, which in fact comes from
ecology, has already been used in many media which warn (partly right) how of-
ten restoration disguises the commercialization of history and collective memory,
and the transformation of historic architecture into a commercial lure14.
In a similar way, and posed not following Koolhas ideas but as a symptom
of the professionals opinion, the Spanish architect Andrs Cnovas, from the
Amann, Cnovas y Mauri studio, states that the terms rehabilitation and conser-
vation are introduced as staples that fix the actions to an existing reality: to return
the building to its original form as if this was desirable or possible or, if so, to
give it the stabilizing chloroform15, and he rejects the word conservation in favor
of intervention, which he considers more exciting, or recycling, the latter being
of deep poetic intensity according to Cnovas. In fact, from this point of view,
Canovas emphasizes the advantages of the obsolete industrial architecture for its
possibilities for further interventions. In this way, the heritage is considered a con-
tainer for latent and useful energies, an object to be appropriated and creatively
transformed, to recycle into something new. It seems evident, therefore, that the
prevailing logic today is not the conservation of the past but its appropriation.
On her behalf, Anatxu Zabalbescoa, art historian and architecture critic, un-
derlines precisely that one of the up-going tendencies in reusing historic build-
ings is that of recovery, an attitude, according to Zabalbescoa, close to a povera
aesthetics, in which the buildings have come to talk from their structure, from
their truth, and that implies to set the past free and no to conceal it16. A new
aesthetics for sobriety and austerity as a response to the times of crisis and as re-
jection of the last years show off17, to which a great number of current examples
would apply.
13 Stoppani, T., Altered States , in op. cit.

14 Avils, P., Preservacin, ideologa y cultura, Quaderns, n. 263, 2011, pp. 13-16.
15 Cnovas, A., Despus de la industria, in Arquitectura Viva, n. 148, 2013, p. 21.
16 Zabalbescoa, A., La esttica povera impone su criterio moral, in El Pas, january, 3, 2013.
17 Zabalbescoa, A., Arquitectura en tiempos de crisis (2 febrero 2011). Consulted on august, 29, 2013, on
the digital edition http://blogs.elpais.com/del-tirador-a-la-ciudad/.
[218]
In the same line, Paul Godberger, the The New York Times critic, prefers the
term reparation to rehabilitation or restoration, in a attempt to make a fresh start
in relation to that architecture, infectious with the frantic beat of consumerism,
which has invaded with impunity our societies18. Considering intervention in
historical heritage in this way, repairing would give a chance to architecture to
recover its lost social and cultural roles.
Some cases to study
Among the Spanish examples to be mentioned, Matadero de Madrid19 is out-

standing, a monumental complex of great architectonic and urban interest of al-
most 150,000m2, designed by the architect Luis Bellido between 1908 and 1925, in
working order until 1996, listed in the 1997 Madrids urban planning. From 2000,
this significant evidence of Madrid industrial architecture has underwent a relevant
rehabilitation process, within a town political strategy, for which an especial plan
was designed in 200520, which included the introduction of new usages so as to
turn it into a city for creation, a new cultural pole in the south of Madrid in line to
the cultural factories that have proliferated in the last decades21.
The intervention criteria included in that planning were based on reversion,
flexibility and maximum respect to the original structures, determining the pres-
ervation of the structure of the buildings, and also reversion, in order to easily
turn the buildings into their original condition. In the same way, it was consid-
ered that all past prints that reinforce the experimental character of the new in-
stitutions it hosts should be expressly respected22.
From that moment on, the Matadero has become an active experimental lab-
oratory for both cultural creation and management and for monumental resto-
ration23. A space where different institutions coexist (Madrid City Hall, the Spanish
18 Editorial, in On Diseo, n. 330, 2013, monograph on architecture and rehabilitation, p. 43.

19 About the history and present transformations of this building see: Bellido, L., El nuevo matadero y mer-
cado de ganados. Memoria explicativa del edificio, Madrid, Imprenta Municipal, 1910; Colegio Oficial
de Arquitectos, ed. El Matadero Municipal de Madrid - La recuperacin de la memoria, Madrid, Ayunta-
miento de Madrid, 2010; ; Hernndez Martnez, A., El museo como reclamo turstico de la ciudad. Caixa
Frum Madrid y el Matadero de Madrid, in Integracin y resistencia en la era global. Evento terico X
Bienal de la Habana, La Habana, Bienal de La Habana y SEACEX, Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y de
Cooperacin, 2009, pp. 133-146.
20 Document included on http://www.mataderomadrid.org/una-nueva-arquitectura-para-los-nuevos-tiem-
pos.html. [Consulted on March, 12th, 2013].
21 Lucas, A, Un matadero para el arte de vanguardia, in El Mundo, Madrid, march,14th, 2006, p. 53.
22 Document included in: http://www.mataderomadrid.org/una-nueva-arquitectura-para-los-nuevos-tiem-
pos.html. [Consulted on March 12th, 2013].
23 About the whole interventions see: Centro de Creacin Matadero, Madrid, in AV Monografas, n. 159-
160, Espaa 2013, pp. 28-53.
[219]
Theatre, the Design Centre, the Ruiprez Foundation, among others), sponsors, at
the same time, of the conservation of the different parts of the complex by means
of different intervention criteria, which makes the Matadero a fascinating example
to study, and reveals some of the current tendencies and contradictions in histor-
ical heritage conservation.
One of the most relevant interventions to be mentioned is the Cineteca, opened
in 2011, a pioneering institution devoted to documentary films.24 The project is
owned by ch+qs study (architects Jos Mara Churtichaga and Cayetana de la
Quadra Salcedo), which has transformed four of the buildings into two cinemas,
a recording set, an archive room, a patio for summer cinema and a canteen25. The
outcome has been qualified by the international criticism as a futurist space26,
like a set in Metropolis27, an inspiring architecture28, considered one of the best ten
inner spaces in our country29. Rightly defined as the recycling of a historical build-
ing30, the keys to this intervention have been the experimentation with unusual
materials such as industrial hoses for the inner part of the archive and cinemas
and the treatment of light, with a system of hidden led bulbs that create magical
and stunning spaces, which evoke the cinemas of the 1930s and 1940s, according
to the critic Lltzer Moix31.
The Casa del Lector is, from a visual point of view, likewise spectacular, but
controversial as regards the intervention criteria. An institution managed by the
Ruiprez Foundation devoted to promote and encourage reading, inaugurated in
2012. Set up in buildings 13, 14, 17b and 17c, in an more-than-8000m2 area, the
project has been carried out by Ensemble Studio (architect Antn Garca Abril),
winner of the 2006 restricted competition. Outstanding in the intervention are the
giant pre-stressed concrete beams of forty tons weight, inserted across the holes
of the buildings 13 and 14, that introduce a new perpendicular sense to the orig-
inal basilica-like plan32. Two objections may be raised to this project: whether the
introduction of these beams does respect the original typology of the building and
24 http://www.mataderomadrid.org/cineteca.html, [consulted on August, 26th, 2013].

25 Cineteca y archivo de creadores, Madrid, in Arquitectura Viva, n. 140, 2011, pp. 82-85.
26 Wildman, S., From neglect to cultural nucleus, in International Herald Tribune, weekend 2-3 february,
2013, p. 16.
27 Lpez, A., Madrids Killer Cinema, The New York Times, April 4th 2012, http://www.chqs.net/archivos/
publicaciones/documento_80_0703_nyt_120404_all.pdf, consulted on August 26th, 2013.
28 En Voyage, China, october 2012, pp. 80-81.
29 Parafianowicz, L., Top 10: Spaces in Spain, Published in Frame, June 26th, 2012, http://www.chqs.net/
archivos/publicaciones/documento_85_0703_120626_frame_top+10+spaces+in+spain.pdf. [Consulted on
August 26th, 2013].
30 Trovato, G., Madrid Matadero Cinemateque, in Compasses (Arabian Emirates), n. 17, 2013, pp. 82-89.
31 Moix, L., Cistells i mnegues de cinema. Crtica dArquitectura, in La Vanguardia, June 14th 2013, p. 32.
32 Casa del Lector, Madrid, in Arquitetura Viva, n. 148, 2013, p. 22.
[220]
its space values, and if this is an easily reversible action such as the Special Urban
Planning demanded.
In June 2011 the Nave 16 was inaugurated, a versatile exhibition space of about
6.000 m2 managed by the local government, whose rehabilitation has been carried
out by the architects Alejandro Virseda, Jos Ignacio Carnicero and Ignacio Villa
Almazn, short-listed in the 2012 FAD Architecture Awards33. In this case, the inter-
vention, described by the same authors as the reassessment of the memory of the
place by the recycling of the pre-existing architecture, affected two buildings and
it consisted in the introduction of a flexible black-painted iron structure, as a giant
furniture or box adapted to the dimensions of the central nave, which allows, by
means of mobile boards, different positions that graduate the light according to
the needs of this multifunctional area, used as a concert, exhibition or meeting
hall, or as a set of independent exhibition areas likewise. The original structure
of the iron columns was painted in dark grey and the plasters on the wall were
removed in order to show the face brickwork, since its rough texture was consid-
ered more attractive in contrast to both the metallic ending of the original structure
and the new additions.
Another intervention was the adaptation of part of the building 17 as the seat
of the Design Center, managed by the Madrid Design Foundation, opened in 2007.
In this case the architect Jos Antonio Garca Roldn did not touch the building,
the walls and pillars partly broken and the plasters missing, and at the same time
he introduced recycled materials such as bright polycarbonate in the closing struc-
tures, industrial trays of reused bumpers on the floor and galvanized iron to divide
and adapt the exhibition area.
However the most interesting and the most publicized intervention of the en-
tire complex was that realized between 2004 and 2006 under the direction of
the architects Arturo Franco and Fabrice van Teeslar, in the Nave 17 where In-
termediae was set up, an office of the City Hall conceived as a platform for the
interchange of experiences between public and artists. This institution develops
different plans of action including the help to artistic creation (the leader program
Abierto por Obras encourages the creation by artists of specific works for the old
fridge in the building 14), performances, exhibitions, and other social and educa-
tional activities.
Regarding the restoration criteria, the action by Franco and Van Teeslar has
attracted the attention in both Spanish and international scenes34, due to its radical
33 On Diseo, n. 327, junio 2012, consulted in the online edition: http://www.ondiseno.com/proyecto.

php?id=1965. [Consulted on March, 12th, 2013].
34 Franco, A., Lesperienza dei limiti [Exploring the limits], in Domus, n. 8, 2007, pp. 12-19; Ib., Interme-
dia Matadero. Paseo de la Chopera, 14. Nave 17C. Antiguo Matadero Legazpi, Madrid: reinterpretacin
constructiva de un espacio degradado, Pasajes de la Construccin, 2007, n. 34, p. 23.
[221]
nature, to its austere and minimal willingness to non-intervention in the pre-ex-

isting architecture; in fact, criticism has defined it as a new way to approach
rehabilitation, a radical attitude that scrupulously respects the historic heritage
limiting action to the minimum, an expressive view on the old and the new35. In
the architects own words: We assumed the project as an opportunity to explore
the potentials of rehabilitation. We tried to contribute a new stance in historical
heritage, a radical stance, an experience in the limits of non-acting36.
An attitude in which intervention has been reduced in a conscious way to
the minimum; which corresponds to a taste for shapelessness, for rawness, for a
kind of deliberately-poor aesthetics, unpleasant to certain canons, against the cult
of the new that has been imposed in the social taste for years. Walls, floors and
roofs remain the way they were, the architects have not made modifications but
the insertion of a glass-and-steel box for the offices and some steel blocks for the
toilets. The rest of the space appears such as it was after twenty years of neglect.
Not only this, the expressiveness of the place has been improved by the use of
materials such as iron and polished concrete for the scarce new elements (doors,
windows, partitions, reception desk, etc.) that connect to the industrial sensibility.
The minimum conservation principles have been overpassed, since in a provoc-
ative contemporary gesture, the artificial ruinous aspect has been underlined by
the breaking up of wall plasters and pillars up to middle height and the opening
of irregular doorways on the walls, where iron boxes that resemble sculptures are
placed as doors. The effect is that of a lugubrious space which causes a strong
impact on the spectator and connects with a fashionable povera aesthetics, quite
common in avant-guard cultural institutions, as it is reflected in similar spaces: the
Palais de Tokio in Paris, opened in 200137, and the MUDE, Museo do Desing e da
Moda in Lisbon, inaugurated in 200938. The most recent instance in this way would
be the Tanks, a venue for performances and action art set up in old petrol tanks,
inaugurated in the Tate Modern in July 201239.
These interventions represent a kind of minimal restoration, in which the
building remains frozen in its damaged state, making evident a minimal willing-
35 Fernndez Bermejo, R., Desnudar la historia. Arturo Franco y Fabrice Van Teslaar. Centro cultural Mata-
dero Madrid, in Diseo Interior, Madrid, n 183, 2007, october, pp. 170-177, especially p. 136.
36 Centro Cultural Matadero Madrid: Arturo Franco y Fabrice van Teeslar, in Diseo Interior, n. 183, 2007,
pp. 170-177.
37 Lacaton& VAsal, Centro de arte en un pabelln de 1937, Pars, in AV Monografas, n. 98, 2002, pp.
104-108; Ayers, A., Fun Palais; Architects: Lacaton & Vassal, in Architectural review, vol. 231, n. 1384,
2012 June, p. 44-51. More information about this architectonical project in: Hernndez Martnez, A., De
museos, antimuseos y otros espacios expositivos en el siglo XXI, in Artigrama, n. 28, 2013, Departa-
mento de Historia del Arte, Universidad de Zaragoza, pp. 29-54.
38 Cohn, D., Museum of Design & Fashion, Lisbon (Ricardo Carvalho + Joana Vilhena Arquitectos), in
Architectural record, vol. 197, n. 9, 2009 Sept., p. 66-71.
39 Garca, ., Arte en los tanques de petrleo, in El Pas, July, 17th 2012.
[222]
ness for action, with a conscious use of imperfect endings on surfaces and a pre-
meditated refusal to hide the passing of time in the work. Furthermore, in many
cases there is a shameless exposure of the installations, the damages, in an attitude
that, from my point of view, is due to a clash between contemporary artistic and
social practices and the world of restoration40. In fact, in the obsession with erod-
ed and imperfect surfaces in many projects of contemporary restoration, one can
observe the subtle and unconscious presence of pictorial Informalism, without
forgetting the great importance in contemporary art of movements such as art po-
vera, which drew attention towards humble and recycled materials. At the same
time, the increased use of new sculpture materials such as Corten steel, present in
so many works by contemporary artists ranging from the American Richard Serra
to the Spaniard Eduardo Chillida, has succeeded in getting people used to an aes-
thetics different from that of traditional art, a factor that influences, together with
the previous one, on the acceptation and success of unfinished-like restorations,
where cracked and flaked walls, concrete floors, iron beams, etc. thrive.
It is not the first time that this relationship among aesthetics, art and restoration
has been made clear. In fact, in 1954, Marguerite Yourcenar wrote a delicious text
Le temps, ce grand sculpteur41 in which she noted the influence of changes in the
taste for the appreciation of ancient art and the significance this circumstance had
in the restoration of works of art.
Contemporary art appropriates heritage and.... restores it!
On the other hand, the search for alternative and unusual spaces that offer
more appropriate venues for contemporary works of art, has led to the localiza-
tion and restoration of strange places such as prisons42, submarine bases43 or bun-
40 On this, see: Salvo, S., Il restauro dellarchitettura contemporanea como tema emergente en Car-
bonara, G., Restauro Architettonico, Primo Aggiornamento, Torino, UTET, 2007, pp. 265-336; Hernndez
Martnez, A., Lo cutre es cool. Esttica, arte contemporneo y restauracin monumental en el siglo
XXI, in Arce, E. et alt. (editores), Simposio Reflexiones sobre el gusto, Zaragoza, Institucin Fernando el
Catlico, 2012, pp. 477-504; y Hernndez Martnez, A., Lestetica del deterioramento e dellimperfezione:
una tendenza in crescita nel restauro architettonico, in Palladio: rivista di storia dellarchitettura e
restauro,n. 51, 2013, pp. 89-106.
41 Yourcenar, M., Le temps, ce grand sculpteur, in La Revue des voyages, n. 15, 1954, pp. 6-9.
42 Manifesta 8_2010 Murcia, also known as the European Biennal for Contemporary Art, is a travelling ac-
tivity throughout different places in the contintent and whico on this occassion was held in Spain, using
as one of its seats San Antons prison in Cartagena. Revuelta, L., Manifesta <okupa>, in ABC cultural,
Madrid, July 31st 2010, p. 31.
43 LIFE, Lieu International des Formes Emergentes en Nantes (Francia). Mart, O., Una base de submari-
nos para las formas emergentes. El LIFE de Saint Nazaire insufla vida cultural a un lugar que simboliz
la destruccin de la ciudad (A submarine base for the emerging forms. Saint-Nazaires LIFE provides
cultural life to a place that symbolized the destruction of the city), in Babelia, El Pas cultural magazi-
ne, Madrid, December 29th, 2007, pp. 30-31; Transformacin del bnker Alvole 14, in Arquitectura
COAM, Madrid, n. 356, 2nd Term 2009, pp. 35-39.
[223]
kers of the Second World War. The fascination these hermetic and daring buildings
hold, a difficult and controversial heritage from history, mingles with the search
for novelty; without forgetting that these projects aim to come to terms with his-
tory in a different way, depriving the Nazi constructions in Germany, Austria and
France of their ideology by the introduction of cultural usages.
Among others, two outstanding instances may be studied: Viennas Contempo-
rary Art Tower (2001), CAT, and the Boros Collection, set up in a bunker in Berlin
(2008)44. In both cases we are in front of monumental works made in Hitlers com-
mand between 1942 and 1945, which visually impose themselves on public areas
and are linked to dramatic events for German and Austrian people.
The Contemporary Art Tower (CAT) was one of the six flak towers built by
the architect Friedrich Tramms in Vienna. Its position (strategically placed in the
downtown), materials (an imposing mass of concrete, which undoubtedly con-
stitutes a singular forerunner of architectonic brutalism), dimensions (50 meters
high, 9 inner levels, up to 3.5 meters-wide walls) and history, made it a unique
building. Its functions were not only military (to protect the air space of the Aus-
trian capital from the allied bombings), but it was also used as air-raid shelter for
civilians, even as hospital and radio station. Its authors envisaged it as a memorial
for the German dead soldiers after the war, covering the rough concrete walls
with marble tiles. The soviet army tried to demolish it unsuccessfully, because of
its solidness and the resistance of the concrete fabric, and due to the closeness of
many houses. Today, the six towers are listed as monuments and are property of
both the Austrian state and city of Vienna.
The initiative in giving new life to the building was taken by Peter Noever, di-
rector of the Museum of Decorative Arts (MAK), an active and prestigious Austrian
artistic institution, who in 1994 asked the state to use one of the neglected towers
as a repository of its contemporary art collection. CAT was born a few years later,
in 2001, and foresaw the enactment of an architectonic and artistic project by Jen-
ny Holzer and James Turrell which partially modified the structure, especially in
the outer and rear parts where two new glass pavilions would be built, a project
that was not carried out due to different reasons45.
The bunkers adaptation as MAKs branch was easy because of the minimum
transformations in the building, since it is being used the way it was in 1944, that is,
in its original state. The strategy was to occupy the building without any transfor-
mations, inviting contemporary artists to make specific works for it, as it has been
in many countries since the 1970s (in this way the PS1 in New York is a specially
44 More information on these two buildings in: Hernndez Martnez, A., Can Contemporary Art change the
future of conflicting heritage? The case of Nazism architecture, in Garca Cuetos, M. P., y Varagnoli, C.,
Heritage in conflict. Memory, history, architecture, Arriccia, Aracne Editrice, 2015, pp. 173-200.
45 http://www.mak.at:80/en/the_mak/sites/expositur/mak-tower_2.
[224]
significant forerunner)46. Famous current artists such as Atelier Van Lieshout, Ilya
Kabakov or Anish Kapoor have already placed their works there, establishing an
amazing dialogue between contemporary art and the oppressive and aesthetically
amazing spaces of the flak tower. This is, no doubt, a pioneer world initiative to
show contemporary art in a singular context, which, at the same time, tries to con-
front the relationship between local population and an element linked to a decisive
historical event that brings back a painful and unavoidable memory.
In a similar way, the introduction of a cultural usage into an unsuspected place,
but with many noticeable differences in the criteria, the Boros collection has to be
mentioned47, set up in the bunker built in 1942 in Reinhardstrasse, in Berlin city
centre, in Mitte, one the coolest quarters of the German capital. The project has
been carried out by the Berlin studio Realarchitektur (Jean Casper, Petra Peterson
and Andrew Strickland) and its aim was the turning of the Nazi bunker into both
a private museum and a 450 square meter luxury house (a Miesian modern loft
with a thoughtful design furniture) in the attic added to the original construction.
This is no longer a public, as in the Austrian CAT, but a private initiative by the
publicist Christian Boros, owner of an important collection of contemporary art,
which includes the most famous artists such as Damian Hirst, Olafur Eliasson,
Santiago Sierra, etc.
Boros bought the bunker in 2003, adding to its unusual and radical life a new
stage as private museum, a singular testimony of the own German history. Its
history begins with its construction under the Nazi regime; after the Second World
War it was used as a prison by the soviet army; under the DDR was a warehouse
for exotic tropical fruits, and its final usage after the reunification was that of a
techno music discotheque and sadomasochist club.
The original building is a massive square-planned anti air-raid building, built
in 1943 by the architect Karlz Bonatz, substantially smaller than CAT in Vienna,
eighteen meters high (five floors), but with three-meter-thick concrete walls. In
this case the criteria for intervention was the elimination of the main parts of the
building, since the 120 original rooms with low ceilings, which sheltered 3,000
Berlin people, did not fit properly the collections exhibition standards. For this
reason, the architects demolished the walls and ceilings in order to create a lab-
yrinthine structure of eighty spaces of different dimensions (some of them with
a double or triple highness) and a 3,000 square meter exhibition space. It has
to be noticed that, in this building, the nature of the collection, the peculiarities
46 On this institution see: http://momaps1.org/, and Smith, R., More spacious and gracious, yet still funky
at heart, The New York Times, 31 october 1997, consulted on the digital edition august 28th, 2013. http://
www.nytimes.com/1997/10/31/arts/art-review-more-spacious-and-gracious-yet-still-funky-at-heart.html.
47 Sachs, N., Boros collection and residence (Realarchitektur), in Industria delle costruzioni, vol. 45, n.
417, 2011 Jan.-Feb., p. 16-21.
[225]
of the works of art and the opinion of the artists themselves about its exhibition
have influenced the decisions taken in the restoration. Some rooms have been
specifically created to show particular works such as the installation Berlin Colour
Sphere (2006), by Olafur Eliasson, or a monumental, 6-meter-high installation by
Ai Wei Wei; in some other cases unusual perspectives of the work of art has been
intentionally sought. In this sense, one may talk about appropriationism (term
used to refer to a postmodern artistic trend of the 80s) by contemporary art of the
monumental heritage.
It is needful to say that the building was scheduled and its facades and stair-
wells listed as historical monuments, but not the rest of the interior. Before the
intervention, the bunker was covered with paint and graffiti, some of them have
been partially brushed and the resulting rough surface is used as an abstract back-
ground for the works of art. Other rooms have been painted in white, according
to the traditional white box museology, widespread in contemporary art.
After the refurbishment, the bunker has become another touristic attraction in
the city of Berlin48 and the critics of the famous American newspaper The New
York Times welcomed it warmly: a space that will have no rivals in its idisosyn-
cracy, one of the capitals most extreme examples of its assets49 a milestone in
the city50; being similar to what happened in the German press: a place with a
turbulent history, now lavishly remodelled as a showplace for art51, whereas the
collector is described as an usual customer with a sophisticated artistic taste52.
However, these initiatives may arouse some suspicion. No doubt, these proj-
ects have many advantages from the point of view of international cultural tour-
ism, but the key question is (further beyond the respect of these interventions to
the buildings historic values, which is also relevant) whether contemporary art
can be a means to tame the unwanted legacy of the Second World War, as the Pol-
ish art historian and journalist Katarzyna Jadozinska wonders regarding CAT53, or
whether the Boros Museum is only the egos affirmation of an ignorant customer
indifferent to the historic value of the building as the German architect Norbert
48 Gmez, J., El bnker de un millonario. Una antigua fortaleza nazi sirve de vivienda-museo al rico Chris-
tian Boros, in El Pas, August 20th, 2013, consulted on August 20th, 2013 on the digital edition.
49 Tzortzis, A., In a Berlin war bunker, Christian Boros creates a showcase for art, in The New York
Times, June 12th 2007, consulted on March 8th, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/12/arts/12i-
ht-bunker.1.6105187.html?_r=0.
50 Eddy, M., Contemporary Art Finds a Shelter in Berlin, in The New York Times, Septem 2012, cons27th,
2012,consulted on march 8th, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/28/arts/28iht-bunker28.html?_r=0.
51 Nusser, S., The New Past: The Boros Collection in Berlin, consulted on March 8th, 2013, http://www.
goethe.de/kue/bku/msi/en4151025.htm.
52 Kappingler, C., Boros Art Collection, Berlin-Mitte-Art in a bunker with a certain frisson, in Architektuer
Aktuell, n. 342, 2008, pp. 120-129.
53 Jadozinska, K., Bunkers with art, in Herito, Heritage, culture & the present, january 05, 2011, digital
edition consulted on January 26th, 2013, http:/www.herito.pl/en/articles/bunkers-with-art2. html.
[226]
Sachs says: it might only be a remarkable work that shows the architects pro-
jecting ability. The decision falls to the visitor. In any case, the project brings up
questions about the societys attitude54. The truth is that in contrast to the build-
ings success in the professional world, as awards show55, the visit may arouse
some unease due to the transformation of a memory-filled building into a fashion
place, in which the footprints of history have been treated as something material,
disregarding its documentary value56.
Reflections on terminology
The terminology used today to describe and comment on heritage interven-

tions unveils the shift in a social paradigm, the emergence of diverse attitudes
towards heritage of which we are not fully aware. The use of terms such as ap-
propriation, reassessment, regeneration, recycling, underlies the idea of heritage
as asset, as resource and as a consumer product rather than a cultural good to be
preserved. The deliberate refusal to using the word restoration, on which a series
of negative comments are expressed, reveals that something is going on, and that
something may be linked to our relation with history.
Probably, as the French anthropologist Marc Aug holds: the problem is that
nowadays the world is ruled by an ideology of the present, of today, that stunts
both the effort of thinking the present as history, an ideology determined to turn
into something obsolete both the teachings of the past and the wish to imagine
the future. One or two decades ago, the present has become something hege-
monic.57 An attitude that would lead to the presents demand to appropriate the
past and to handle it at its own convenience. In this way, the opinion of Ignasi de
Sol Morales, one of the responsible architects for the rebuilding of the German
Pavilion for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition and director of the Liceus
rebuilding works, defending the right of contemporary architects to seize the past,
is very significant: the past culture has to be in the service of the present58.
54 Sachs, N., Boros collection, in op. cit. p. 16.

55 Selected for the German pavilion in the 2006 Biennal of Venice, the famous magazine Wallpaper includes
it into the 101 most exciting buildings in the world in 2007, in 2008 it is awarded with the Architecture
Award for Concrete, and it is nominated to the Mies van der Rohe Award in 2009.
56 There is a seemingly great demand for extraordinary places today, for their authenticity, for their aura,
and architects have been able to meet this demand, However, the visitor leaves with some discomfort
this historical building whose dark past is now exclusively used for art and the ego of the collector, and
in which, without establishing any distance, have been treated all traces as materials and as symbols, not
documents. Kappingler, , C., Boros Art , in op. cit. p, 128.
57 Aug, M., 2008, O est pass lavenir; Italian translation Che fine ha fatto il futuro? Dai nonluoghi al
nontempo, Milano, 2009, quotted by G. Carbonnara, en Architettura doggi e restauro. Un confronto
antico-nuovo, 2011, premessa.
58 Interview with Ignasi de Sol-Morales published in the magazine Abc Cultural, October 2nd 1999, p. 49.
[227]
The sociologist Zygmunt Bauman characterizes the present times as a liquid,

volatile, changing world in which traditional habits, deep-rooted customs, the
solid cognitive frames or the praise for stable values become obstacles (...) The
modern liquid culture is not longer a learning culture, is, above all, a culture of
indifference, of discontinuity and oblivion (...) We live a liquid modernity, un-
derstood as an individualized and unregulated consumer society59.
Perhaps, as a consequence of this situation, todays society does not endure
rigorous judgement nor limitations. This circumstance, apply to heritage protec-
tion, translates itself into an unlimited freedom to appropriate the past, thence the
rejection of restoration criteria, a set of rules made by and inherited from a long
thinking and reflecting tradition that characterizes the European artistic culture.
The above mentioned reason may explain the conscious refusal to use the word
restoration, since this will mean to assume the existence of some limits when in-
tervening in historic architecture, to put a stop to creativity, to the possibilities of
reusing, derived from the recognition of cultural values that must be preserved.
Therefore, to reject the term restoration would remorselessly allow to sacrifice
historic architecture on behalf of some purposes that have nothing to do with
cultural heritage conservation. In this way, it is urgent and necessary to define and
think about the monumental restoration of the 21st century, taking up again what
is valid in the European restoration culture, a legacy that identifies us in front of
other continents and cultures. We cannot forget that our decision to protect and
preserve cultural goods is due to the values inherent to them, what commits us to
act according to a historic sensibility and respect to them, not guided by aesthetic,
economic or ideological criteria.
Unfortunately, the use of a language distant from the usual concepts of our
discipline together with the criteria applied in some interventions, lead us to
corroborate the less importance that the values of both historical heritage and
restoration itself have. This process reveals the media-like character of current
architecture and the displacement of the meaning of the term restoration, which
is sometimes reduced to the recovery of the buildings image (for instance in the
reconstruction of missing monuments), where, obviously, there is nothing left to
restoration. In this context, restoration does not consists in the recovery of historic
architectures values, but in the production of an fictional image that nonetheless it
is very attractive to society; the proposal for the reconstruction of the Royal Palace
in Berlin is very significant60.
59 Sarabia, B., Bauman. Sobre la educacin en un mundo lquido, in El Cultural, El Mundos magazine,
2-22-2013, pp. 10-11, esp. p. 11.
60 On this subject see: Kuehn, W., Model und event, in Candide. Journal for Architectural Knowledge,
2009, n.1, pp. 97-116; Oswalt, P., propos du projet laurat pour le Humboldt-Forum. Criticat, 2010,
n.5, pp. 64-67; Hernndez Martnez, A., Historia de la reconstruccin. Reconstruccin de la historia, in
Arciniega Garca, L. (ed.), La obra interminable: uso y recepcin del arte, Valencia, Department of History
[228]
These opinions lay bare that we live in a society so different to that of the 20th
century, yet the challenge before us is to simply accept the heritages condition as
a consumer product or to react and underline the importance of heritages cultural
values, and, at the same time, to adopt an attitude in our professional world which
scientifically criticize, with solid reasons and broadcasted in the media, those in-
terventions which cannot be labelled, under no circumstances, restorations, and
which have decisive consequences in heritage.
As the American historian Leland Roth states:
Architecture is like the shell of the nautilus of the human race: it is the en-
vironment we build for ourselves and which we change and adapt to our new
expanded field as we acquire experience and knowledge. If we want to preserve
our identity we must be careful not to remove the shell of our past, since it is like
the physical chronicle of our aspirations and achievements61.
of Art, Facultad de Geografa e Historia, Universidad de Valencia, 2013, pp. 293-324; Hernndez Martnez,
A., A la bsqueda (imposible) del tiempo perdido. Reflexiones en torno a la reconstruccin idntica,
definida por Paul Philippot, in Conversaciones, n. 1, junio 2015, monogrfico Conversaciones con
Paul Philippot, Coordinacin Nacional de Conservacin del Patrimonio Cultural, Instituto Nacional de
Antropologa e Historia, Mxico, pp. 97-116.
61 Roth, Leland, M., Entender la arquitectura Sus elementos, historia y significado, Barcelona, Gustavo Gili,
1993, p. 1.
[229]
ETHICS IN PRESERVATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY
BEATRIZ MUGAYAR KHL*
Abstract: The text shows the need to analyze the reasons that lead society to
preserve their cultural heritage, found in the basis of the theoretical principles
that underlie the practice. The idea is to work with coherent criteria and a sound
methodology to carry out scrupulous interventions, in contraposition to reductive
as well as arbitrary actions, subjected to shortsighted and sectorial interests. These
parameters should guide the ethical and deontological principles of the different
professions involved, so that the cultural heritage can continue to be accurate
documents and, as such, can transmit knowledge in an appropriate manner and
serve as effective support for knowledge and the collective memory**.
Key Words: Cultural Heritage. Preservation. Intervention Criteria. Theory of Resto-
ration. Professional Ethics.
The ethical and deontological issues related to the preservation of cultural

heritage are, nowadays, a highly emergent theme1. In times of accelerated trans-
* Departamento de Histria da Arquitetura e Esttica do Projeto. Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo.

bmk@usp.br
** English text: Shirly Gabay. This text revisits statements presented in other texts, especially: Khl, B.,
Histria e tica na Conservao e na Restaurao de Monumentos Histricos, in Revista CPC, n. 1,
2005, pp. 16-40, as well as tica e responsabilidade social na preservao do patrimnio cultural,
ABRACOR Congress in 2009 and disclosed in the institutions site: http://www.abracor.com.br/novosite/
downloads/textobeatrizmk.pdf (21.08.2013). The text was then republished, with the same title, in the
magazine Ideias em destaque, n. 36, 2011, pp. 86-100.
1 A brief explanation is necessary about the use of certain words in this text. In Brazil, the terms related
to preservation are used in a slightly imprecise manner; however, in the fields of knowledge involved
the word preservation has a broader sense and includes a great variety of actions such as inventories,
registries, laws, heritage education and also the interventions on the historic monuments. With regard
to the interventions, the denominations maintenance, conservation and restoration can be used as
proposed in the Venice Charter, with increasing degrees of transformation on the monument; or as pro-
posed by Cesare Brandi, who summarizes all of them in the word restoration, the sense adopted in this
text. We are aware of postures counteracting restoration, emphasizing conservation as an action with a
diverse essence. There are also those who still look at restoration as an act that leads the monument to
[231]
BEATRIZ MUGAYAR KHL
formation, the lack of clarity with regard to what motivates preservation, asso-
ciated to the disqualification of theoretical instruments in the restoration field,
constructed over centuries, have resulted in a lack of coherent criteria to act on
historic buildings. Everything falls upon the most absolute relativism, leading to
unjustifiable destruction and deformation. In order to counteract this situation, the
central reflection axis of this text revolves around reasons that lead us to preserve,
which are essential to guide the principles of intervention i.e., the theoretical
instruments that should guide practical actions and circumscribe its objectives,
having an impact on the choice of the technical-operational means necessary to
achieve them.
These problems have been mostly faced without methodological consistency:
the particularities of each case have been translated, in the practice, in permissive
attitudes within building, urban or territorial scale. The legitimate broadening of
what is considered cultural heritage, motivated by increasingly varied reasons,
with conflicting interests among them, instead of conducting a reflection focused
on the common good2 based on ethical principles that contemplate the inter-
est of society considered in a wide-ranging and inclusive manner, and time in the
long term, has served as an excuse, on behalf of an alleged democracy, in the
name of a false, short-term and mistaken notion of progress, to leave everything at
the mercy of the strongest. Moderating power that should be based on the very
old reflection over preservation and restoration has no effect, and the result of
this are solutions that benefit restricted sectors of society, in the short term, and
cause unrecoverable damage.
Another constant type of reductionism is related to the fact that any inter-
vention has relative pertinence, for in restoration there is not only one solution,
that is universally accepted and in a timeless manner, but several solutions with
relative pertinence. Because of that, many believe that anything done to a historic
building can be considered preservation. Solutions pertinent to the restoration
field must be guided by the reasons that lead to preservation, understood as an
ethical-cultural act, and by intervention principles that arise because of them. It
is essential to analyze the theoretical basis of restoration, in its different aspects
and transformations over time, in order to obtain a more complete understand-
ing of the formulations, so that they can be interpreted for specific cases: the
intention is to avoid arbitrariness, even though any intervention should always
be questioned.
its supposed initial state, in a nineteenth century view of the problem, or which freezes it. In this text,
the word preservation is used in the broader sense, and the word restoration is used to characterize the
disciplinary field that guides the interventions on cultural heritage, that on changing them, respect their
essence and are based on cultural, ethical and scientific reasons.
2 For a comprehensive view of this problem, see: Settis, S., Azione popolare. Cittadini per il bene comune,
Turin, Einaudi, 2012.
[232]
However, in Brazil (and not only there), many of the theoretical frameworks
related to preservation in general, and to restoration in particular, have given
place to hurried and mistaken interpretations. In the Brazilian debates there is a
polarization towards largely undesirable extremes that seek to disqualify the the-
oretical frameworks: on the one hand, because the existence of reflection about
the theme is not known or the usefulness of the theoretical frameworks is not
surmised, with the excuse that they would be disconnected from reality, not being
seen as a legitimate dimension of practice itself; on the other hand, because the
theoretical formulations existing are depreciated through unfounded pseudo inter-
pretations that are based on false assumptions and cannot be sustained if analyzed
in the light of a accurate epistemological criticism.
This can be verified in comments about the Venice Charter or about formula-
tions by Alois Riegl or Cesare Brandi, for example. Phrases are removed from their
context: the view of the author is flattened to a fragment of the work, without
consideration for the production as a whole, and this results in deformed inter-
pretations. According to this procedure principles contained in the Venice Charter,
for example, are considered flawed, or those formulated by Brandi are considered
outdated, without any explanations; something completely distinct from a legiti-
mate critique of these texts that have always existed and should exist which
take diverging and well-founded stands. The problem also extends to the exam-
ination of our legislative framework: although the Brazilian legislation is laconic
in what refers to principles of intervention, there are methods of interpretation
affiliated to gnosiology and hermeneutics (and used in jurisprudence), which al-
low us to understand a given formulation in a broader manner. These instruments
must be used to examine any text to elaborate a well-based reading of it and not
a reductive and misleading one.
Texts from the field are not self-explanatory and cannot be confused with a
prescription of mechanical rules to be applied in a direct and easy manner in
practice. As an example, the Charters concerning cultural heritage in Brazil gave
place to questionable interpretations, because of a basic mistake: the charters are
treated like a homogenous set of documents coherent with each other, and there-
fore, can provide the choice of excerpts for one or another to corroborate a spe-
cific intervention. The Athens Charter for the Restoration of Historic Monuments
(1931), the Venice Charter (1964), the Norms of Quito, from the Organization of
American States (1967), and the European Charter of Architectural Heritage, from
the Council of Europe (1975), for example, are placed in the same level, without
making the necessary distinction between them. They are all interesting, but are
far from constituting a homogenous set, since they were elaborated in different
periods, by diverse organisms, with divergent purposes; therefore, they have very
dissimilar intentions and repercussion, which must be properly highlighted. Even
among documents from a single institution, there are considerable differences that
must be emphasized in order not to generate mistakes.
[233]
BEATRIZ MUGAYAR KHL
Charters are the result of a debate at a specific moment. Firstly, they are not
a theoretical system developed in an extensive way; they are concise documents
that summarize the consensual points, offering general indications. Thus, they
contain guidelines, or, at most, prescriptions. Charters such as that of Venice, ex-
actly because they are international, cannot have a normative character, for their
indications should be reinterpreted in different cultural and legislative3 realities.
However, if duly examined for local realities, they can have an important role in
the normative construction of different countries, something that did not happen
in Brazil.
In order to interpret not only Charters, but also any text in a judicious man-
ner, it is necessary to elaborate an accurate analysis of its totality, and not extract
random phrases so as to deny its own essence. In the case of scientific meetings,
thorough reading of the proceedings is necessary to reach in-depth understanding
of the context, and the reasons that led to a certain formulation. The scientific
production on the theme that preceded the elaboration of the writing must also
be meticulously studied in order to understand the several transformations in the
field, and its theoretical frameworks. This study must also be accompanied by
an analysis of proposals contemporary to the formulation examined and broad
knowledge of the authors production, or that of the authors, to examine the
different lines of thought about the theme and the circumstances of their elabo-
ration. The analyses allow us to explore the context in which certain theoretical
instruments were created and then appropriated and transformed. Finally, it is
necessary to elaborate a teleological analysis, understanding the writing in view
of its objectives.
This digression is important in the Brazilian case, given the lack of tradition
in the discussion about these themes, in spite of the numerous citations made,
many times randomly, of texts, which refer to restoration. An interesting case can
be seen in the most recent Arquimemria, an international meeting about pres-
ervation of built heritage, held in Salvador (Bahia), in May 20134. One of the pro-
posals of the organizers was to show the different lines of thought in restoration
existing nowadays, also to counteract what they considered a very dogmatic view
of the Theory of Restoration by Brandi. Sometimes it is considered, in Bahia, as a
fixed clause, which does not accept interpretations, and even restoration would
not allow other views. The initiative to uncover the diversity of lines of thought
that always existed in restoration and also the possibilities for interpretation
3 For interpretations of the Venice Charter see: Carbonara, G., I trent'anni di una buona carta del restauro,
in Restauro, n. 131-132, 1995, pp. 57-60; Khl, B., Notas sobre a Carta de Veneza, in Anais do Museu
Paulista, v. 18, n. 2, 2010, pp. 287-320; Pane, A., Drafting of the Venice Charter: historic developments in
conservation, Dublin, Icomos Ireland, 2010.
4 The event program can be found in: http://www.iab-ba.org.br/arquimemoria4/?page_id=19. (08.08.2013).
[234]
of theoretical instruments is praiseworthy. However, the perception of some par-

ticipants in the event is that, sometimes with commendable exceptions, such as
the statements made by Marco Dezzi Bardeschi, there were attempts to disqual-
ify the Brandian frameworks without any real foundation, and these statements
are taken as truth, without any pondering about what is really in the texts, nor
what was done by the ICR of Rome during the decades when it was directed by
Brandi; i.e., disconsidering theoretical as well as practical frameworks. In the same
manner, the success that statements made by Salvador Muoz Vias5 have had in
Brazil over the last few years: everything he proposed and his reading of Brandi
(with a series of mistakes6) are seen as absolute truth, without any unquestioning;
in addition, his proposals are interpreted so as to justify total relativism towards
cultural heritage.
The lack of tradition in epistemological criticism makes the discussion about
these themes become superficial, a result of passing fads, and not a necessary and
well-based theoretical debate, resulting in deformed and absolutely staggering
interpretation of the texts.
Another common deviation is to consider the use of these references as mean-
ingless, since the line of thought of several authors is not the same. There are no
authors that coincide completely (except in the case of plagiarism), in any area of
knowledge. There are postures with convergence in certain topics and divergence
in others, which help to establish frameworks, offering resources for reflection.
They circumscribe fields of pertinence, which are necessarily ample, as thought
does not converge to one point only. These frameworks help to define what is
pertinent to the field, separating what completely exceeds its themes, methods
and objectives.
On examining the transformations of preservation over the centuries, it is pos-
sible to verify that the construction of the issues is, largely, associated to the acqui-
sition of a historical conscience, and to the notion of rupture between the past
and the present7. With time, the ways of dealing with heritage from other genera-
tions recognized as having a cultural interest drifted apart from actions dictat-
ed uniquely by pragmatic reasons (of use, and economic ones) that predominated
5 Muoz Vias, S., Contemporary Theory of Conservation, London, Routledge, 2004.

6 For some of them see: Vieira, N.; Nascimento, C., A cristalizao da 'eterna imagem do passado' nas pr-
ticas preservacionistas dos stios histricos brasileiros: perspectiva para a sua superao, in Enanparq
II: Atas eletrnicas, Natal, Enanparq, text ST523-03.
7 There is a vast bibliography about the theme; to mention only a few texts used in Brazil, that point to a
broader bibliography, see: Carbonara, G., Avvicinamento al restauro, Naples, Liguori, 1997; Choay, F., A
Alegoria do Patrimnio, So Paulo, UNESP, 2001; Jokilehto, J., A History of Architectural Conservation,
Oxford, Butterworth, 1999. The notion of rupture between past and present is associated to the vision of
time linearity, with Jewish-Christian roots, which predominates in most western societies. The consider-
ations made here about the materiality of the buildings are pertinent for this type of view; they are not
valid for social groups that have a vision of circularity of time.
[235]
BEATRIZ MUGAYAR KHL
until then, and gradually took on a cultural connotation, whose emphasis used to
vary and still varies over time. Sometimes, it was centered on the importance of
historical events, or on exceptional artistic quality; more recently, it became a wid-
ened conception, also focused on memorial and symbolic aspects. Thus, practical
reasons do not prevail in an isolated manner, although they are always present,
and they become concomitant, being used as a way of preserving, but not as the
unique purpose of action.
In the broader current view, we preserve cultural heritage for the following
reasons: cultural, for its formal, documentary, symbolic and memorial aspects; sci-
entific, as cultural heritage transmits knowledge in different fields of knowledge;
and ethical, as we dont have the right to erase the traces of past generations and
deprive the present and future generations from the possibility of knowledge that
these historic monuments hold.
In this maturing process, a wide variety of theoretical formulations and prac-
tical experimenting were made over several centuries. Upon the reflection about
results, especially as from the 19th century, restoration constructed its own theo-
retical-methodological and technical-operational instruments, which transformed
it into a discipline that acquired an epistemological status. Thus, principles that
could guide interventions are constituted, with the aim of the buildings being
transmitted to the future in the best possible way, without denaturing or distorting
them, complying with their role of cultural heritage: so that they continue to be
accurate documents and as such, serve as effective support for knowledge and
collective memory. Therefore, any intervention should be justifiable according to
the reasons that lead a society towards preservation.
Analyzing many of the recent interventions on historic buildings in Brazil and
the growing de-characterization to which they are submitted8, the need to discuss
theoretical precepts to guide practical actions becomes blatant. It is clear that it is
not the only aspect to be considered, however it is a major problem that has not
been debated. Presented below are two recent cases to illustrate the issue: The
Maracan Stadium, in Rio de Janeiro and a railway warehouse in Santos, State of
So Paulo.
The Maracan Stadium went through transformations with a view to the World
Cup in 2014. Inaugurated in 1950, it has been protected by federal law since
2000. It has an elliptical form, with a reinforced concrete structure, made of
pillars articulated to the beams and cantilevered roof. For a long time it was
the greatest stadium in the world, a reference for everyone, not only because
of the matches played there, but also due to its role in the composition of the
8 For other examples, see: Khl, B. Preservao do Patrimnio Arquitetnico da Industrializao, Cotia,
Ateli, 2009.
[236]
urban landscape and the way in which its canopy framed the views of the city.
The first significant modifications, demanded by FIFA, were made for the 2000
FIFA Club World Championship: individual seats, banning of spectators standing
up, which led to the construction of a temporary platform above the general
spectator area (ellipsoidal ring around the field, with the floor at a lower level
compared to the field, a standing-only sector). The federal preservation organ
allowed the transformations, which, although voluminous, were reversible. For
the 2007 Pan-American Games, more work was done, such as the suppression of
the general spectator area to install seats, the lowering of the field, to allow for
better visibility, waterproofing of the roof and modernization of the installations.
Nothing compared however, to the work concluded in June 2013. FIFA suggested
expanding the covered area, something that could be solved by adding a tem-
porary canopy. The analysis of the concrete roof showed that in spite of its bad
state of conservation, it would be possible to recover at elevated costs. The deci-
sion however, was to demolish it completely, with the justification that it was not
possible to recover it, something that contradicts the technical report. The result
was the radical transformation of the whole stadium, at very high costs, which
generated an open investigation by the Federal Public Ministry9. Another argu-
ment put on the agenda for discussion was the type of registration itself10, as the
Stadium was registered in the book of Archeological, Landscape and Ethnograph-
ical Monuments, and not on account of its architectonic quality; this is why, some
said that what mattered was the spirit of the place and that the transformations
would not cause damage to the monument. This argument is deceitful, for all
monuments, registered in any of the books, are equal before the law, which de-
mands that they should not be destroyed, nor mutilated. Registration as cultural
heritage is applicable to things and not the spirit, remembering that there is
a specific federal law for immaterial heritage, dated from 2000. In other words,
according to the law, materiality must be respected. The integrated structure sys-
tem of the stadium was unique and its partial demolition leads to the destruction
of the organisms composition logic. In spite of the polemic involved in the case,
it was not possible to stop the works.
9 The data comes from: Giro, C., Maracan, destruir ou preservar, in Vitruvius, 2012 http://www.vit-
ruvius.com.br/revistas/read/projetos/12.133/4225 (04.06.2013). The work reached the amount of about
320 million Euros, sufficient for the construction of two new stadiums following FIFA standards.
10 The federative structure of Brazil reflects in the management of its cultural heritage. There is a federal
preservation agency, created in 1937, which aims at protecting the relevant monuments for the whole
country. Many of the state offices were created later, such as the one in So Paulo (1968), followed by
the multiplication of the municipal agencies. The protection in the federal sphere is regulated by several
legislative instruments: the first of them is the decree-law 25, from 1937, still in effect. The works consid-
ered to be heritage are registered in one (or more than one) Livros do Tombo, i.e., registration books,
specified in the 4th clause: the Archeological, Ethnographic and Landscape; the Historical one, the one
of Fine Arts; and the one of Applied Arts.
[237]
BEATRIZ MUGAYAR KHL
Another controversial issue started in 2010, with regard to one of the ware-
houses of the railway complex in the port of Santos. It happened at a moment in
which, due to transformations in the railway system privatizations of road con-
cessions, extinction of companies there was interest from preservation agencies
federal and state, for the railways as a system, not going back to listing only
the passenger building anymore. The warehouse belonged to the most ancient
railway of So Paulo, the So Paulo Railway (SPR), inaugurated in 1867 to connect
the port of Santos to the coffee-producing zone in Jundia, going through the city
of So Paulo. The warehouses in Santos were crucial to the State of So Paulo ex-
port-import system; this is why they were expanded at the end of the 19th century.
A huge quantity of merchandise went through them, especially coffee, but also
other products for exportation as well as everything that is imported, including
machinery supplied to the industries. They are therefore extremely important in
the configuration of the railway complex, with an important role in the agro-ex-
porting activities and in the industrialization process of the State.
In 2010, the preservation of the whole complex was approved by the States
office. However, conflicts arose later as one of the warehouses was in an area ac-
quired by the oil company Petrobrs that would build an administrative complex.
The architectonic project of Ruy Rezende, currently in progress, foresaw the par-
tial demolition of one of the warehouses and maintained the decision in spite of
the registration of the warehouse as cultural heritage, for the construction of three
tall administrative towers, that do not respect the building scale of the port area11.
This conflict, instead of generating a more informed debate with an agreement
that could offer Petrobrs other areas to construct within the same city zone, or
the revision of the project, taking advantage of the warehouse for the administra-
tive activities, led, in 2011, to the revision of the registration against the report
made by the states office staff as well as to a partial demolition. The perception
of the warehouses architecture, limited to a third of it, was mutilated, as its pro-
portions were changed from 1:4 i.e., an elongated rectangle, with dimensions
that allowed, also from for its spatial composition, to perceive the importance of
the export-import activities of the State to 1:1,5, a belittled remnant tending
towards a square. The action interferes in the configuration of the railway-port
complex, inserting elements disregarding its scale, and also in the perception of
the Franciscan complex, with origins dating back to the 17th century. According to
recent information, the work of Petrobrs was affecting the structures of a church
and a cemetery of the 18th century12.
11 For the analysis of the problem see Soukef, A., A preservao dos conjuntos ferrovirios da So Paulo
Railway em Santos e Jundia, So Paulo, FAUUSP, 2010, pp. 242-287.
12 Ratton, C., Histria ameaada: Santurio do Valongo sob risco de extino, in Dirio do Litoral,
05/08/2013 http://www.diariodolitoral.com.br/conteudo/15233-historia-ameacada-santuario-do-valon-
go-sob-risco-de-extincao (09.08.2013).
[238]
The factors that weighed on the decision have little to do with preservation
understood as an act motivated by ethical-cultural reasons; an alternative solution,
which would preserve the complex and guarantee the legitimate needs of Petro-
brs, could have been found. The counter-arguments, as in the case of Maracan,
were seen as old-fashioned, fetishist, unrealistic and contrary to progress.
If transformations that preservation went through over the centuries are ana-
lyzed as well as the consolidation of restoration as an autonomous disciplinary
field which is different from being an isolated field (for it needs the articulation
of several areas of knowledge) it is possible to verify that in spite of the current
diversity of lines of thought13, there is a common core in the field. Restoration has
a methodology, theoretical principles and technical-operational procedures of its
own that are the result of experimentations over centuries and the reflection about
the reasons that lead societies to preserve cultural heritage. In practice, solutions
vary greatly, due to different lines of thought and to technical means used in the
operational phase: every building, or complex of buildings, has its own configura-
tion, materiality and peculiar course over time. However, this diversity of possible
solutions does not imply that any action can be called preservation: there is a field
of pertinence outlined by theoretical and methodological aspects related to pres-
ervation understood as an ethical-cultural act.
Hence, efforts made by different authors to establish criteria (and not rules) for
action must be examined. Brandi, for example, admonished, several decades ago
that the practical side of restoration is to restoration, as a ruling is to legal norms14.
In nowadays practice, penalties have been applied in the absence of a norm;
we move on to how we can restore without asking about the whys, resulting
in arbitrary actions. This does not mean that all interventions made in Brazil are
bad, but they depend on the judgment of one person who is going to judge the
monument more or less conscientiously, according to his or her abilities. Thus, the
decision does not come from the notion of justice, which emanates from society
that is aware of the role attributed to historical monuments as support for knowl-
edge and memory. A penalty" should not be applied to a historic building in the
absence of a norm, in order not to fall back on arbitrariness. A judge is expected
to establish a sentence based on the law and not on an individual momentary vi-
sion; in accordance with existing codes where the latter are not frozen they are
a social construction that varies over time. The current situation of cultural heritage
is similar to that of human beings before the existence of the rule of law.
Another point must be analyzed within this context: all individuals must be
equal before the law. Historical monuments, metaphorically likened here to indi-
13 For supplementary bibliography on this topic refer to: Khl, B., Preservao..., op. cit., pp. 81-100.
14 Brandi, C., Theory of Restoration, Florence, Nardini, 2005, p. 78.
[239]
BEATRIZ MUGAYAR KHL
viduals, as already argued by Riegl who gave significant steps in the consolida-
tion of the field must not be understood only as grand works, of exceptional
value, but as a work that has acquired a cultural connotation over time, something
close to the etymological sense of the monument as an element of recollection.
Works of art are compared to the other products, with no distinction, in terms
of methodology, between fine arts and other forms of manifestation of human
doings. In the same manner, in jurisprudence there are no discriminations due to
appearance, social condition, etc. Riegls proposals can be considered the univer-
sal declaration of historical monuments rights, as, according to his propositions,
any work that existed for some time could be worthy of preservation and, if con-
sidered as such, is equal before the law of protection: this does not mean that the
buildings are alike, but they have the same legal protection and must be treated
according to coherent criteria.
It is worth highlighting the manner in which Riegl has been interpreted in
Brazil. His propositions offer innovative ways for the theory and practice of pres-
ervation, when contemplating legislative aspects and acutely analyzing the role
of historical monuments and their different forms of apprehension by a society
through the values explained by him in The Modern Cult of Monuments15, from
1903. In Brazil, one fact is frequently ignored: that the Cult is articulated to the
a draft law, where it is clear that in the interventions on monuments only one of
the values must serve as a guide, so as not to apply diverging criteria to buildings,
which before the law have the same rights. In Brazil, it is stated that the values
can be applied in an alternate way, leading to the comfortable situation of using
diverse criteria according to the partys own interests.
Riegls normative construction is based essentially on respect towards the
age-value16, which depends on the appreciation of the signs of the passing of time,
regardless of the initial destination of the building. Protection does not focus on
the recovery of old forms, nor does it disconsider different phases of buildings.
It is based on the cult of age-value, as it is considered the most inclusive, and it
respects as a whole buildings from of any time, different stratifications of the same
piece building, and traces of the passing of time.
Regardless of having more affinity with Riegls or Brandis propositions or other
more recent formulations and reinterpretations, the need to act according to con-
sistent criteria, derived from the awareness of the reasons that led to preservation,
must be shown.
15 Riegl, A., The Modern Cult of Monuments, in Oppositions, n. 25, 1982, pp. 20-51.
16 See, Progetto di un'organizzazione legislativa della conservazione in Austria, by Riegl, published in the
compilation organized by: Scarrocchia, S., Alois Riegl: Teoria e Prassi della Conservazione dei Monumen-
ti, Bologna, Clueb, 1995, pp. 171-236. See the considerations by Riegl for the preservation law (pp. 209-
210), showing the most inclusive character of age-value, based on the solidarity with the whole world
and the provisions for the application of the law (pp. 222-236).
[240]
It is also important to note that technical-operational means are essential, and

must be laboriously debated and researched; however they cannot be understood
as being disconnected to the discussions mentioned above, as one of the risks
we run today is excessive specializations, fragmentation of knowledge and disci-
plinary dispersion, which leads to blind faith in technicalities.
Preserving should always be a multidisciplinary process, even if the opera-
tional phase is carried out by only one person. It is essential to act with method-
ological rigor proper to the humanities (which must not be confused with meth-
odological obsession). Restoration is an act necessarily anchored in several fields
of knowledge, and in the critical and scientific thought of the moment in which it
is made. The link with the humanities is essential for those who work in preser-
vation, for it allows us to overcome attitudes dictated by individual preferences,
which any thinking being has, and to rise above a greater or smaller appreciation
of a social group with regard to cultural manifestations from other periods, and
to act according to a sound professional deontology. How many times in history
certain types of productions were neglected at first, to be appreciated later, after
many testimonials had already disappeared? Every professional has individual
preferences, but he or she must overcome them based on appropriate deontol-
ogy, so as not to fall back on arbitrariness. This process is not obvious and this
is also why pluridisciplinarity is necessary: to minimize the risk of partial and
deforming attitudes.
Interventions on cultural heritage demand detailed studies; they do not admit
simplification, nor mechanical application of formulas: thus the need to work on
principles, or criteria (and not fixed rules) to lay the foundation for the proposals.
In addition, restoration, the way it is understood today, does not mean going back
to the past (this happened in the 19th century), nor freezing or embalming, nor
drawing the buildings apart from reality. It means always transforming, as nothing
remains the same for an indefinite length of time; therefore, restoration should
control the transformation in order to transmit the work to the future, based on
the respect for its composition, its materiality and its transformation over time, to
reinsert it into the current socioeconomic reality. It is therefore an act of respect
for the past, made in the present, which always maintains the future in the horizon
of its reflections. In restoration, according to the definitions in its disciplinary field,
the building is not returned to a known earlier state; it is in a certain situation
and another is addressed. Changes are necessary and desirable, but they are the
consequence of multidisciplinary studies.
Many times though, restoration is disqualified, since it is considered insufficient
to face current demands a conclusion reached based on prejudice and not on
the updated definition of restoration in its disciplinary field, in favor of actions
called requalification, recovery, recycling, and other lexical regurgitations
[241]
BEATRIZ MUGAYAR KHL
as understood by Gaetano Miarelli Mariani17. These proposals do not take into

consideration the epistemological instruments of restoration and also do not de-
velop consistent conceptual apparatus to ensure that intervention will respect the
right to culture and memory.
Restoration propositions demand an interpretation effort related to each case,
because of the particular characteristics of each work and its individual aging over
time. Thus, comes the need for theoretical reflection that examines the method,
to solve the problem so that the subjective idea becomes accessible to a more
objective and controllable judgment, even in the intrinsic non-exactitude of hu-
manities18. Restoration has consistent methods, concepts, and technical-operation-
al instruments, which offer means so that practical intervention is pertinent to the
field, considering its motivations and objectives.
As a critical act, restoration is pertinent to the cultural parameters (and socio-eco-
nomic-political, etc.) of each period. In a same time, the possible well-founded
solutions to a problem can vary: there is not only one plausible solution, accepted
unanimously by everyone and valid regardless of time, but several solutions of
relative pertinence. Pertinence is also relative with reference to the parameters of
previous and posterior times, and it is not possible to forecast what criteria will be
used in the future19. Intervention on cultural heritage depends on the way monu-
ments are perceived and the answers given by them are related to questions and
enquiries formulated by a historical present. This shows an even greater need to
act in a well-based manner following ethical and scientific principles. The solution
therefore must also be discussed and faced with instruments and be linked to the
reality of each period. The fact that, in the future, perception may be different,
does not exempt a social group of the responsibility for preservation (and iden-
tifying monuments for preservation) if this is not done in a well-based manner, it
will happen in a random way.
It is important to highlight that the current lines of thought, those that are re-
ally consistent, although they have distinct fundaments and operate in different
ways, are based on the view of preservation as an ethical-cultural act, even within
the plurality of its formulations. Theoretical precepts therefore allow the circum-
scription of preservation and the actions related to it, separating them from what
17 Miarelli Mariani, G. Riflessioni su un vecchio tema: il nuovo nella citt storica, in Restauro, n. 164, 2003,
pp.11-48.
18 See, for example, Heidegger, M., Chemins qui ne mnent nulle part, Paris, Gallimard, 1986, pp. 99-126.
Heidegger shows that lack of exactitude of human sciences is not a defect; it is a characteristic and a
demand, for its objectivity which has different characteristics, if compared to exact sciences (whose
connection with objectivity has the attribute of exactitude) exists, but demands hard work based on
rigorous method to reach objectivity.
19 As explained by Brandi, C., Il fondamento teorico del restauro, in Bollettino dell'Istituto Centrale del
Restauro, n. 1, 1950, pp. 5-12.
[242]
completely exceeds its motivations and objectives. Having relative pertinence is

different from being impertinent to the field.
Common criticism regarding the ethical-cultural core of preservation is that the
resulting actions would be economically unfeasible and insufficient to reinsert the
buildings in the dynamics of current society. The few existing comparative studies
show that scrupulous conservation cost less than radical renovation and is not
economically unfeasible. In a meticulous intervention, since it does not have the
objective of getting maximum profit and since the project is detailed, costs are
more controlled, but the operation is still profitable and feasible. It is essential not
to confuse feasibility with maximum profit, nor the legitimate need for profitability
with unbridled greed. It is necessary for professionals working in the field, and ar-
chitects especially, to be aware of this as sometimes the discourse about "freedom"
of creation, of claimed social benefit, of unfeasibility of respectful proposals, of an
alleged overcoming of restoration, can in fact be placed at the service of merely
speculative capital, of profit at any cost, in detriment of sociocultural aspects that
should prevail20.
It is necessary, however, to make the preservation criteria operational for cur-
rent circumstances, making conscientious experimentations in a gradual manner,
confronting theory and practice continuously to reach mature principles, able to
face problems in their real complexity. This is the reason for insisting on the need
to go back to the roots that motivated preservation of cultural heritage, that drew
apart from actions dictated by pragmatic reasons, to take on an ethical-cultural
connotation, and analyze the reasons that led restoration to become increasingly
apart from empiricism and to be integrated to the critical reflection and to the
sciences. The aim is to respect monuments in their configuration, historic and ma-
terial aspects, as well as their aging over time, so they can continue to be reliable
documents, which transmit knowledge, and that serve as effective elements of
recollection and support collective memory.
The responsibility of those who work in the field is to ensure the right to
knowledge and memory and its propelling power of transformation, which
implies in the duty of ensuring that several types of testimonials of human work,
current and past, exist, live and be respected. In doing so we have a broader set of
instruments, which can be perceived and updated, by an individual conscience or
in a collective manner, in an infinite number of ways, in the present or the future,
for reality to be seized, providing comprehensive ways to adapt to it, transform it
and build the future. A professional ethical action, in favor of the common good,
is not optional, nor can it be abandoned according to momentary contingencies:
it must be a premise.
20 Data from Transparency International, NGO that deals with corruption, quoted by Joseph Rykwert (apud
La Cecla, F., Contro l'Architettura, Turin, Boringhieri, 2008, p. 25), show that 78% of the corruption mon-
ey of the world goes through construction.
[243]
REFLECTIONS ON THE ROLE OF THE ARCHITECT IN
CONTEMPORARY INTERVENTIONS
LUIS FRANCO LAHOZ*
Abstract: Each building is defined by the balance that exists between its existence
and its evolution, which makes it a unique piece that should be interpreted in
terms of its uniqueness. Consequently, intervention on historical buildings is a
complex activity in which different disciplines work transversally to achieve an
interpretive consensus on the key aspects of the formation and ultimate sense of
each monument, in relation to its metamorphosis, its material and structural base,
and the values that provide it with its monumentality. Architectural intervention
projects have regained disciplinary status, and seek to become part of the evolu-
tion of monuments in a restrained manner, in harmony with the old but without
renouncing their modernity.
Key words: Uniqueness. Transversal. Objective. Formativeness. Metamorphosis.
As a setting in which life takes place, buildings harbour and awaken collective
feelings. However, until the 19th century, only architecture associated with the
classical world was appreciated, and buildings of all styles were only considered
to have value based on their romantic capacity for evoking this world. Since that
time, the theoretical approach to interventions on historical buildings has been re-
fined, so that such buildings are being interpreted on the basis of the recognition
and understanding of all their values, not only those related to history and art,
but also disciplinary values, given that, although many monuments contain works
of art, they were almost always designed to be incorporated into a building that
would give them their true meaning1. By acknowledging that a building possesses
* Architect. Associate Professor in Architectural Projects at the University of Zaragoza School of Enginee-
ring and Architecture. www.pemanyfranco.com. lfranco@unizar.es
1 This is the case of the mural paintings from the chapterhouse of the Sigena Monastery removed in the
20th century and displayed in the National Museum of Art of Catalonia (MNAC) in Barcelona, or the
arches from the Moorish courtyard of the Aljafera Palace, removed in the 19th century and exhibited
[245]
LUIS FRANCO LAHOZ
monumental values, we recognise the public interest it holds, and through this it
becomes part of a common heritage that should be preserved. Consequently, by
working on these historical structures, we act with the responsibility of managing
a common interest, not as creators focusing on current trends or personal prefer-
ences2.
Until the mid 1970s, the Spanish government made use of the services of ar-
chitect-restorers organised by geographic regions. They were erudite profession-
als, experts in the history of architectural styles and traditional techniques, who
executed lengthy restoration projects on monuments, often undertaking the his-
torical and archaeological research themselves. They commonly drafted projects
making use of little documentation, confident of carrying out work on the site
with the support of traditional companies that were greatly familiar with artisanal
techniques. They attempted to consolidate an encased image of the monument
that was similar to what is was during the most significant event in its history;
however, the overlapping of historical layers hindered comprehensive interven-
tion, leading them to create connected scenarios as a partial context in which to
stage the remains from different periods3. The political transition that took place in
Spain with end of the Franco regime brought about a notable conceptual change
in the way heritage assets were managed. While strict conservation criteria were
imposed on the most outstanding monuments, efforts were made to find the keys
to justify interventions that exceeded pure conservation for others, with special
emphasis placed on designs that would accentuate the difference between the old
and the new. However, everything depended on the personal interpretation that
was made, and the results were of a quality that was as irregular as that of the
architects involved in the interventions.
We presently understand that working on heritage buildings is a complex ac-
tivity that requires a combination of different disciplines and that a monument
should be given the consideration that corresponds to its uniqueness. Collabora-
tion between specialists in this regard can only be of a transversal nature, given
that the desirable outcome of this is to reach consensus on the interpretation of
in the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid. Both works can be valued as separate works of art;
however, the paintings attained their true meaning in the chapterhouse of a Romanesque monastery, and
the arches as part of the geometric composition of an Islamic-style courtyard in the Umayyad tradition.
The same can be said of the sculptural group containing the clock set into the tower of the Cathedral of
San Salvador in Zaragoza, whose allegorical message only has meaning as part of the building that acts
as its support.
2 This consideration becomes evident in long and complex interventions, such as those involving the
cathedrals of Tarazona and Zaragoza, or the Sigena Monastery, which were beset by periods where the
works came to a standstill and changes were made to the project leaders. Unified criteria and technical
coherence had to be maintained.
3 Among these architects are Yarnoz, who worked on Olite Castle; Chueca, who worked on the cloister
of the Sigena Monastery; and iguez, who worked on the Aljafera Palace.
[246]
REFLECTIONS ON THE ROLE OF THE ARCHITECT IN CONTEMPORARY INTERVENTIONS
the key aspects and ultimate meaning of each monument, in relation to its partic-
ular evolution over time and to the values that provide it with its monumentality.
Recognition of the values of a historic work of architecture does not come as
a fleeting moment or from a moment of special awareness; it is the result of a
disciplinary, objective and scientific process, which aheres to rational rules that
eschew any conditioning not related to factual study, regardless of personal pref-
erence or style4. Monuments are records in the form of buildings and witnesses to
past events, and their architectural condition makes them the bearers of specific
disciplinary values. Nevetheless, identifying the built matter that embodies those
values is no easy task, given that those values are often forgotten or concelaed by
layers of history, or disfigured by modifications or debilitating conditions, or they
are either intangible or present unresolvable incompatibilities.
It is true that an objective approach to a monument requires different special-
ists, but we will not gain perspective by placing disciplines in a relationship of
simultaneity, because the isolation of interpretive variables of the monument only
leads to complacent reductionisms5. It is not that each specialist should carry out
pure research; rather, they should interact transversally with others so that their
contributions converge on those aspects of the interpretation of the monument
that, being of shared interest, require sufficient agreement, or for the purpose of
reaching an operational hierarchy between the different values recognised from
the monument. The transversal methodology places the emphasis on the con-
nection between the particular aspect with the whole, a whole that can only be
understood as the result of consensus over complexity, and not as the reduction
of reality, which either creates a mirage as the apparent synthesis of the problem
to be resolved or leads us to the simple application of conservation techniques,
when technique alone should appear to execute what has been decided after a
critical appraisal of the monument6.
The nature of architecture harbours a changing destiny, and working on built
structures has occupied architects in every age. However, architects are still be-
4 Jimnez, A., Enmiendas parciales a la teora del restauro II. Valor y valores, in Loggia n.5. Valencia.
1996, pp 12-29. Isolated recognition of aesthetic values is not not enough; genuine social consensus on
the existence and relevance of these artistic qualities is essential. p 26. Dalla Negra, R., lecture given
during the seminar Conservando el pasado, proyectando el futuro, Zaragoza, IFC-UNIZAR 2013: The
architects personal taste should only become manifest at the end of the intervention process, and not
at the beginning, in order to prevent the presence of conditions that are not supported by the actual
monument.
5 Gonzlez Moreno-Navarro, J. L., La comprensin preliminar de la realidad constructiva del monumento,
in Teoras y criterios de intervencin en el patrimonio arquitectnico. Course held at the Colegio Oficial
de Arquitectos de Aragn (COAA). 2001.
6 The pre-eminence of critical appraisal over the pure technique of conservation is exemplified by the
consideration of surface treatments on buildings either as sacrificial skins, or as testaments that express
the documentary or evocative richness that is bestowed on a building with the passing of time.
[247]
LUIS FRANCO LAHOZ
lieved to start their work in the way that painters do, over a blank space, when
the truth is that their field of intervention is a field of prior conflicts; moreover,
all forms of architecture involve a dependence resulting from their necessary
materialisation and their suitability for their planned destination. In attempting to
bring a certain order to an environment dominated by inaccuracies, paradoxes
and incoherence, architecture is conditioned by the reality surrounding it and be-
comes an impure, hybrid art7. For this reason, deciphering the meaning of built
architecture is mostly understanding its initial formative conditions and the origins
of its transformations, and consequently, in order to recognise and coordinate all
its historical, architectural or symbolic values, there will have to be critical discus-
sion on the existence and evolution of that building in relation to its material and
structural substance.
Creation in art is very often mistaken for the whimsical forms it takes, but al-
most nothing in good architecture is the result of chance. Form does not emerge
from the spontaneous inspiration of the artist, but is the result of a process that
evolves based on logical principles. Rafael Moneo pointed out that, in contrast
with the concept of randomness, one should speak of the concept of formative-
ness8 in architecture, in the understanding that this is the quality of those actions
that bring about a form and which explain the materialisation of that architecture.
While new architecture is revealed from the creative process of a project, histori-
cal architecture is explained by the understanding of its evolutionary process and
the formative characteristics that have given substance to its architectural identity
over time within this process. And while it may seem paradoxical, if successive
interventions to a building are based on the understanding of those characteris-
tics, this way of acting will help it to withstand those changes and to maintain the
substance of the preceding architecture9.
It is certain that architecture sometimes presents appealing randomness, but
the form of the architecture is developed at the same time as its usefulness, its
incoporation into a site and its construction are resolved, and creative aspects
should also appear to be the result of this integration. While adaptation of ar-
chitectural models to use has created an entire universe of types and mutations,
then adaptation to topography, climate and urban settings have caused them to
be constantly distorted, depending on the circumstances of each setting. And if
we think of how architecture is built, not even Gauds architecture is random,
7 Capitel, A., La arquitectura como arte impuro. Barcelona. Fundacin Caja de Arquitectos. 2012.
8 Moneo, R., Sobre el concepto de arbitrariedad en arquitectura. Speech to mark his membership of the
San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Madrid. 2005. Regarding the concept of formativeness, ac-
cording to Luigi Pareyson: architecture may be explained by the description of the process that led to
its birth.
9 Moneo, R., La vida de los edificios. Las ampliaciones de la mezquita de Crdoba, in Revista Arquitec-
tura n. 256. Madrid, 1985. pp. 26-36.
[248]
given that the forms of his architecture emerged from the invention of construc-
tion methods10, or in the case of Utzon, the extraordinary shape of the shells of
the Sydney Opera House was not the result of a banal action, it was a geometric
design adjusted to a system consisting of prefabricated, connected and post-ten-
sioned pieces, as occurred in Gothic churches, where columns and arches were
formed of stone elements dressed on the ground and later joined as sets of ribs11.
Construction, use and place, understood in their noblest and broadest sense,
are the basic conditions that overcoming their particularities, merge in a project
with spatial decisions to create the form we call architecture12. Or so it was un-
derstood to be until recently, when interest has been shown for an architecture
whose anaemic fundaments are found in the society of consumption and of mass
communications; however, historical buildings do not accept interpretations based
on current trends, and the metamorphosis to which they are subjected even less
so. Consequently, we cannot limit our approach to monuments as merely epithe-
lial considerations. The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)
understands intervention in this disciplinary sense13, which is why it requires ar-
chitects whose interventions involve historical architecture to be able to read
monuments in their context, to understand their history and the changes they have
undergone, the technology used in their construction and in their different modifi-
cations, the way they are incorporated into their setting and their relationship with
other buildings and landscapes.
In his influential work Metamorphosis of monuments and restoration theories,
Antn Capitel offers a disciplinary reading of historical architecture as a rational
process of configuring form, and to exemplify his argument, he analyses different
operations where new pieces are inserted into existing architecture, resolving ini-
tial problems and adding new value to the buildings. The spatial contrast between
the central and orthogonal axes of the Mezquita or Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba,
resulting from its construction method, was minimised when the cathedral was
insterted transversally by retaining a large part of the earlier structure; the impos-
sibility of reconciling a monastic ideal with the city surrounding the Cathedral of
Santiago de Compostela was resolved by disregarding the coherence of the earlier
plan and seeking a new formal value for the entire area; Villanuevas design for
the chevet of the Cathedral of Burgo de Osma involved the addition of coherent
10 Moneo, R., Sobre el concepto de arbitrariedad en arquitectura. op. cit. With regard to Gauds work: be-
hind the forms there is a geometry that dominates the building, and it is when attention is given to the
building that form appears as something novel.
11 Ferrer Fors, J., Jorn Utzon. Obras y proyectos. Paperback. Gustavo Gili. 2008. pp. 149-179. Regarding the
Sydney Opera House and Gothic architecture. p. 165.
12 Labarta, C., Memoria de proyectos 2009.10 and Memoria de proyectos 2010.11. EINA UNIZAR. Zaragoza,
2010 and 2011. pp. 7-10 and 5-8.
13 ICOMOS. International Council on Monuments and Sites. Sri Lanka Meeting. 1993.
[249]
LUIS FRANCO LAHOZ
pieces that were adapted to follow the layout of the surrounding streets; and,
finally, the insertion of an orthodox Renaissance building like that of Machucas
Palace of Charles V inside the Alhambra precinct had to be adapted to changes
in topographical elevation in order to organise such a complex site coherently14.
According to Antonio Gonzlez, restoring is nothing more than returning
a monument to its condition of architecture, and while the first option may
be to preserve, if necessary to reestablish the sentimental relationship people
have with the architectural object, the use of disciplinary resources and restraint
should not be ruled out15. It is not possible to act as a hybrid between architect,
archaeologist or historian; each discipline has its own specific field. But at the
same time, you need to know how to be a collaborator for others with whom
you share a certain instability and the conviction that your work will only find
meaning when it is compressed into the whole, which is the architectural object.
It is true that scientific recognition of all monumental values requires inputs from
different disciplines, but it is also true that in architectural restoration, the field of
architecture has natural pre-eminence, and therefore it is the role of the architect
to guide the interpretive consensus and influence the synthesis that is the critical
base of the intervention criteria in accordance with the objective conditions of
each monument. In this regard, the recognition of the evolutionary episodes that
had brought about the coherence of the interior space of the cathedral de San
Salvador in Zaragoza was the determining factor in setting the limits of the inter-
vention. The 16th century extensions that transformed the three-naved cathedral
into one of five naves modified the direction of the chevet and gave it the isot-
ropy of a hall church layout; the stucco finish decorated Roman-style in the imi-
tation of stone, applied to vaults and walls during that century to conceal earlier
mural paintings, transformed the medieval space and instilled it with the incipient
Renaissance spirit16; and the Baroque period interventions that transformed the
vertical windows into oculi filtered the light entering the building, while the focus
was transferred to the side chapels through the creation of lanterns in their vaults.
Once this consensus was established with regard to this interpretation, the in-
tervention gave priority to the spatial and perceptive cohesion of the space, and
prevented the fragmentation that would have been caused by the progressive un-
covering of numerous remnants of decorative features from earlier periods. How-
14 Capitel, A., Metamorfosis de monumentos y teoras de restauracin. Alianza Forma. Alianza Editorial.
Madrid. 1988. pp 53-144.
15 Gonzlez Moreno-Navarro, A., La Restauracin Objetiva. Diputacin de Barcelona. Barcelona 1999. p. 64.
At ETSAN, on 20 November 2012, in order to exemplify this idea he pointed to the 1919 intervention by
Jeroni Martorell on the 16th century gate in the walls of Centelles.
16 Criado Mainar, J. e Ibez Fernndez, J., Sobre campo de azul y carmn. Fundacin Teresa de Jess. Za-
ragoza 2006. pp. 39-54. On the arrival of the Renaisssance in Aragonese architecture and the pictorial
decoration of the Cathedral of San Salvador in Zaragoza.
[250]
ever, for the intervention on the former Faculty of Medicine and Sciences of the
University of Zaragoza, with a style of architecture that followed strict academic
rules, a determining factor was the understanding of a hierarchy of parties es-
tablished by the project over the axes of the building, a system of relationships
that arranged unique spaces over the central axes and in the corners, while giv-
ing neutrality and flexibility of use to the intermediate spaces connecting those
of greater importance17. This layout determined the location of rooms required
by the refurbishment of this building in order to house the universitys rectorate,
with the result that the new use accommodated the hierarchy and significance of
each party, and only the intermediate spaces were compartmentalized follow-
ing the pattern of the existing windows.
We believe that the life of a monument ends when we acknowledge it as
such, but Ruskin had already explained to us that architecture without life ceases
to be architecture and becomes a different sort of object; and while we believe
that utilitas is a basic condition of architecture, we will have to accept that, at
times, it will be necessary to resort to new pieces in order to design for a new
use. This is the case of the Aljafera Palace, a building without a specific use until
it became the seat of the Parliament of Aragon in 1985. That year the site was in
a state of inconclusive transformation, as the demolitions undertaken to salvage
the former Aljafera from under the 19th century barracks built over the palace
had been halted. That rescue, carried out by Francisco iguez, had made it
evident that it was impossible to compatibilise the two fundamental stages of the
monuments history: the palace dating from the independent Moorish kingdom,
and the Renaissance Christian palace built above it in the 16th century. As it was
found at the start of our intervention that there were no more archaeological finds
under the barrack buildings, the demolitions were considered complete, and it
was assumed that the palace we had inherited was a contradictory and fragmented
reality. Nevertheless, as it housed important material testaments to the history of
Aragon, it took on meaning as a historic site, as did the conservation of the totality
of the collage of overlying pieces, including those dating from the 19th century
and from the reconstruction made during iguezs restoration. The intervention to
house the parliament could be considered the last link in a chain of events in the
evolution of the palace. This approach would have to give critical consideration
to the value of the stretch of wall that iguez rebuilt in the 1960s over scant rem-
nants of the Moorish structure, based on drawings made by Tiburcio Spanocchi
in the 16th century. This recreation would be impossible to carry out today; it did
not correpond faithfully to any of the historical stages of the building. However,
17 Durand, J. N. L., Compendio de lecciones de arquitectura. Pronaos. Madrid. 1981. The preface by Rafael
Moneo clearly explains this design methodology for combining parts and elements as simple geometric
arrangements.
[251]
LUIS FRANCO LAHOZ
its presence was able to revive the emotional relationship of the city with a lost
and forgotten castle. Owing to the inclusion of other features of great artistic value
such as the Santa Isabel Courtyard and the halls of the Catholic Monarchs, it can
even be said to have achieved its particular monumental status as the result of
social consensus18. The consideration of the Aljafera Palace as a historical collage,
aside from the value of each part and the need for improvement of its material
authenticity on the basis of science, opened the site to an interpretation that in-
cluded respect for each of the recreations which were shown to be just that, and
accepted new architecture as a resource with which to design for the continuity or
connection between older, previously unconnected parts, but with adjustments to
the formative design of the site, and with attention given to the impacts brought
about by the old architecture, to its spatiality, its proportion, colour and material
texture, so that its destiny would be integrated respectfully into the life of the
building.
Monuments speak for themselves; and while their masonry offers conflicting
information, this is only the consequence of their complex accumulative nature.
Until the modern movement brought separation between the design elements
forming the structure and walls of buildings, the dialectic relationship between
construction and form provided architecture with material unity, in such a way
that the walls, pillars and vaults of a monument recorded their behaviour within
a construction and a structure, offering precise information that cannot be com-
pletely replaced by mathematical analyses that idealise architecture19. Photogram-
metric surveys faithfully reflect the reality and behaviour of buildings, and are an
objective, scientific and transversal instrument that is essential for the archaeology
of buildings and the study of conditions affecting them. A planimetric survey is a
map of a monument and the first method for becoming acquainted with its reality.
If we continue to survey the current state of monuments as if they were idealised
architecture, we will ignore the information offered by the imperfections and
inaccuracies present in their real form20. The archaeology of buildings uses pho-
togrammetry to create a stratigraphic reading and detect stages in its constuction.
This interpretation is not based on the canons of style or written sources, but on
the reality of the building. Each piece of data or stratum is not considered sepa-
18 Jimnez, A., Enmiendas parciales a la teora del restauro II. Valor y valores, in op. cit., pp 12-29. This
article accurately analyses the scope and influence of the concept of value in historical architecture.
19 Gonzlez, J. L. El mtodo cientfico aplicado al conocimiento de los edificios histricos, in Teoras y
criterios de intervencin en el patrimonio arquitectnico. Course held at COAA. 2001. We should not
make the mistake of believing that computer-generated models, no matter how advanced, and more so
if they are not, are reality.
20 Cmara, L. y Latorre, P. El modelo analtico tridimensional obtenido por fotogrametra. Descomposicin,
manipulacin y aplicaciones en el campo de la restauracin arquitectnica in Arqueologa de la Arqui-
tectura n.2. Madrid. 2003. pp. 87-96.
[252]
rately, but as part of a context that enables chronological and structural interpre-
tations to be made that can be contrasted with the information provided by other
documentary sources21. Photogrammetry reflects heterogeneity; it gives an image
of the different bonds, locates joins, identifies deformations, fractures and fissures
in the masonry, and consequently contributes information to a common planimet-
ric database so that specialists can recognise a series of techniques and moments
in a buildings construction that indicate a chronological order a before and af-
ter. By ordering the construction processes and comparing them to the maps of
cracks and failures, specialists are also enabled to deduce the buildings structural
behaviour and come to a valid diagnosis of structural problems22.
Material in architecture is of a fundamentally instrumental nature. Comparisons
cannot be made between the craft of an artisan building a wall and the brushstoke
of an artst leaving his imprint on a canvas. However, the marks left by construc-
tion process very often give a monument other values, at times as an example of
the technique used, and at others owing to the qualities expressed by the style of
construction. Is is common to find interventions that compatibilise the experience
of history with contemporary artistic sensibilities, for which the marks left in the
building are preserved, or evidence is shown of its stratigraphy through the pres-
ervation of repairs or completions, in an endeavour to reconcile the veracity of the
material with the abstract expressiveness of the textures present in the buildings
walls. This is the case of the latest, suspended intervention carried out on the naves
of the Sijena monastery, a monument which fire, neglect and ruin had reduced to
its simple foundational typology, leaving only a number of basic elements of its
structural system: wall footings, sections of stone nave arcades and parts of the
rammed earth walls. The intervention gave special value to the formative nature
of the cloister for the monastery and the clarity of the construction method, which
led to interest being shown for the recovery of this central space and original lay-
out. Work to consolidate and repair the walls of the naves placed emphasis on the
geometry of the basic elements of their construction the footings and diaphragm
arches and we continued with the practice of using brick to repair the outer
walls, given that this improved the unity of a building that had undergone many
previous repairs. However, in order to complete the walls that had collapsed, and
to emphasise that these repairs were to fill in gaps, an interpretation was made of
the formwork system for the rammed earth that was originally used to enclose the
naves. The final result shows that in a bare building, this material filling and the
preservation of evidence of its past respects the documentary value of the walls
21 Azcrate, A., Intereses cognoscitivos y praxis social en arqueologa de la arquitectura, in Arqueologa

de la Arquitectura, n.1. Madrid. 2002. pp. 55-60, and La arqueologa de la arquitectura en el siglo XXI,
in. Arqueologa de la Arquitectura, n.5. Madrid. 2008. pp. 11-13.
22 Caballero Zoreda, L., Edificio histrico y arqueologa: un compromiso entre exigencias, responsabilidad
y formacin, in Arqueologa de la Arquitectura, n.6. Madrid. 2009. pp. 11-18. On the need for a strati-
graphic reading of a monument and on the responsibilities this places on architects and archaeologists.
[253]
LUIS FRANCO LAHOZ
and brings its expressive tone closer to the simplicity and austerity of the original
monastery and its spirit, while reflecting a contemporary aesthetic.
Contradictions are the original sin of restoration23. While some advocate
keeping a monument in the state it is received, although this comes at a cost of
the appearance of modern elements destined to preserving what has been in-
herited, recommending the strict preservation of original floor and wall surfaces
with each of their markings and their patina, without making distinctions between
their age and origin, others advocate that degraded parts should be repaired by
following strict intervention handbooks that only allow artisanal techniques to be
employed and pieces copied from the traditional catalogue. Consequently, they
consider the stucco on faades as sacrificial skins that should be constantly re-
newed with original techniques so that they will continue to fulfil their protective
role for the interior masonry24. Contradictions commonly arise with regard to the
use of concealed structural prostheses, given that the general theory stipulates
that additions should be incorporated into a monument with modern visibility, a
contrast that shows a distancing from the concepts of pictorial restoration.While
Brandi conceptually separated structure and appearance, he did so thinking of the
stretcher and painted canvas. In this case, it is logical to accept the replacement of
the stretcher in order to maintain a canvas in good condition. However, in archi-
tecture, the structure and the construction practically form a whole, to the point
that the appearance and spatial layout are derived from them. Brandi stated that
only the material of a work of art must be restored, not its soul, and that one
would have to prevent the restorer from supplanting the artists hand25, which,
applied directly to architecture, would mean denying the architectural nature of
the restoration and advocating a style of absolute conservation. Nonetheless, any
intervention on a monument, regardless of the scale, means the unavoidable alter-
ation of its previous state. This leads to the consideration of an intervention proj-
ect not only as a problem of conservation, but also one of architectural creation
with regard to the historical work. In keeping with reinterpretations of the city and
architecture that see buildings as a palimpsest, the intervention project is regaining
its acceptance as a discipline and is seeking meaning in a critical approach to the
evolutionary metamorphosis of architecture26. Old architecture is a huge record
23 Capitel, A., El tapiz de Penlope in Arquitectura n. 244. Madrid. 1983. pp. 24-34. Seminal article for
understanding the contemporary Spanish approach to the interpretation of monuments.
24 These extremes range between the strict and pure conservation of A. Bellini and his protective prosthe-
ses, and the stylistic intervention by P. Marconi and his strict handbooks on restoration adapted to the
architecture of each historic urban area.
25 Jimnez, A., Enmiendas parciales a la teora del restauro II. Valor y valores, in op. cit., pp 12-29.
26 Rossi, A., La arquitectura de la ciudad (Marsilio Ed. 1966). Gustavo Gili. Barcelona 1986, y Venturi, R.,
Complejidad y contradiccin en la arquitectura (MOMA. 1966). Gustavo Gili. Barcelona 1978. (Intro-
duction and notes in this edition by Vicent Scully). Coetaneous contributions by Rosi and Venturi to the
critical reading of the city and its transformations.
[254]
of fundaments and forms, and the field of historical reference offers sufficient
material with which to undertake an intervention project without history exerting
titanic strength; and if it seems that scientific objectivity is lost in this way, we
should not understand that the intervention has become random as a result. On
the contrary, the intervention project that bases its substance on interpretive con-
sensus regarding the meaning and values of a monument minimises their limits
and intensity, seeks an encounter with the built, historic and spatial essence of the
historical building and tends to establish in each case a prudent balance between
conservation and creativity27.
Architecture is a controlled art that is based to a large degree on memory, a
quality that far from limiting the imagination, awakens it, and they become mu-
tually intensified28. We are children of the modern culture, and it seems that in
order to intervene in historic architecture, we should be wary of this awareness
that is part of us and which provides us with the necessary distance with which
to avoid dogmatic worship of the old. But between historicist mimeticism and
extreme diachrony, there is a margin with which the intervention, provided that
care is taken on a historical and architectural level, can interpret the echo of the
old, avoid historical equivocation without the need to emphasise the differences,
and seek a logical and harmonious coherence with what came before it by re-
sorting to compound disciplinary instruments such as analogy, the underlying set
of proportions and geometries in the monument in question, light, empty spaces
and shade, chromatic or material synchronicity, the expressive consideration of
the construction or of the marks and textures in the material29.
Leopoldo Torres Balbas, following along the lines of Boito, said that whenever
the conservation of a monument required new building in order that it should
not disappear, modern materials needed to be used in a modern style, as had
been done until then. When he had to save the Partal Palace in the Alhambra and
found that he could not conserve the integrity and authenticity of that building
on the verge of collapse, he resorted to arches, spandrels and decorative panels
of a matching diachrony or dialogue between old and new materials in order to
resolve the gaps left by the removal of spurious additions. And while this circum-
stance is evident on close inspection, they seem to be integrated into the original
work when viewed from a distance30. While Torres Balbas applied eclectic dia-
27 Trachana, A., El proyecto de articulacin de lo nuevo y lo antiguo, in Cuadernos de apoyo a la docen-

cia-Cuadernos de restauracin I. Instituto Juan de Herrera. ETSAM. 1988. pp. 32-37.
28 Campo Baeza, A., Mnmosine frente a Mmesis, in Hispania Nostra n. 9. Madrid 2012. pp. 30-35.
29 Capitel, A., El tapiz de Penlope. in op. it., pp. 28. Regarding the changes taking place in the relation-
ship between contemporary architectural sensibility and history.
30 Gonzlez Moreno-Navarro, A. La Restauracin Objetiva. op. ct. Lessons by Torres Balbas, the architect
leading restoration work on the Alhambra between 1923 and 1936. pp. 65. The system used by Torres
Balbas in the Partal Palace was later used by iguez in some of the series of arches that were recon-
structed in the Aljafera Palace.
[255]
LUIS FRANCO LAHOZ
chrony with wise flexibility, Carlo Scarpa taught us to use harmonious diachrony
in order to allow different historical periods to co-exist by accepting their hetero-
geneous and fragmented nature and the juxtapositions typical of the evolution of
a monument. Scarpa did not judge the preceding architecture; he limited himself
to providing didactic evidence of the different stage of a building, and made use
of the need to combine fragments as an opportunity to develop his expressive
creativity. He used empty spaces and shade as a form of union that created dis-
tance with respect to the old, extending wall and floor surface treatments as a
carpet-like overlay for the original surfaces in order to accompany the historical
architecture, creating a new stratum that expressed a lack of emotional attachment
to the material authenticity of the monument.
Any intervention awakens the latent tension between a monuments existence,
a reference to the inherent merits of its original architecture, and its evolution,
with the richness and decadence the events of its history have contributed to it.
The first of these conditions, that of a monument as an existing building, offers
us a cyclical view of time that accepts the constant remaking of the building in
order to maintain the understanding of it as a work of art. This is an idealistic and
Violletian attitude which gives preference to the recovery of the ideal form of the
monument, and which requires the removal of all additions in order to understand
it as it was designed. The second condition, that of a monument as an evolved
entity, offers us a linear view of time that flows, transforming the monument and
making it a testament to a process that is recorded in the masonry that should be
preserved. This is a romantic, Ruskinian posture, which gives preference to the
authenticity of the material as evidence of the events that have transpired, and
which requires the preservation of the documentary deposit that is the monument,
even with the contradictions that the passing of time may have left in it. Each
building that reaches us is defined by the particular balance between its existence
and its evolution, and this makes it a unique piece that should be interpreted in
terms of its uniqueness. Consequently, the recognition and interpretation of the
formative keys that have made each building into what it is turns out to be the
most solid base on which the intervention can become a part of its evolution in a
restrained manner, and in harmony with the old.
All interventions share a dual and unavoidable condition: that of being imper-
atively conservative, because their destiny is to convey a monument with all its
values. However, as any intervention, regardless of the scope, always alters the
previous state of the building, this adds the inevitable condition of being creative.
We are faced with a way of intervening that seeks to preserve an architectural leg-
acy, but which does not shy away from the need to insert its designs naturally into
the evolution of the monument. It is about carrying out a minimal intervention that
is based on the meaning and metamorphosis of the historical building on which
the intervention is taking place, but which is also attentive to a modern visibility
[256]
that is a reference to the time in which such action takes place31. This manner of
acting gives priority to an architectural project which is in harmony with the for-
mative events behind each building, which seeks the prudent balance between
conservation and creation, which brings contemporary language in tune with the
experience of heritage so that diachronies are expressed serenely and the dif-
ference between new and old is achieved without drama. All monuments offer
opportunities for intervention without altering the meaning of the new and of the
old, and the architectural intervention will be more beautiful and harmonious as
long as it responds to the truth of the monument and avoids unnecessary designs
that detract from the essential. In the words of the architect leading restoration
work on the cathedral of Seville, there are only two explanations for a restoration
project that emerges purely from the head of a divine [architect]: it is either a
masterpiece of the purest prophetic methodology; or it is a document certifying
the desecration of a monument in order to adapt it to his design32.
31 Capitel A., Metamorfosis de monumentos y teoras de restauracin. op. cit., pp.26-28. Boitos ideas were
the base for the principle he developed of minimal action and modern visibility in response to the con-
ditions resulting from modern and contemporary awareness.
32 Jimnez, A., Enmiendas parciales a la teora del restauro I. Imgenes y palabras, in Loggia n.4. Valencia.
1996, pp 10-19. My axiom for restoration is that the project should not be likened to Minerva, who
was born from the head of her divine father already an adult, even armed and with a helmet, but that it
should be a repetitive and open process of patient searching, with plenty of silences and stops, regrets
and indecisions. p. 14.
[257]
HISTORICAL ARCHITECTURE BETWEEN THE CULTURE
OF CONSERVATION AND THE CULTURE OF DESIGN:
CONTROVERSIES, MISUNDERSTANDINGS AND AIMS
RICCARDO DALLA NEGRA*
Abstract: The attitude towards historical architecture to existents varies consistent-

ly according to the different approaching criteria. The so-called culture of design
considers legitimate to work on them, as it was usual in the past. The so-called
culture of conservation, instead, opposes the predominance of History, under-
lining the different conservative awareness that the established distance between
present and past implies. Within the rich and sometimes harsh controversy be-
tween the two cultures, which are themselves not univocal, some contradictions,
misunderstandings and different interpretations of the aim of the works emerge;
broadly speaking, a different way to understand the making of architecture arises.
Key words: Recovery, Restoration/Conservation. Maintenance. Refurbishment. An-
cient/New.
According to a peculiar and incomprehensible belief, the so-called culture of

design1, in and outside the academic field, considers architectural design as its
exclusive competence. Consequently, restoration, which is a main component of
todays making of architecture, because it confronts architectures of any time
in corpore vili, is considered a secondary or a specialized discipline, on par with
other ones2. The paradox becomes evident when architecture comes to dealing
with tangible testimonies of its past. It would seem obvious that todays making of
* University of Ferrara. Department of Architecture. dllrcr@unife.it

1 I will use the definitions culture of design and culture of conservation to simplify the discourse,
although I believe they are both misleading: on the one hand it is indeed impossible to distinguish
restoration from architectural design; on the other, conservation is a concept whose interpretation is not
univocal.
2 This is misleading in the case of architectural design, as the Vitruvian triad (firmitas, utilitas, venustas)
cannot be considered separately and technological aspects cannot be separated from formal ones as they
influence each other; but, in the case of historical buildings, residential or special, it becomes a paradox.
[259]
architecture within historical contexts should imply very conscious knowledge

and operational sensitivity3; however, this does not usually occur due to a self-re-
ferred attitude of the architects, starting from the so-called star-system and all the
way to the ampler range of anonymous professionals.
In order to unravel the situation, a quite intricate one given the drastic expan-
sion beyond the chronological boundaries and the usual disciplinary fields of the
attention for historic architecture, I deem necessary to analyse its misunderstand-
ings and its controversies.
Culture of design vs. culture of conservation
We should start saying that both cultures are responsible for having long ex-
acerbated two convictions. The first tends to consider contemporary design in
perfect continuity with the past, namely with an equivalent degree of operational
liberty in treating the existent as in the past, when it made perfect sense to demol-
ish, extend or reduce or, more in general, to refurbish and, also, to up-date from
a figurative viewpoint. Seemingly, this is what Albertis elevation for the church
of St. Francesco dAssisi at Rimini suggests or the awesome coexistence of the
structures of the ancient Temple of Athena within the 18th centurys Cathedral of
Syracuse, just to mention two of the mostly recalled examples by the culture of
design. Preventing this operational, thus creative, liberty would therefore mean to
deny future itself and innovation.
These positions do not take into account the long theoretical elaboration root-
ed in the birth of the modern concept of restoration based on the acknowledg-
ment of the distance between present and past4, only fairly anticipated by subtle
attempts5. The fact that a conservative awareness has enforced the contemporary
detachment from the historical buildings through an act of intellection was also
clear to a renown scholar as Guglielmo De Angelis dOssat, who envisaged resto-
ration as architecture on pre-existents one differently assessed over time6.
3 Dalla Negra, R. Il restauro consapevole: la traduzione dei principi conservativi e il difficile rapporto con
le preesistenze, in Balzani, M. (ed), Restauro, Recupero, Riqualificazione. Il progetto contemporaneo nel
contesto storico, Milan, Skira, 2011, pp. 15-19.
4 Cfr. Bonelli, R., entry Il restauro architettonico, in Enciclopedia Universale dellArte, vol. XI, Venezia-Ro-
ma, Istituto per la Collaborazione Culturale, 1963.
5 Cfr. Miarelli Mariani, G., Il Cristianesimo primitivo nella riforma cattolica e alcune incidenze sui mon-
umenti del passato, in LArchitettura a Roma e in Italia (1580-1621). Atti del XXIII Congresso di Storia
dellArchitettura. Roma, 24-26 marzo 1988, Vol I, Roma, Centro di Studi per la Storia dellArchitettura,
1989, pp. 133-166; Pergoli Campanelli, A., Cassiodoro. Alle origini dellidea di restauro, Milano, Jaca Book,
2013. Also see the wider considerations in Carbonara, G., Avvicinamento al Restauro, Napoli, Liguori,
1997, pp. 49 and ff.
6 Cfr. Dalla Negra, R., Guglielmo De Angelis dOssat: un maestro degli anni della transizione, in Monu-
menti e ambienti. Protagonisti del restauro del dopoguerra. Atti del Seminario Nazionale, Napoli, Arte
Tipografica Editrice, 2004, pp. 44 and ff.
[260]
HISTORICAL ARCHITECTURE BETWEEN THE CULTURE OF CONSERVATION AND THE CULTURE OF DESIGN
The second conviction although boasting very old roots has been coming
to age in the last thirty years, also due to an undisguised responsibility of part
of the conservation field. This considers restoration as a medical-nursing act,
aseptically and scientifically achieved, to delegate to various different profession-
als, except architects: engineers for structures, art historians for artistic cycles (in-
tending also the lightest presence of colour or modelled architectural elements),
chemists for all that concerns cleaning and consolidation works, geologists for
building materials, historians and archivists for historical documents and so on.
As Giovanni Carbonara poignantly affirms [...] restoration without architects is,
actually, the dream of many, including public administrators which consider a
rude oversimplification of problems as the way out from those same bureaucratic
cages set up without a true reason by themselves and by the political power they
express7.
Shifting in the world of associations, such conviction takes on mundane tones,
widely used by mass-media, with peaks of true intellectual dullness, trivially re-
peated in pseudo-scientific conferences where invited speakers just downgrade the
debates level. In such occasions the term anastylosis is often used inappropriately,
and unlikely re-compositions, which reveal a literary idea of restoration are pro-
posed8 together with examples of cosmetic surgery aiming at reproducing, faith-
fully and scientifically, what has gone lost. More in general, there is an obstinate
aversion towards the idea of restoration as a critical act and, consequently, towards
any experiment of contemporary architectural language within historical contexts.
It is evident that such reductive positions do not consider the complexity of
the present debate9, although they both stem from rather conservative intentions;
instead, they tend to minimize it reducing the content both from a dialectical and
a practical viewpoint.
It is not by chance that such reductions are fully endorsed by the so-called
culture of design which prefers to entrust boring conservative practices to the
medical-nursing competences of conservators (who sometimes tend to take the
architects place), in order to then feel free to intervene, as said, in a self-referred
way.
7 Carbonara, G., Restauro architettonico: principi e metodo, Roma, m. e. architectural book and review,
2012, page 13. As to the gradual downgrading of the architects role within the restoration charters, see
Zuppiroli, M., Contesti storicizzati e progressiva marginalizzazione del ruolo dellarchitetto restauratore
nellevoluzione delle carte internazionali sul patrimonio culturale, in Merlo, A., Lavoratti, G. (ed.),
Pietrabuona. Strategie per la salvaguardia e la valorizzazione degli insediamenti medioevali, Firenze,
DIDA, 2014.
8 I have I defined the term in a provocative way as anastomosis, in Dalla Negra, R., Il restauro consape-
vole in op. cit., note 2, page 19.
9 General conservative aims should not be confused with the culture of conservation. For an overview
on current professional orientations, refer to the ample considerations in Carbonara, G. Avvicinamento
al Restauro, Napoli, Liguori, 1997, pp. 271 and ff. Also see Varagnoli, C., infra.
[261]
The situation of Restoration within todays Italian educational system10, gives

evidence of the fact that in most cases this discipline is missing in the last grading
years of training in architecture since a recent reform has absurdly introduced a
3+2 years of study11, pursuing an educational model which does not belong to
our tradition. Neither can the problem be solved by adding two-year post-gradu-
ate courses, nor by introducing monothematic conservation courses, eliminating
core disciplines of the architects training. In this sense, I believe that the definition
architect-restorer should be left behind, as the latter term, although underlining
the aim of a higher training, is a qualifying adjective which may lead to further
misunderstandings such as highlighting a limit to the application of Restoration to
the architectural field.
Insisting on the opposition of these two cultures has not helped to solve the
problem: from inside the Discipline, claiming that Restoration and Conservation
are antithetic as proposed by eminent scholars12 has ended up denying that
Restoration itself is an act of architectural creativity, removing any critical and
creative basis; from outside the Discipline, rudely accusing the ones who support
Conservation13 of being backwards-looking, has proved a significant ignorance
about the true matter of the issue.
Recalling Gaetano Miarelli Mariani14, we should rather start speaking of archi-
tectural design in its different declinations, according to the various purposes of
architecture: in this sense, changing the order of the factors, restoration is nothing
more than a way to make architecture, though in strict consideration of the ma-
terial witnesses of the past and with conservative aims.
Hence, a restoration work consists in translating into practice the conservative
principles which identify contemporary culture and which cannot be subject to
arbitrary interpretations. Therefore, restoration will decide to use its consolidated
methodology, but also to recur to contemporary architectural language, to solve
issues of lacunas (or gaps); the intent will certainly not be to exploit the existent
as a new design opportunity but, rather, to critically detect its value.
10 See Pracchi, V., Linsegnamento delle tecniche costruttive storiche nelle facolt italiane, in Muri par-
lanti. Prospettive per lanalisi e la conservazione delledilizia storica, Atti del Convegno di studi, Pescara
26-27 settembre 2008, Firenze, ALINEA, 2009, pp. 55-68.
11 Conceived in the Ministerial Decree no. 509 November 3rd 1999 establishing the 3+2 course of study, an
act which has produced indefensible damages.
12 See the definitions by Marco Dezzi Bardeschi and Amedeo Bellini, in AA.VV., Che cos il restauro? Nove
studiosi a confronto, Venezia, Marsilio, 2005.
13 See the charges expressed by Giovanni Corbellini in Corbellini, G., Tutto ci che solido si dissolve
nellaria. Restauro e delitto, in Balzani, M. (ed.), Restauro, Recupero, Riqualificazione. Il progetto con-
temporaneo nel contesto storico, Milano, Skira, 2011, pp. 47-52.
14 Miarelli Mariani, G., Esiste il restauro?, in Storia architettura, 1975, n 2, pp. 4-9.
[262]
Recovery vs. Conservative (or Scientific) Restoration
The current scenario is also characterised by a conceptual contraposition be-

tween recovery and restoration, acknowledging to the first the role of legiti-
mately transforming the artefacts (which would otherwise be lost), and to the
second a more specialized role strictly applied to monumental heritage.
In this opposition one may observe that the idea of recovery cannot define a
specific design work but, rather, only a general aim which is applied to the built
heritage in general through current practices of architectural technology15, namely:
a) maintenance works, (preservation of the current conditions through direct
and indirect preventive actions); b) rehabilitation works (linked to the concept
of the buildings performance according to certain standards set by the stake-
holders); c) re-use or re-cycle (linked to the change of function). Distinguishing
among such three different fields would avoid most of the terminological trouble,
behind which there are often peculiar and individual ideas about Restoration16.
What is the substantial difference between working on the built heritage and on
the monumental heritage (that Cesare Brandi had defined industrial products and
special products apart)? There is only one possible answer: the difference lays in
the value assessment, which many would like to eliminate a priori.
Curiously enough, such exclusion is shared both by the culture of design,
which consequently feels authorized to avoid specific constraints when dealing
with historically and artistically rich contexts, and by the culture of conservation
which, as said, often denies any critical foundation to Restoration.
The value assessment we express in the historic present leads us, indeed, to
clearly distinguish between conservative works carried out through conser-
vative maintenance and restoration works with the unique aim to preserve the
material substance and non conservative works, carried out through plain main-
tenance works and partial replacements or refurbishments, which fully legitimise
transformations 17.
Indeed, such evaluation of historical architecture existents was practiced in
the past, either consciously or unconsciously, producing conciliating or contest-
15 See for example Cecchi, R., Gasparoli, P., La manutenzione programmata dei beni culturali edificati.
Procedimenti scientifici per lo sviluppo di Piani e Programmi di Manutenzione, Firenze, ALINEA, 2011 e
Giulio, R., Manuale di manutenzione edilizia. Valutazione del degrado, programmazione e interventi di
manutenzione, Maggioli Editore, Santarcangelo di Romagna (RN), 1999.
16 This lexical confusion is poignantly analysed by Carbonara, G., Per una definizione attuale del restauro,
in op. cit., pp. 23 and ff.
17 I recall the topics which had already been clearly debated by Gaetano Miarelli Mariani in Miarelli Mariani,
G., Centri storici. Note sul tema, Roma, Bonsignori Editore, 1993, specifically within the third chapter: Sul
recupero dei centri storici: uno schematico sguardo dinsieme, pp. 55 and ff.
[263]
ing18 architectural results. In this sense, one should be free to express a critical
judgement upon very recent artefacts, in order to prevent the loss of what could
be considered, by next generations, as significant testimonies of our historic pres-
ent; in other words, we should be free to distinguish between history and chron-
icle. At the same time, as said, our conservative awareness urges us to protect the
entire heritage to the advantage of future generations.
As stated, the culture of design opposes the concept of conservative resto-
ration otherwise defined as scientific restoration to that of transforming
recovery. This is a legacy of the infamous law n. 457 of 1978 (Regulation about
residential estates), a basic law that still largely regulates interventions on the
existing built heritage, and also on that with historical and architectural value19.
We do not intend to analyse here the ratio of such law at the town planning scale;
we rather intend to underline its cultural backwardness in relation to the culture
of restoration of the same years and, therefore, to the International Charter of
Restoration, the so-called Venice Charter (1964), and to the Italian Charter (1972).
What strikes after more than thirty years is that a similar gross ignorance on the
theoretical reflections about restoration still persists. For instance, the definition
conservative restoration reveals a tautology for the above-mentioned reasons,
and speaking of scientific restoration is nonsense because restoration is first of
all a critical act, even though it maintains a technical and scientific aspect just as
any other architectural work.
This definition is a legacy of Giovannonis times when scientific meant the
incontrovertible application of principles; but, in addition, it again conceals the
will to relegate Restoration to a field of hyper-specialized skills which aim at the
mere material conservation and are essentially placed on the edge of architecture.
The contradiction appears evident, especially in Italy, where regulations allow to
entrust only architects with restoration works. The current practice assumes that
the practitioners world should be organized according to these theoretical as-
sumptions, which absurdly split the field in two: architects who focus on design
and architects who focus on conservation.
Ancient vs. New
The vexata quaestio about the insertion of new architectural forms in historic
contexts is strictly linked to the above-illustrated issues. Contraposition between
the two cultures is very strong, both in the case of interventions within a historic
centre and in special contexts of high historic or artistic value.
18 I refer directly to the seminal essay by De Angelis dOssat, G., Restauro: architettura sulle preesistenze
diversamente valutate nel tempo, in Palladio, III serie, XXVII (1978), n.. 2, pp. 51-68.
19 Upon the effects of Law 457 of 1978, see Miarelli Mariani, G., Legge 457: licenza di distruggere, in
Restauro, VIII (1979), n.. 41, pp. 92-94.
[264]
Again it is necessary to anticipate two preliminary considerations in order

to avoid any possible misunderstandings. First of all we should advocate the
use of a contemporary architectural language in both contexts, although well
aware that many objections are opposed both from inside and from outside
the Discipline, as well as by most of the Academy and, more in general, by the
public which is more or less influenced by mass media. Secondly, we should
be against any replacement both in the case of historic buildings related to the
surrounding urban tissue, since historical complexes must be considered organ-
isms made up of interdependent element; and in that of single parts or elements
belonging to historical buildings, since material authenticity is a principle of
great importance.
The apparent contradiction of these two preliminary considerations is solved
if one reverses the problem and turns to the needs of the existent, rather than
to those of the architect, as it often occurs. Consequently, a question arises: in
which case the use of contemporary architectural language is legitimate when
working within historic contexts? I believe that there is only one case: when,
due to intrinsic or extrinsic reason, one must fulfil a lacuna produced within an
urban tissue or an architectural context. This is a crucial topic in restoration since
ever, together with the symmetric one which addresses the elimination of added
elements.
This generates another widely spread misunderstanding in the culture of de-
sign, namely the confusion between restoration works and those accomplished
to introduce variable functions, for instance museum settings, starting form Carlo
Scarpas project for Castelvecchio, considered a sort of icon of the exemplar res-
toration, not the refined design work for a museum set-up it actually is. This is a
misleading and long-lasting wrong interpretation, given the fact that a recent ed-
itorial for Casabella introducing Scarpas work, carried the peremptory title The
study of monumental restoration is useless, recalling some considerations of the
Maestro which belong to a widely out-dated discussion20.
Generally the so-called culture of design maintains a rather independent
structural and figurative attitude towards existents that mainly induce suggestions
related either to materials, to volumes or to its general environment21.
The result changes completely in relation to the architects sensitivity, as he
often tends to update the image of the existent and to impose his own egotic
poetics.
The relationship with History is not entrusted to the rigorous historical-scientif-
ic knowledge of the artefact, but only to the architects cultural background, who
20 Cfr. Editoriale, in Casabella, n 839-840, 2014, pp. 44-45.

21 I partially recall the topics that I have dealt with in Dalla Negra, R., Il restauro consapevole , op.cit.
[265]
often does not match up. The existent is then considered a noble frame for new
achievements, that would be considerably belittled if decontextualized. All in all,
paraphrasing De Fusco, we may speak of architecture with rich apparatus for
poor ideas22.
22 I refer provocatively to the well known editorial by Renato De Fusco appeared in De Fusco, R., Restauro
architettonico: ricchi apparati per povere idee, in Selezione della critica darte contemporanea, n. 49,
September 1980, pp. 5-6.
[266]
USE AND CONSUMPTION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE IN
ITALY, OUTLOOK FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
CLAUDIO VARAGNOLI*
Abstract: this paper proposes a reflection on the relationship between past herita-
ge and present times through a series of restorations in historic buildings carried
out in the last years in Italy. It spans from the interventions by Tadao Ando in Pun-
ta della Dogana in Venice, to Renzo Piano in the Vedova Foundation in the same
city, together with interventions like St. Pietro in Siracusa by Emanuele Fidone, on
monuments in the strict sense of the Word. The paper is not aimed at the optimi-
stic acceptance of the present, but at an attempt to discern what contributes an
enrichment of our awareness of the use of the previous architecture. The analysis
of works and projects is deeply confronted to recent theoretical contributions in
the field of restoration, to state the attempts to overcome the consolidated posi-
tion, saving the conceptual conquest of the restoration discipline.
Key words: Theory of Architecture. Architectural Restoration. Industrial Archaeolo-
gy. Refurbishment. Architectural Heritage.
The relationship between contemporary architecture and heritage of the past

is still major issue in the Italian debate, maybe even too much. It is important to
consider that the protection of any historical testimony does not simply require
the physical preservation of the item, although this is nevertheless necessary in
order to establish a deep and genuine relationship with the past. Thus, on one
hand, it is necessary to protect the traditional restoration and preservation tech-
niques addressed to well-established and defined heritage; on the other hand, it is
important to draw great attention to the opportunities of the innovative project fo-
cused on the reactivation of unexpressed meanings within the pre-existing assets.
Weighing the relationship between historical heritage and contemporary works is
* Professore Ordinario di Restauro. Dipartimento di Architettura, Universit di Chieti-Pescara.

cvaragnoli@tiscali.it
[267]
CLAUDIO VARAGNOLI
not an optimistic acceptance of everything that is produced above or inside his-

torical buildings1, but it is an attempt to identify what represents an enrichment of
our knowledge as opposed to what is a mere exploitation of the existing assets.
A recent essay by Giuseppe Cristinelli2, illustrating very widespread opinions
in the academic and specialized restoration worlds, points out that the most ac-
claimed contemporary production is in contrast with the restoration needs, con-
sisting of continuous care, long studies, interventions that are invisible but that
can cleverly serve the ancient building. Cristinelli rightly refuses to consider the
prestigious interventions of formal manipulation very popular on journals and
in the international architectural debate as restorations, setting up the great ges-
tures of the most famous designers against the several patient and apparently less
significant interventions that extend the life of our national architectural heritage.
This is definitely the most genuine and effective aspect of restoration, preserving
and protecting, but it is interesting to notice that the attention paid to these inter-
ventions by the general public is much less than that paid to interventions signed
by big names, possibly revealing a more superficial and less genuine relationship
with our historical heritage, in spite of how celebrated it is.
On the opposite front, a recent article by Francesco Dal Co3 draws on al-
though with several differences the positions that used to be expressed by Man-
fredo Tafuri4, disparaging the specialized discipline of restoration and favouring a
combination of analytical abilities both historical and physical-chemical and
interpretation skills of the designer. A position that is currently very popular in the
Italian academic and scientific world, where Restoration courses are seen as a nui-
sance in the faculties of Architecture, as if being forced to obey to a ritual that no
one believes in anymore but that must be attended due to politically correctness.
In what used to be the country of restoration, architects seem not to believe in
the need and specificity of restoration activities: in the beaux-arts primacy of de-
sign, once again prevailing in the international architectural culture, protocols and
papers are useless shackles to the free course of creative imagination, which is
supposed to be able to meet all needs, including preservation. It looks like we are
going back to a pre-modern stage, when the design was the most important factor
1 Varagnoli, C., Edifici da edifici: la ricezione del passato nellarchitettura italiana 1990-2000, in Lindu-
stria delle costruzioni, 368, nov./dic. 2002, pp. 4 -15; see also Serafini, L., Sopra, accanto, con lantico.
Il destino della preesistenza nel restauro contemporaneo, in A. Ferlenga, A., Vassallo, E., Schellino,
F., (eds.), Antico e Nuovo. Architetture e architettura, congress proceedings (Venezia 31 March-3 April
2004), Venezia, Il Poligrafo, 2007, pp. 953-969.
2 Cristinelli, G., Antirestauro e archistar, Roma, GB EditoriA, 2013: see pp. 28-49, Gli interventi delle
archistar sui monumenti. See also the critical remarks, from a different point of view, by Gregotti, V.,
Tre forme di architettura mancata, Torino 2010, particularly pp. 71-106 Metafore di eternit.
3 Dal Co, F., Scienziati del restauro e architetti felici, in Casabella, 830, Oct. 2013, pp. 18-19.
4 Tafuri, M., Storia, conservazione, restauro, in Casabella, 580, Jun. 1991, pp. 23-26.
[268]
USE AND CONSUMPTION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE IN ITALY
and the preservation of the original building which was not the main object of
the intervention, anyway was seldom achieved.
However, instead of giving way to radical and maximalist considerations, it is
advisable to continue to lookpassionately and sceptically at the contemporary
interventions on our architectural heritage, in line with previous considerations5,
and trying to highlight the trends that show an agreement between design and
preservation, forgetting the corporative defence of the restoration architects on the
one hand and the claims for total freedom of the designers on the other hand. It
is obvious that both provide a specific idea of the past, in which it is possible to
see some aspects of our present and some hints about our future. This means that
even the most neutral preservation activity is nonetheless subject to an intention
and formal ability that express a specific cultural direction.
The familiarity of the new design with the ruins has been noted several times.
Hence the great interest for the dismantled areas and the large 19th-20th century
factories, often characterized by significant ambiguities. One of the main charac-
teristics of the industrial buildings is the relationship between machine and archi-
tecture, where it influences the final layout of the building. Only in a few cases,
as in the successful solutions by Francesco Stefanori for the former Power Plant
Montemartini in Rome6, we can see the preservation of the shell as well as of the
machine that justifies its existence and provides a testimonial value. Equally fasci-
nating is the intervention by Massimo and Gabriella Carmassi in the Pelanda dei
Suini in the Slaughterhouse of Rome, with the preservation of the tools and ma-
chines, also thanks to the stratified memories of the building7. A different direction
was taken by Rem Koolhas in the transformation of the Market complex of Rome,
founded in 1916 and then expanded and modified to meet the needs of the city:
a historically important area, with some significant pieces of architecture, although
figuratively plain. Rem Koolhas design for a youth city (2009, Municipality of
Rome and group of private funders) with the recovery of the old complex and new
buildings appeared as an innovative element in one of the most active districts of
the city. Later modifications, on the other hand, are leading to the creation of a sort
of shopping centre, exploiting its favourable location to meet the needs of profit.
The historical-testimonial aspiration, which aimed to preserve the old market, is
5 Hernndez Martnez, A., Lestetica del deterioramento e dellimperfezione: una tendenza in crescita nel
restauro architettonico, in Palladio. Rivista di Storia dellArchitettura e Restauro, Roma, Istituto Poligra-
fico e Zacca dello Stato, n. 51, gennaio-giugno, 2013, pp. 89-106..
6 Storelli, G., Museo in doppia esposizione: ex centrale elettrica Montemartini, in Recupero e Conserva-
zione, n. 38, 2001, pp. 54-65; Bertoletti, M., Cima, M., Talamo, E., Centrale Montemartini: Musei Capito-
lini, Milano, Electa, 2007 (new expandend ed.).
7 Carmassi, M., Padiglione nellex mattatoio del Testaccio, Roma, in Casabella, n. 794, 2010, pp. 50-57;
Mulazzani, M., Recupero conservazione riuso: un centro culturale nel Mattatoio di Roma: Massimo Car-
massi, Milano, Electa Mondadori, 2010.
[269]
CLAUDIO VARAGNOLI
turning into something that is totally different, with the predictable overcrowding
consequences on this part of the city. This trend is contrasted by the popular
recovery of other dismantled buildings in the same Ostiense area, in Rome, where
the facades of abandoned buildings near the railway were decorated with graffiti
during the Outdoor Urban Art Festival 20128. Among the various artists involved,
Blu worked on a squat, confirming the attention to decayed and unfinished works
shared by several contemporary artists along with the trend to recover industrial
archaeology, or initiatives like the ruin pubs that are popular in Budapest, where
the regain of social venues does not include their embellishment.
Tadao Ando made something different in the Punta della Dogana complex in
Venice, a building originally aimed to control and sort goods between the Giudec-
ca Canal and the Grand Canal and then towards the rest of Venice. The planning
is influenced by the original use of the buildings, that was acceptably preserved
although it showed its age. Andos design for the Franois Pinault Foundation
(2009) cleverly preserves the signs made by time on the long brick walls, fasci-
natingly expressing the buildings wear and stratification. Ando approached this
job a very important one, considering the building and its location with great
commitment, also taking into consideration the work of Carlo Scarpa, an unavoid-
able name with respect to the interventions on the historical buildings of Venice:
this is revealed by the designs for the doors and windows, which recall some
works by that great architect. This intervention is not merely about preservation9,
but it appears as a deep thought in accordance with the Japanese tradition on
emptiness, on the void that remains after everything is removed, as pointed out
by Giangiorgio Pasqualotto10. This allows Ando to achieve a severe minimalism,
where modern additions are limited to very few pieces with controlled shapes and
materials, with the preservation of the wooden ceilings combined with a clever
and formally appropriate systems installation. However, the opposition shown by
the competent Office (Soprintendenza per i beni architettonici e paesaggistici di
Venezia e Laguna) highlighted how a work based on removing and minimalism
was nevertheless in contrast with the identity of the building, based on long par-
8 More data and pictures in www.out-door.it. See also Outdoor Urban Art Festival. Il quartiere Ostiense
diventa un museo a cielo aperto, in www.provincia.roma.it, 13.10.2011; Silvestrini, V., in Roma destate?
Guarda in alto, grazie ai graffiti di Outdoor Urban Art Festival, in www.artribune.com, 27.07.2012.
9 Dal Co, F., Da Dogana da Mar a museo, in Dal Co, F., (ed.), Tadao Ando per/for/pour Franois Pinault,
Milano, Electa Mondadori, 2009, pp. 19-23. It should be recalled that in 2005, the Franois Pinault Foun-
dation had entrusted to T. Ando the renovation of the museum in Palazzo Grassi (formerly renovated
by Gae Aulenti, 1985). For a strong criticism, with convincing topics, see Cristinelli, G., Antirestauro e
archistar, op. cit., pp. 43-45. See now V. ora Ferrioli, S. Rivelazione, reintegrazione, riconversione. Il
restauro degli ex-magazzini di Punta della Dogana, Venezia, in Architetti.com, n. 56, 2013, pp. 29-40,
www.architetti.com.
10 Pasqualotto, G., Estetica del vuoto. Arte e meditazione nelle culture dOriente, Venezia, Marsilio, 1992 (III
ed.2003).
[270]
allel brick walls related to the continuous traffic between the Grand and Giudecca
Canals11. A project that was apparently respectful of the existing building led to
a different interpretation of the spaces, clustered around functional centres and
reacquired in the light of the artistic language rather than profound empathy.
There is, however, the fascination of the design on void. Something similar
can be seen in other interventions by Japanese architects on pre-existing build-
ings, such as the Stone Museum in Nasu-gun (in Tochigi prefecture), by Kengo
Kuma12, aimed to the upgrading of three 19th century stone barns, whose main
value according to the author is not to be found in the solid parts but in the
relationship between the three buildings, enhanced by new passageways and wa-
ter basins. In order to connect with the buildings, Kuma uses stone, which in his
hands becomes a light and transparent material, not very different from the filter-
ing walls (filtermauerwerk) used by Zumthor in the Kolumba Museum in Cologne.
Also in the case of the Magazzini del Sale in Venice, near the Punta della Do-
gana, Renzo Piano has fully respected the brick walls that punctuate the sober
neoclassicism of the building as well as the trussed wooden roof. The Magazzini
now host the works of the Emilio e Annabianca Vedova Foundation13, in a typical
design of the spiritual and artistic mood of the leader of the informal style, who
loved and saved those crooked and multiple spaces from a wild transformation.
According to a design conceived with Vedova himself, Piano designed the exhibi-
tion area in the Magazzini like a giant moving machine. The exhibition is dynamic
because it consists in an archive, located in the final part of the warehouse, where
the paintings are kept in racks and picked up by automatic and electronically-con-
trolled trolleys that run on a track and put the selected paintings in the exhibition
area. The systems are put in a slightly sloping wooden platform that covers the
original flooring, while the services for the public are hosted by two asymmetric
wooden structures located in the front.
The figurative minimalism of these works is not only due to preservation re-
quirements, but it can be easily related to them. The most recent work by Emanuele
Fidone graduated in history of architecture and very familiar with the methods
used by archaeologists is related to the church of S. Pietro, within the historical
centre of Syracuse. This early Christian building, with significant additions in the
late Middle Ages and in the Baroque age, was subject to a heavy restoration in the
11 Anselmi, A., Punta della Dogana. Il progetto, in Dal Co, F., Tadao Ando, op. cit., pp. 106-108, points
out (p. 107) that the intervention of Ando seems not so much targeted at the preservation of the ancient
building - calls for a partial demolition although addressed to the nineteenth-century additions - but
rather to a more general economy of the project.
12 Futagawa, Y. (ed.), Kengo Kuma, in GA Architect, n. 19, 2005, pp. 134-135 ; Mandolesi, D. Museo della
pietra a Nasu, in Lindustria delle costruzioni, XXXVIII, n. 380, 2004, pp. 22-27.
13 Collavo, L., Il nuovo spazio espositivo della fondazione Vedova a Venezia: oltre la sfida, nella storia
della citt, in Arte documento, n. 25, 2009, pp. 272-281.
[271]
CLAUDIO VARAGNOLI
1950s, devastating its space and finishes14. Fidone manages to put his design skills
to the service of the building: as a matter of fact, it is necessary to reinterpret the
three-nave type with entrance on the short side, while allowing all the stratifica-
tions to survive, including the valuable Gothic chapel on the side. Thus, modern
restoration has three main guidelines: reinterpreting the internal syntax, keeping
the walls visible; restoring the entrance from the original faade, without clashing
with the current use of the long side; establishing a unique reference. Therefore, a
vault of wooden strips recalls the barrel vault that used to cover the central nave,
although letting in the light that comes from the large windows made later. The
reintroduction of the original entrance is made by creating a monolith of cor-ten
slabs that runs in parallel, allowing to recreate the original space without needing
the literal reintroduction of the portal and ensuring the fullness of the faade
wall. The cocciopesto floor is a chromatically balanced continuum, interrupted
only by the remains of the Byzantine floor. After his experience in S. Maria del
Ges in Modica with Bruno Messina, and compared to the light vaults by Ignacio
Linazasoro and Pier Luigi Cervellati, Fidone maybe with a more conventional
approach compared to his Spanish colleague achieves greater fascination with
the filtered light from above and enhances the geography of the walls, rather than
the new wooden insertion. A sensitivity that, along with the design for the muse-
um Latomie dei Cappuccini15 in Siracusa, manages to connect to the surrounding
environment and fit in the introverted landscape of the ancient quarry.
Sometimes minimalism avoids the challenge and the responsibility of respond-
ing to the issues presented by the ruins or unfinished building. In the former con-
vent of S. Antonio a Santa Fiora (2011), in southern Tuscany, new formally and
materially distinguishable structures design new functions within an abandoned
monastery complex, in which no attempt was made to recover its meaning and
architectural logic16. In the recent intervention (2010) on the church of Annunzi-
ata in Foligno17, large unfinished and altered 18th century building, the designers
have used the large internal empty space as an exhibition area, adding functional
14 The church, traditionally attributed to the IV century, was one of the first to be built in Syracuse, and
perhaps related to the preaching of Paul of Tarsus. The church has undergone several changes , in-
cluding the reversal of the axis of access and the creation of a pointed-arched doorway (XIV century)
corresponding to a new chapel on the opposite side; v. Fidone, E., Licona e lo spazio: sul restauro della
basilica paleocristiana di San Pietro, Siracusa/ archeologia &architettura, s.l., 12th International Archi-
tecture Exhibition Venezia, 2010, chap. Sinossi.
15 Published in 2008, the project includes a large shaded porch connected to a spiral ramp and under-
ground spaces , with clear references to the introverted landscape of the quarries.
16 Project by 2TR Architettura (L. Montuori, R. Petrachi), Rome: the ancient convent now houses different
functions intended for leisure and culture.
17 Salimei, G. (T studio, Rome), with Mavilio, S. e Schiattarella, A. V. See. Ex Museo dellAnnunziata a
Foligno, in Sacchi, L. (ed.), Italia en Mxico 2013. Architetti romani: opere recenti, Roma, Prospettive
edizioni, 2013, pp. 154-147.
[272]
details in cor-ten, such as the metal railings and an external construction, which
are formally unrelated to the fully preserved building that is unaffected by these
new additions.
Contemporary architecture often manages to intervene in a historical context
without worsening the linguistic discordances, unlike what happened in the past
decades when a certain degree of opposition towards the past was a necessary
demonstration of modernity.
The Uffizi of Florence represents a good example of the continuous and silent
work that is behind the restoration projects in Italy. The new entrance shelter (in
via dei Castellani, 1998, and 2011) designed by Arata Isozaki, that well interprets
the needs for linearity and perspective required by this place, is still to be im-
plemented, but the restoration of the museum according to the guidelines of
the Grandi Uffizi has been silently performed with significant results, including
the enlargement of the exhibition area from 5400 to 12000 square metres and the
compliance with earthquake-proof regulations, with the aim of extending the mu-
seum area to the whole second floor. Remarkable consolidation works have been
performed, including the Lorenese staircase and the Niobe hall, as well as the re-
vision of the museum systems, particularly in the new halls dedicated to Mannerist
and foreign painters. This required the reorganization of the museum course
and allowed the introduction of colour in the new halls: this is a common choice
in several other museums, but for the Uffizi it represents an innovation from the
severe Mannerist two-colour setting dating back to Vasari. The new halls, located
behind the Loggia dei Lanzi18, are now served by the western staircase designed
by Adolfo Natalini (2009-2011), which is set in the narrow space of the court of
the Vecchia Posta. An example of essential architecture, rather than minimalist, the
stone tower that hosts the staircase represents an unexpected and austere sign,
due to its oblique position, that suits the stratified context, also thanks to the par-
tially closed glass ceiling and the arrangement of the side walls. An intervention
that operates by addition rather than modification19, interpreting modernity with
matte and heavy materials, typical of the city of stone20.
Andrea Brunos task in the Bagrati cathedral was full of obstacles and traps.
The building is one of the symbols of Georgia: dedicated to the Dormition of the
18 Natalini, A. Note in margine ad alcuni contributi al progetto Nuovi Uffizi, inCecchi, R., Paolucci, A. (a
cura di), Cantiere Uffizi, Roma, Gangemi, 2007, pp. 283-293.
19 Acidini, C., Il sistema Uffizi: conservazione dellesistente e innovazione creativa, in Ananke, n. 66,
2012, pp. 106-107; Natali, A., Il colore degli stranieri (e la nostra singolare avversione), in Ananke, n.
66, 2012, pp. 108-109 ; Acidini, C. , Marino, A., Natali, A., Oltre le sale azzurre, i lavori continuano, in
Ananke, n. 66, 2012, pp. 50-61; Lombardi, A. L., Uffizi in blu, in Giornale dellArte.com, 20 dicembre
2011, cfr. http://www.ilgiornaledellarte.com/articoli/2011/12/111267.html.
20 DAmato Guerrieri, C. (ed.), Citt di Pietra. 10. Mostra Internazionale di Architettura, Venezia, Marsilio,
2006.
[273]
CLAUDIO VARAGNOLI
Virgin by Bagrati, the king who united the country, it is located in the ancient
capital city, Kutaisi, and dates back to the 10th-11th century. Partially destroyed by
a war in the 17th century, the cathedral has always had a strong symbolic value
for the country, which has always considered Christianity as the basis for its unity
and identity throughout the centuries. In the 1950s21, reconstruction started from
the considerable remains and it was included in the World Heritage Listin 1994.
Another and more thorough reconstruction campaign started in 2002, with heavi-
er and undocumented reconstructions using reinforced concrete instead of the
traditional stone. Hence the international authorities decided to stop the works
and assign the project to Andrea Bruno, who chose to work in continuity with the
architecture of the remains but using metal instead of stone to indicate the parts
that were totally reconstructed. The almost educational requirements imposed by
the international organizations led to a product that brings back the identifiabil-
ity of the cathedral, particularly with respect to the internal space and womens
galleries, similarly to what was accomplished by Cervellati in the restoration of
the Oratorio dei Filippini in Bologna. Not being a fan of mimicry, Bruno does not
forget to mark his modernity by adding a glass volume that is in contrast with the
outer silhouette of the building.
Among the objections made against restoration, there is often a complaint
about the lack of a unique theory, without contradictions and clearly indicating
what needs to be done when approaching a building that has to be restored. The
variety of opinions that has always characterized the restoration sector in Italy is
seen as a limit, refusing the dialogue and debate that are typical not only of res-
toration but of any really modern form of culture. Moreover, the central role of
historical evaluation is questioned, as it is seen as a totally arbitrary factor, while22
more objections are made against the extensive application of restraints, which
would have led to a merely strict preservation of the Italian old centres, suffocat-
ing their possibilities and only superficially exploited by mass tourism.
Actually, it is the role of the architectural and historical-cultural heritage that
looks in critical conditions in the Italian society, a country more interested in unau-
21 Jokilehto, J., Rehabilitation Strategy for the Site of Bagrati Cathedral, Kutaisi, Georgia, National Agency
for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia, 8 May 2012, www.heritagesites.ge; see also Chionne, R.,
La Cattedrale di Bagrati in Georgia. Dopo il falso vero, il nuovo autentico, in Il Giornale del Restauro,
XVII, March 2013 (Il Giornale dellArte, 329, 2013), p. 15; Maietti, F., La rinascita delledificio simbolo
dellidentit culturale e religiosa della Georgia. Restauro e rifunzionalizzazione della Cattedrale di Bagra-
ti, Kutaisi, Georgia, in Architetti.com, n. 56, may 2013, www.architetti.com.
22 OMAs preservation manifesto (Reconstructed from fragmentary evidence by Jorge Otero-Pailos), in
Quaderns dArquitectura i Urbanisme (Journal of the Association of the Architects of Catalonia), n. 263,
2011, pp. 41-52 (p. 49): The paradox is that when architecture retreats into preservation it seeks refuge
in precisely the place that is most dangerous for it. The danger lies in the fact that for architecture to
appear as preservation it must betray, if not altogether renounce, its very nature: form-making. I thank
prof. A. Hernndez Martnez for this and other valuable suggestions to this work.
[274]
thorized building than in the preservation of landscape and historical centres. The
investigations by Ferruccio Sansa23, the books by Salvatore Settis24, the positions of
Tomaso Montanari25 on the abandonment of the historical centre of LAquila after
the earthquake of 2009 highlighted the indifference of not only the national poli-
ticians, but also the whole society. Thus, the question is no more how or why
restoring, but for whom. It is a question that is often asked with respect to the
centres destroyed by earthquakes and abandoned in favour of new buildings. And
it applies even more to the actual destination of the restored historical heritage,
increasingly less related to a consistent humanistic culture and increasingly more
destined to economic exploitation. The attempt to avoid the market-related think-
ing led to the idea of interpreting cultural heritage as common goods, aimed
at the experience of subjective satisfaction and objective participation in an eco-
logical community26. This attempt has been widely criticised27, but it managed to
put forward the issue of the relationship with the market economy, often hidden
by rhetoric and opportunism.
The role of the public is nevertheless present, even in contemporary theoretical
considerations. Muoz Viass thought, still not very known in Italy28, derives from
an extended revision of the classical theories and from something published by
Cesare Brandi fifty years agofed by long-lasting trends in the English-speaking
countries. The result is a theory that is not based on the values of truth and on the
contrast between false and genuine, but on the idea of benefit for the public. It
is therefore a very pragmatic and functional position: Muoz Vias appears to be
the real theorist of the post-modern approach to restoration, particularly when he
tries to get over the central role of the artistic object due to a profound lack of con-
fidence in the possibility to define its nature. However, his alleged Copernican
revolution29, which suggests to see the characteristic element of restoration in the
23 Sansa, F., La colata. Il partito del cemento che sta cancellando lItalia e il suo futuro, Milano, Chiarelettere,
2010, pp. 7-13 chap. Prima che il degrado diventi irreversibile.
24 Settis, S., Paesaggio costituzione cemento. La battaglia per lambiente contro il degrado civile, Torino,
Einaudi, 2010, pp. 44-82 chap. Lorizzonte dei diritti.
25 Montanari, T., Le pietre e il popolo. Restituire ai cittadini larte e la storia delle citt italiane, Roma, Mini-
mum fax, 2013, particularly chap. Citt senza cittadini, pp. 17-75.
26 Mattei, U., Beni comuni. Un manifesto, Roma-Bari 2011, pp. 83-84: Al contrario, i beni comuni []
devono essere gestiti con strumenti a vocazione pubblicistica (nel senso ampio di estranei alla logica del
profitto privato) al fine primario di soddisfare i diritti fondamentali della persona, costituzionalmente ga-
rantiti e informati al principio di eguaglianza e solidariet anche nellinteresse delle generazioni future.
27 See criticism by Donolo, C., Qualche chiarimento sui beni comuni, in Lo straniero, 30.01.2012, www.
lostraniero.net, and by Vitale, E., Contro i beni comuni. Una critica illuminista, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2013.
28 Muoz Vias, S., Teora contempornea de la Restauracin, Madrid, Editorial Sntesis, 2010; I ed. Con-
temporary theory of conservation, London, Routledge, 2004. Cf. the strong op position by Carbonara, G.,
Architettura doggi e restauro. Un confronto antico-nuovo, Torino, U.T.E.T., 2011, p. 102.
29 Muoz Vias, S., Teora, op. cit., pp. 37-40; the expression is taken from Bonsanti, G., Riparare larte,
in OPD Restauro, n. 9, 1997, pp. 109-112.
[275]
CLAUDIO VARAGNOLI
subject rather than in the object, is not very different from the riconoscimento
suggested by Cesare Brandi, many times criticised by Muoz Vias.
Thus, the value of the objects to be restored is not inherent but attributed by
one or more subjects. In the view of nouvelle musologie, according to which tout
est musalizable30, a major role is played by modest heritage and dull objects. Ac-
cording to Lwenthal, Muoz Vias bases his theory on the heritage, as opposed
to history, as the core of the identity of a group, also at the cost of straining its
testimonial value.
Consequently, restoration loses its objective grounds. For example, Muoz
Vias considers genuineness as an act of intellectual arrogance: all the conditions
experienced by an object from its creation are a testimony of its history. Ac-
cordingly, reversibility is also seen as a dogma, although it is constantly violated
in practice due to the actual irreversibility of most materials. Although it is not
very clear, Muoz Vias shares Melucco Vaccaros position according to which
reversibility is a legend, although a useful one31. Similarly, also the importance
attributed by Brandi to the material in restoration shall be rejected, as the aim is
rather the preservation and confirmation of the values, particularly the symbolic
ones, of the heritage.
Therefore, it is necessary to get over the omnipotence of the restorer and find
a dialectic relationship between the various subjects involved in the process of
restoring: the client, the owner, the local administrator, the company, and the re-
storer in a contractual perspective that aims to find a balance between the various
subjects. An inter-subjective vision of restoration that brings back the central role
of the final users. According to Muoz Vias, restoration is not performed for the
sake of art or history but for the subjects that are the recipients of the work.
However, Muoz Vias is aware that this point of view, undermining the elite
and selective aspects that still characterize the world of restoration, brings some
risks including, in particular, making everything ordinary: nonetheless this is a cal-
culated risk and the obligated counterpart of that common sense to which this
self-proclaimed revolution refers.
A weak approach although rooted in the practice of architectural restora-
tion can be seen in the self-conscious restoration launched by Marco Ermentini
in Italy32. Also in this case, the starting point is the acknowledgement that the
only possible theory is the end of restoration theories, which are all influenced
30 Desvalles, A., Vagues, une antologie de la nouvelle musologie. 1, Mcon, Editions W, 1992, Introduc-
tion: le concept muse couvre lunivers entier et donc tout est musalisable, a view that wants to over-
come the elitist conception of the museum thanks to the new idea of eco-muse.
31 Muoz Vias, S., Teora, op. cit., pp. 107-115.
32 Ermentini, M., Restauro timido. Architettura affetto gioco, Firenze, Nardini Editore, 2007, see chap. Il
manifestino rosso dellarchitettura timida, pp. 15-17; and chap. Rivoluzione timida, pp. 35- 43.
[276]
by the primary role of technique. Thus, the only possible way is a self-conscious
approach, feeling the danger in time and being aware of the human limits. On this
basis, Ermentini can easily be related to the anti-restoration theory, but his consi-
derations are not only a late Ruskinian exercise. The self-conscious philosophy is
rather a philosophy of the limit. The self-conscious restoration sets out to listen to
the work, waiting for the signals given by it; it operates in a pragmatic way and
with few resources, in contrast with the waste of territory and the easy optimism
of technique. In opposition to the restoration bulimia, with colossal funds, resto-
ration can go back to play its part against waste and consumerism: considerations
that clash with the logics of the late capitalism and that deserve a more attentive
and aware audience.
The theories that are more consolidated and consistent with the actual practice
of restoration have witnessed recent reaffirmations of their principles. In his latest
work, Giovanni Carbonara33 accurately sums up the main elements of his opinion,
comparing them to the contemporary production. The combination of new and
ancient elements is considered favourably, except for the complete denial of the
historical heritage. Thus, along a theoretical production spanning four decades,
he identifies a third way between the more aggressive expression of contempora-
neity and post modernity, active in the view of a living relationship respectful of
memory. Carbonaras recent considerations, more than his past works, is charac-
terized by the opposition to the hegemony of the present, which leads to a predo-
minance of the image and consumption as well as to a lack of perception of time
and history. The cases discussed by Carbonara open the territory of restoration to
a great number of approaches that revolve around the need for transformation,
which is accepted if preserving pre-existing features as much as possible and if
proposed as explicit and functional addition to a non-destructive interpretation of
the past.
Also the latest book by Paolo Marconi34, published not long before his recent
death, sums up a cultural battle fought not with respect to restoration per se, but
with respect to considering restoration as another way to practice architecture.
According to Marconi, restoration is never based on replacement or removal, but
always on the critical revision of the actual condition of the building, refused in
its alleged inevitability. For example, the design of the castle of Lucera (2010)35
includes plywood, an industrial product and therefore easily visible and reversible
with respect to the pre-existing ruins, which are not modified in their essence. The
33 Carbonara, G., Architettura doggi e restauro. Un confronto antico-nuovo, Torino, U.T.E.T., 2011, particu-
larly Lo stato della questione, pp. 9-33 e Il confronto antico-nuovo, pp. 35-57.
34 Marconi, P., Restauro dei monumenti. Cultura, progetti e cantieri 1967-2010, Roma, Gangemi editore,
2012.
35 Ibidem, pp. 24-31.
[277]
CLAUDIO VARAGNOLI
changes made (2007-09) to the 19th century staircase of the Collegio dei Nobili in
Turin, now the Egyptian Museum36, do not run along the consolidated tracks of
restoration, which would have led to the removal of the staircase; on the other
hand, they move on the tracks of creativity with the existing features, proposing
a significant change but not a total reset. Also the restoration of the Camerini
del Principe in the Coperta del Castello in Ferrara (2005-2008)37 appear more
like a reassembly with the traditional materials, not dissimulated in their mainly
didactic character. Ultimately, there does not seem to be a falsifying intention in
interventions that seem very different, in terms of intention and results, from the
severalpastichesthat are found all over the world. Marconis works are therefore
contemporary and strongly present the issue of the language to be used in the
interventions on pre-existing buildings. Marconis work shows the limits of the
vision that sets up modernity against tradition, opening to a sensitivity that has
now made the conflict between these two terms useless. In the restoration of
the Carignano theatre in Turin (2005-2006)38, that tried to restore the decorations
and distribution at the expense of additions with a limited testimonial value, the
creation of two emergency staircases is achieved by using brick wall constructions
with large windows, as a tribute to the alleged genius loci of the city, which can
be questionable but definitely not fake.
Marconi shall therefore be considered as an architect of contemporaneity, who
believed in the up-to-dateness of an evergreen tradition and in the possibility
for the modern designer of connecting to the tradition, making variations on
the theme. The pre-existing features are actually respected, except for their deca-
ying condition. Restoration therefore becomes the other way to practice architec-
ture, antithetical to the research of contrast at all costs, but a fully contemporary
design activity with a strong innovating value.
New ways to interpret the theory of restoration can be found in the vast work
by Francesco Doglioni39, who proposes a theoretical consideration accompanied
by remarks on issues derived from his on-site experience. The aim of the design
cannot be the technique, but a cultural project shared with several subjects: hen-
ce the need to get out of ones own design in order to develop an awareness
that can get over the automatisms that have turned restoration into a conservative
practice.
Doglioni also accepts the challenge of change and the vision of restoration as
a diverse designing process that can aim to rediscover, reintegrate or renovate
36 Ibidem, pp. 42-47.

37 Ibidem, pp. 48-55.
38 Ibidem, pp. 56-71.
39 Doglioni, F., Nel restauro. Progetti per le architetture del passato, Venezia, Marsilio, 2008.
[278]
with a critical attention the hidden, missing or transformed parts40. This theoreti-
cal substrate, supported by a long operating experience, leads Doglioni to include
the contrasting assumptions of total preservation and analogic intervention in his
vision, considering them as possibilities of intervention with equal rights, as they
are both based on the building being considered asiuxta propria principia. These
positions need to get past the mechanisms of mutual exclusion and require an
awareness of the limits, exactly that looking at oneself from the outside that is
typical of modernity.
Francesco Doglionis contribution is important because he attempts to get over
the differences that have made the Italian debate stiff so far. We could ask oursel-
ves if recalling the awareness of the limits brings us back to the core of the restora-
tion practice, i.e. the need for the evaluation and conceptual instrumentation that
must goes along with it. It is probably appropriate to look for a new relationship
with historical investigation that allows as required by Doglioni to perceive
ones position in the flow of history, and to establish an equal relationship with
the techniques, which would otherwise be aimed to stick to abstract schemes
that are in contrast with the actuality of architecture. The recent reference to a
new realism41 and to getting over the positions derived from the weakening
philosophy and hermeneutics, very widespread and possibly misunderstood by
the Italian culture of the late 20th century, might take us back to considering the
central role of the object and reducing the excess of subjectivism that nowadays
dominates the architectural culture.
40 Ibidem, pp. 24-26, Affermazione 5. Il restauro una progettualit composita che conserva le architetture
del passato giunte in condizioni di relativa integrit, e a riscoprire, reintegrare o rinnovare con attenzio-
ne critica quelle parti nascoste, mancanti o trasformate il cui risarcimento sia funzionale e necessario a
rafforzarne il messaggio architettonico rendendolo comprensibile e presente.
41 Ferraris, M., Documentalit. Perch necessario lasciar tracce, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2009, pp. 137-138:
La sedia per sederci, il bicchiere per berci, e la pistola, purtroppo, per spararci. In taluni casi, vero,
loggetto ammette usi promiscui (). Ma il margine di manovra sempre pi modesto di quanto non si
creda, e questo suggerisce una riflessione: il progettista onnipotente il pi delle volte progettato dagli
oggetti che lo circondano.
[279]
THIRTY YEARS OF PRACTICE ON MODERN ARCHITECTURE: THE
STANDPOINT OF THE ITALIAN CULTURE OF RESTORATION
SIMONA SALVO*
Abstract: the praxis established on Twentieth Century Architecture in the last

thirty years has drifted away from traditional restoration principles showing how
conservation problems of these artifacts tend to be solved with banal reconstruc-
tions. New shapes and innovative materials have suggested that principles and
methodology of its restoration should also be such, so that the reconstruction of
these buildings has been preferred to regain their original image rather than to
conserve them materially and preserve their historic and architectural values. This
widespread attitude is unrelated to the critical and scientific groundwork that cha-
racterizes European conservation approaches, especially the Italian one, and rare
but significant 'true' restoration works disprove the common places that generate
the drift to reconstruction.
Key Words: Modern Architecture. Architectural Conservation. Restoration. Rehabi-
litation.
Modern architecture and restoration
As the physical decline of many important buildings of the Twentieth Century

started becoming evident at the beginning of the Eighties, a new precinct of archi-
tectural restoration seemed to arise and needed to be explored. The work on this
substantially new heritage, very different from the ancient one, apparently posed
practical problems which could not be solved within the traditional restoration prax-
is: these buildings appeared to be condemned to disappear because they were de-
fective and improperly built, and destined to perish because fragile and vulnerable1.
* Dipartimento di Storia Disegno e Restauro dellArchitettura, Sapienza Universit di Roma.

simona.salvo@uniroma1.it
1 Salvo, S., Restaurare il Novecento. Storia, esperienze e prospettive in architettura, Macerata, Quodlibet,
2016.
[281]
SIMONA SALVO
These premises seemed sufficient to justify a sudden shift from theory and
methodology of traditional conservation which, misunderstood as a mere prac-
tice, did not seem to offer decisive solutions. Rather, the alleged impossibility to
materially conserve modern artifacts became a pretext to justify the claim for ad
hoc methodological, theoretical and practical tools and to start a new praxis cen-
tered on the obsolete idea by which it is more convenient to save the image of a
work rather than its material consistency. Working on modern architecture with
such principles gave birth to a new kind of reconstruction intended as a draw to
the original splendor, not as a process of revelation/conservation/transmission of
past values that have survived through time.
Consequently to such headway to the field, the restoration of twentieth cen-
tury architecture turned retrospective and technicist, moreover lead by the North
European cultural context which is dissimilar from the Mediterranean one where
restoration theories develop since more than two centuries2. The input to extract
this matter from its theoretical context came, not incidentally, from designers,
historians and technologists, which retain Modernity as the top of their genealogy
and, therefore, recognize themselves in it without any historical mediation. By do-
ing so, they assume a perspective opposite to that of traditional restoration which
is founded on the awareness of the historical and critical gap between past and
present. Brought out of the conservation field and defined as unfamiliar to the
culture of restoration, practice on modern buildings reached a general regression.
Intended as an easily enjoyable and consumable type of reconstruction, it found
foothold in the current cultural sensibility, and reflects its constant aspiration to
accept reality through its representation.
It should however be reminded that the access of modern architecture into the
riverbed of conervation has not marked a copernican revolution in the theory
and in the principles of traditional restoration while it has, instead, filtered further
confusion about basic assumptions of conservation. Yet, the practice on a specific
sector of architectural works had never before assumed such a self-determined
profile3. Set out in an atmosphere of emergency, after thirty years of practice the
matter seems to have lost its initial pathos, stifled also by the hypertrophic growth
of attention that it has attracted. The early exigency evoked by the icons of Mod-
ernism, some of which have already undergone various reconstructions (such as
the villa Savoye and the villa Tugendhat subject to several interventions), has then
gradually moved on to levels of higher dimensional and conceptual degree, such
2 This matter arises around the mid Sixties in historiographical terms but a specific practice on modern
buildings dates back to the founding of Docomomo, International Working Party for Documentation
and Conservation of buildings, sites and neighborhoods of the Modern Movement, born in 1998 in the
Netherlands on behalf of a group of architects and technologists of the Delft University of Technology
and specifically dedicated to buildings of the Modern Movement.
3 Varagnoli, C., Un restauro a parte, in Palladio, 1998, 22, pp. 111-115.
[282]
THIRTY YEARS OF PRACTICE ON MODERN ARCHITECTURE
as the preservation of public residential housing with a historical status which is

awaking serious problems in many European countries. Having lost the contextual
reference points, these have further worsened the confusion in this field empha-
sizing the a-going drift.
The now vast experience in the field and a number of case-studies allow to
define the general framework of this matter and highlight the difference between
prevalent pragmatic needs and true cultural motivations that affect the process of
evaluation, comprehension and recognition of the modern heritage. The former
give reason of the origin and development of the current approach which has
brought to a number of reconstructions, while the latter to very few works dis-
tinguished by a critical approach, which however prove the vitality of the Italian
restoration approach.
Out of restoration, into reconstruction
The vast but rambling literature in the field which itself tells the lack of
coherence of the matter indicates that in most cases the practice on modern
buildings does not consist in material conservation but in partial or total recon-
struction and follows different intentions and attitudes. Reproduction lidentique
takes place if the building is considered an icon; reconstruction is preferred when
an experimental building that has failed technically and technologically must be
improved; replacements and changes occur if the building does not satisfy today's
practical requirements and regulations, while renovations and thorough changes
are given for practical reasons. Conservation takes place only rarely, and with a
tendency to fetishism, to satisfy individual contingencies or extra-cultural instanc-
es. Anyhow, each of these operations looks back to the original conditions of the
building, trying to catch an idealized image and paying no attention to its hic et
nunc and to its aged and weathered condition. This transition to a new form of
idolatry that pursues an ideally authentic image (which is actually undefined), trig-
gers a vicious conceptual spiral spoiled by many common places, easy syllogisms
and various biases.
Icons such as the villa Savoye, the Zonnestraal sanatorium, the Viipuri
Library, the Einsteinturm, the Bauhaus, the houses of the Weissenhof and many
other are brought back (and kept) in a condition of eternal youth, with all the
consequences and the sacrifice of authentic material substance that replacing, re-
producing and reconstructing implies. Never mind if the patina of time is erased
because the age of the work is short; you may as well believe you can reproduce
today, exactly and without mistakes, what has been built just a few years ago;
you may think you can build as before and better than before in spite of an ever
improving technological progress; you may legitimize any replacement on behalf
[283]
SIMONA SALVO
of principles of seriality, transitoriness, and fragility of modernity (which instead

are programmatic assumptions rarely put into practice). The intent is clearly to re-
possess and re-affirm the symbolic value of certain buildings that are appreciated
for their ideal character rather than for their effective built truth.
The intentions that move these works are, therefore, not at all exquisitely cul-
tural, neither is the process of their value assessment centered on historical and
artistic values. The desire to regain a lost image and to perpetuate it, depends on
contingent matter, on the need to declare today's individual and collective values,
mostly for pragmatic and opportunistic reasons. Actually, there is no difference
if it comes to ancient heritage but the circumstance becomes extreme in relation
to recent buildings, probably also due to the active role that modern architecture
holds in everyday life.
We are, therefore, very far from Renato Bonellis definition of restoration as
an activity where today's culture is fully implemented4. Buildings of the past are
instead considered mere icons and, if not demolished, they play as background of
contemporary architecture and must pander contemporary ambitions, related to
aesthetics and taste but in no way addressed the safeguard and revelation of the
values of the past.
The process that has brought to the conservation of the metal and glass fa-
cades of the Pirelli building in Milan has instead been a very different one.
Although it hasnt solved a very difficult technical conservation issue once for
ever, this work stands out for its critical and scientific premises and for the pos-
itive cultural consequences it has triggered and that still persist after ten years5.
In principle, the work has been displayed as a critical hypothesis in act6, and
has tackled a critical process based on the study and knowledge of the building,
rather than on technical and practical measures, offering open and dialectic solu-
tions. The issue, in this case, did not consist in solving a sheer technical problem
but, first of all, in acquiring a scientific and detailed knowledge of the building,
surveying and analyzing directly its components. The results of the investigation
process and the acknowledgement of the exceptional material and technological
value of the curtain wall and of its tiniest construction details have become
the keystone of the entire operation, producing a critical and scientific conse-
quence on the decision making process that has oriented technical, economical
and political choices.
4 Bonelli, R., Restauro Architettonico, in Enciclopedia Universale dellArte, vol. XI, col. 322 and following,
ms coll. 344-351, Venezia-Roma 1963.
5 Salvo, S., Grattacielo Pirelli. Cronaca di un restauro, in Saggi in onore di Gaetano Miarelli Mariani,
Quaderni dell'Istituto di Storia dell'Architettura, Bonsignori, Roma 2007, pp. 571-580.
6 Philippot, P., Restauro filosofia, criteri, linee guid, in Saggi sul restauro e dintorni. Antologia, Bonsigno-
ri, Roma 1998, p. 47 (original ed. Historic Preservation: Philosophy, Criteria, Guidelines, 1976).
[284]
Apart from the Pirelli case, unfortunately an exceptional and isolated experi-
ence, today the field is characterized by a monotonous and banal approach, based
on the attempt to re-found the theory in search of practical solutions and of deci-
sive recipes, which try to simplify what cannot be simplified.
Bringing the matter back to its hermeneutic level, the attentions moves onto
the analysis of the process of memory transmission and draws to the background
the material features of the artifact. Not the object in our case modern build-
ings is the cause of the so-called cultural overturn, but the conditions affecting
its reception; not the physical and formal character of modern architecture, but
the motivations on which the acknowledgement of its value is founded. The origin
of the drift to reconstruction may, then, be tracked back to the expression of the
critical judgment intended as a preliminary act to restoration. Referred to recent
buildings it becomes a hasty step, clinging onto unstable historical references and
weakened by a bare recognition of its memory value, often assessed in absence
of the building. Therefore, the peculiarity of this field depends on the lack of
an adequate chronological distance and of a consolidated historiography. In this
sense, the retrospective attitude should be interpreted as an idle projection on
the past of our civilization which, for many reasons, aims at regaining symbols of
the recent past but denies the incidence of the short though dense lapse of time
occurred between creation and present reception.
As a matter of fact, it is well known that the inclination to conserve the wit-
nesses of the past is not modeled around the objects, which may differ greatly
in terms of materials and form, but is shaped on the critical judgment given in a
precise historical moment and in a specific cultural context. Monuments noticed
Riegl and others7 are not such due to their essential features but to the culture
of a time. They, and their restoration, are then the expression and consequence
of a value assessment which is entrusted into individual and collective awareness
and mirrors its epoch. Values and disvalues today are acknowledged to modern
architecture and are therefore a reflex of our times and represent its individualism
and complementary conformism. In this sense, the many different approaches to
recent heritage give back the several different ways with which the memory of the
past remote or recent is perceived and explains how and why today's society
has strayed away from the desire to respect and conserve it.
Which are the true motivations that drive works on modern buildings?
Leaving aside those cases where the work moves directly from the intrinsic
features of the artifact (such as its material substance, its form, its experimen-
tal character,), the reasons depend mainly on the boundary conditions within
7 Similarly, Theodor W. Adorno wrote: The true relation with a work of art does not consist in the fact
that, as said, it s adapted to a new situation, but instead that in the work itself one may find what his-
torically generates a different reaction (translated by the a.); these words also recall those of Marcel
Duchamp c'est le regardant qui fait le monument.
[285]
SIMONA SALVO
which the observer operates. These seem mostly oriented by practical and eco-
nomical evaluations, or by the cultural relations that bind the observer to the work
of art (including if the author is directly involved in the conservation of its own
work) and by the symbolic, political and ideological role that the building holds
in today's perception. Eventually, motivations may also rely on affective, relational
and personal reasons and depend upon the private sphere of the actor. Standing
beyond the objectivity of the artifact and accessing to a field of complicated and
inscrutable relations very personal, often unspoken and, therefore, strange to
the historical context any evaluation becomes uncertain and the scientific and
methodological approach is therefore debased. Neither may we speak of a phil-
ological approach, as any premise to this very fine science is missing. These con-
ditions lead away from the European cultural context and further away from the
Italian critical approach to restoration.
Italian restoration and global conservation
The situation gives back a clear image of what cultural heritage means to con-
temporary civilization which considers monuments primarily as tools to address
messages and significances and to trigger economical mechanisms. In the context
of an increasing globalization of cultures that clashes different ways of intending
memory, each according to their cultural origin, the recent architectural heritage
represents a fertile ground to ratify, deplore, modify, debase, transform or exploit
values and meanings of the past and the role of its conservation. Wider ranged
evaluations in each specific field will tell us if such drawback from a material con-
servation of memory foreshadows the breakdown of a specific Western cultural
practice8 such as that of assimilating the experience of past8 and the betrayal of the
basic role of history9. In this regard Giovanni Carbonaras words are clear:
A prima vista sembra che linteresse per la conservazione e il restauro si sia,
in questi ultimi tempi, rafforzato, ma non chiaro se la prospettiva sia quella
8 This is what post-modern philosophy would polemically tend to assert, in relation to the crisis into
which art, history and cultural values have fallen today. Also Jean Baudrillard notes a sort of self-de-
fense of our society which, incapable of generating a new history, seems to be destined to brood over
the history of the past to prove its own existence.
9 In this regard Giovanni Carbonara's words are clear: A prima vista sembra che l'interesse per la con-
servazione e il restauro si sia, in questi ultimi tempi, rafforzato, ma non chiaro se la prospettiva sia
quella del conseguimento di un livello di attenzione e di conseguente accuratezza operativa maggiore
oppure se stia profilandosi il rischio di un capovolgimento totale e di un radicale cambiamento di ori-
entamenti. In fin dei conti ben fondato il timore che il restauro sia l'espressione residua di una cultura
borghese, d'impronta propriamente otto-novecentesca, a rischio d'estinzione Non da escludersi che,
di qui a qualche anno, della conservazione e, pi in generale del passato non interessi pi niente a
nessuno. Un processo di radicale mercificazione sembra appiattire tutto il presente, Carbonara, G., Le
tendenze attuali del restauro in architettura, in Critica, estetica, metodologia e conservazione. Nuove
conoscenze e prospettive nel mondo dell'arte, Enciclopedia Universale dell'Arte, II supplemento, Istituto
Geografico De Agostini, Novara, 2000, p. 539.
[286]
del conseguimento di un livello di attenzione e di conseguente accuratezza

operativa maggiore oppure se stia profilandosi il rischio di un capovolgimento
totale e di un radicale cambiamento di orientamenti. In fin dei conti ben fon-
dato il timore che il restauro sia lespressione residua di una cultura borghese,
dimpronta propriamente otto-novecentesca, a rischio destinzione Non da
escludersi che, di qui a qualche anno, della conservazione e, pi in generale
del passato non interessi pi niente a nessuno. Un processo di radicale merci-
ficazione sembra appiattire tutto il presente10.
In this context the conservation of modern architecture becomes a sensible
seismograph of the transformations that are running over the Italian and European
culture, tracing the dynamics and the geopolitical balances that involve the entire
world. These processes highlight a very diversified geography of cultures where
some apply a strong influence on others prying on easily manageable values at
global scale. Therefore, the idea that today the cultural heritage does not stand
for itself, it must be built it is not an essential feature descending from the research
of a transcendental principle, but a socially built phenomenon, beyond myths
and into effective facts seems to prevail, while the issue if it should at first al-
ways pose a conservation problem or if it may, or must, be given as an econom-
ical or a social resource11, appears an implicit sign of the difficulties that variety,
complexity and entity of the built heritage opposes to its conservation, and depicts
the conflict that lays behind its consideration as an economical and social resource
and, at the same time, as a cultural heritage. So, we are again beyond the field of
restoration (and far away from the intention, or the need, to consider a witness
of the past for its value of memory) and into the identity of our civilization, into
its social, anthropological, economical and pragmatic values where the sense of
conservation itself is put into discussion, not only the specific issues that concern
the restoration of modern architecture.
Therefore, todays misunderstanding of the aims and intentions of conservation
gives scarce evidence of the critical and scientific doctrine developed in Europe
and in Italy since the Eighteenth century. A first discard has been marked by the
hushing of the International Charter for Restoration, drafted in Venice in 1964, to-
day criticized for an excess of eurocentrism by a scientific community inclined to
merge Eastern and Western cultures. However, none of the many problems raised
against the Venice Charter has been solved, not even by the Burra Charter, laid out
10 Carbonara, G., Le tendenze attuali del restauro in architettura, in Critica, estetica, metodologia e con-
servazione. Nuove conoscenze e prospettive nel mondo dell'arte, Enciclopedia Universale dell'Arte, II
supplemento, Istituto Geografico De Agostini, Novara, 2000, p. 539.
11 Reichlin, B., Riflessioni sulla conservazione del patrimonio architettonico del XX secolo, in Reichlin, B.,
Pedretti, B., (ed.), Riuso del patrimonio architettonico, Quaderni dell'Accademia di Architettura. di Men-
drisio-Universit della Svizzera Italiana, Silvana Editoriale-Mendrisio Academy Press, Cinisello Balsamo
(Milano) 2011, p. 13.
[287]
SIMONA SALVO
by the Australian Icomos committee in 1979. Its many further versions12 aiming to
propose universal conservation principles and methods valid for every artistic and
historical expression, instead highlight how cultural choices are today defined by
economical political and financial matter13.
In the international context, the preservation of modern architecture holds
undoubtedly a crucial role, due to the transnational and over-continental exten-
sion of the recent built heritage and due to the broadcasting of a Western-like
conservation practice. The commitment of transnational organisms in primis
of Unesco through Iccrom and Icomos in favor of an international care for
its preservation must be considered a merit but, also, the account of a respon-
sibility. As a matter of fact, conservation principles are here con-fused with a
sort of political-cultural strategy which aspires to resolve world-scaled conflicts
by teaching cultural heritage conservation as a means to establish a dialogue
among the people. This strategy obliges to a politically correct attitude, and is
weakened by the need to lean on unquestionable scientific data rather than on
critical interpretations, which would risk to step down to the level of a cultural
comparison when involving historical and aesthetic interpretations. Conserva-
tion has, therefore, become a peace-keeping strategy which relies on the mutual
acknowledgement of the cultural identity of the people considered as premise
to a peaceful acceptance of their geo-political identity, outlining an unexpected
manipulation of the architectural heritage, with all the consequences that this
implies.
In addition, monuments don't always obtain advantages from being nominated
World Heritage as supreme acknowledgement of their cultural importance due
to the excessive attention that sometimes they end up drawing. In fact, it may oc-
cur that such sites are subject to massive touristic haunting or are rebuilt to regain
their original splendor to support political balances, or being very significant
objects are even targeted as military goals14.
12 Conservation means all the processes of looking after a place so as to retain its cultural significance.
It includes maintenance and may, according to circumstances, include preservation, restoration, recon-
struction and adaptation and will commonly be a combination of more than one of these, Australian
Icomos Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Significance 1999 (The Burra Charter), 1979,
revised in 1981, 1988, 1992 and in 1999, in Marquis Kyle, P., Walker, M. (ed), The Illustrated Burra Char-
ter: good practice for heritage places, Australia Icomos, Burwood-Australia, 2004.
13 Varagnoli, C., Metamorfosi degli dei, metamorfosi del restauro, in Carbonara, G., Dalla Costa, M. (ed),
Memoria e restauro dell'architettura. Saggi in onore di Salvatore Boscarino,, Franco Angeli, Milano 2005,
pp. 291-300.
14 An updated description of modern buildings included in the World Heritage list may be found online
http://whc.unesco.org/uploads/activities/documents/activity-38-2.pdf; on selection criteria, see Identifi-
cation and Documentation of Modern Heritage, World Heritage Papers, 2002, 5. Although the highest
percentage of the world built stock dates back to the last century, less than 3% of the sites listed belong
to the 1900 (only 34 sites over 962 in 2013).
[288]
The ambition to build a global platform for the conservation of the past has
caused inevitable conflicts and has brought to political acrobatics and to many
contradictions, for example around the different ideas of authenticity developed
by each culture15. The attempt to disseminate a global culture of conservation has
also been followed by a distortion of the conservation language which, earlier
developed around Latin rooted words containing their origin and meaning today
applies to English expressions, easily comprehensible everywhere in the world, in
the Western as well as in Eastern countries. But, as in the case of the word mon-
ument, words are dense of meanings. So, the expression restoration of monu-
ments is now outmoded also in Italy, whereas tutela del patrimonio culturale,
that recalls the American preservation of the cultural heritage, is preferred. The
influence of English pragmatism in this practice is also evident in the adoption of
restoration methodology, especially at the investigation stage whose importance
is acknowledged and shared by many scientific communities involved in the field
of preservation. This cognitive step is often misunderstood as a mere documen-
tation and recording activity, which only considers scientific aspects connected
to quantitative and instrumental information. These are considered more reliable
and certain than a critical reading of the artifact so that also restoration work
inevitably comes to be a scientifically, predetermined and therefore indisput-
able operation.
Well-aligned with these assumptions, Docomomo todays unquestioned ref-
erent for any initiative in the conservation of modern architecture has expanded
its scopes beyond the Modern Movement, also behind request of Icomos. The
cooperation among international institutions involved in the preservation of the
recent heritage aiming at a dialogue among over-governmental institutions, is very
beneficial in itself as it engages various cultural instances, but obtains the counter
effect of bowing the theory to the lowest cultural common denominator flatten-
ing out the scopes of conservation to a culturally uncharacterized niveau16.
More recent and prestigious initiatives supporting the preservation of modern
architecture, as the program CMAI, Conserving Modern Architecture Initiative, run
by the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles, are structured similarly and
pursue the aim of establishing the catchment of an international thought, concen-
trated on some specific research themes, concerning the story of the buildings, the
15 Larsen, K. E., Jokilehto, J., Lemaire, R., Masuda, K., Marsyein, N., Stovel, H., (ed.), Nara Conference on Au-
thenticity in relation to the World Heritage, conference proceedings, Nara (Japan) November 1-6 1994,
Unesco, Iccrom, Icomos, Tokio 1995.
16 Icomos has recently established ISC20C-International Scientific Committee on Twentieth-Century Heri-
tage dedicated to modern architecture preservation issues, gathering other institutions such as Docomo-
mo, the International Union of Architects-UAI and TICCIH-International Committee for the conservation
of Industrial Heritage; see http://icomos-isc20c.org/. The ISC20C Committee, founded in 2008, has met
in Sidney (2009), Dublin (2010) and Madrid (2011); conference proceedings are published online.
[289]
SIMONA SALVO
study of building materials and the technical aspects of their conservation. Here
the central and dominating position of the North American culture is explicit, and
sometimes declared 17.
A different and more interesting appeal emerges from other scientific and
cultural research programs on European ground, especially in the Italian and
French speaking Swiss regions. Among the most relevant, the project for a Crit-
ical Encyclopedia for the Restoration and Reuse of Twentieth Century Archi-
tecture which aims at gathering ideas on the future of twentieth century archi-
tectural heritage rooted in the European culture18. Well built and very well
financed this research project gathers the free contribution of an international
and multi-disciplinary scientific community and is now producing some inter-
esting result. Yet, there is no trace of a direct and outspoken reference to the
historical and cultural European heritage from which these ideas draw their
strength, although they belong to a precise genealogy, and are rooted in the
Italian restoration theory. This is barely and inappropriately mentioned as the
Italian way to restoration, an expression that keeps sought distance from a tra-
dition which, instead, is a precious resource. In the context of the many efforts
in favor of the safeguard of Modernity, Italian restoration culture could instead
be considered itself worthy of preservation, a cultural heritage wrote Paul
Philippot not simply a theory!.
Closing up to reopen the discourse
Although Modernity has produced a deep fracture into tradition, in the field of
architecture and elsewhere, it has also stated a new awareness of the importance
of the past and of the conservation of its material evidence. Modernity has there-
fore been built upon a double groundwork with complimentary aspects, sides of
the same coin, which are only apparently facing opposite directions. The conflict
recognized between the two is based on misleading syllogisms which hide a lack
of critical sense and of cultural courage.
17 http://www.getty.edu/conservation/our_projects/field_projects/cmai/. The initiative has been opened

by a preparatory meeting; see Macdonald, S., Ostergren, G., (ed.), Developing an Historic Thematic
Framework to Assess the Significance of Twentieth-Century Cultural Heritage: An Initiative of the ICO-
MOS International Scientific Committee on Twentieth-Century Heritage, May 10-11 2011, GCI-ICOMOS,
The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles, 2011 published online.
18 This research project, coordinated by Bruno Reichlin (Architecture Academy in Mendrisio, USI), Franz
Graf (EPFL-Lausanne Polytechnic) and Vittorio Magnano Lampugnani (ETHZ-Zurich Polytechnic) and
funded by the Swiss University Conference (CUS) in cooperation with SUPSI in Lugano and the Fon-
dazione Archivio del Moderno in Mendrisio, has started in 2008; eight international conferences upon
modern architecture conservation practices have been organized until today, and several seminars on
topics and works of specific relevance; all conference proceedings have been published; on this initia-
tive, see Reichlin B., Pedretti, B., (ed.), Riuso del patrimonio architettonico, op. cit.
[290]
It may be true that the attitude to produce culture by acknowledging the va-
lue of the past is a prerogative and a privilege of Western bourgeoisie, but
the access of modern heritage into the riverbed of preservation has marked the
decline of a critical and truly conservative way of working. Conservation has then
collided with a world that is adjusted on pragmatic and opportunistic policies that
avoid the effort of a critical interpretation and the difficulties of a very complicated
heritage.
The restoration of modern architecture is, therefore, still an open matter, which
waits to be explored in a new and different way, perhaps retracing the path ope-
ned by a 'critical' thinking. New terms could be considered the founding of a new
approach, perhaps facing its historical-critical issues and rediscovering the origins
of restoration in the Eighteenth century. Consequently, modern architectural his-
toriography could be reviewed in the light of a direct re-discovery of the built
heritage.
There is another chapter that should be rewritten concerning the vulnerabili-
ty and fragility of modern artifacts due, as said, to its materials and construction
techniques. Experience teaches that, aside to some truly experimental building
which were built to last one season, there are many other that show a strong
resistance against aging and decay, comparable to that of traditional buildings. In
addition, the extreme exposition to use and the lack of maintenance should also
be weighed when evaluating deterioration processes that affect the built heritage
of the past century. And, by doing so, the central role of criticism in restoration
would be again asserted.
The terms on which the value assessment is based today should also be re-
considered, examining various issues such as: the effectiveness of adopting a his-
torical and aesthetic polarity in defining the critical judgment of a modern work,
as in the case of traditional or ancient ones; the definition of the chronological
threshold between history and chronicle that states the admission of very recent
artifacts in the riverbed of conservation; the re-interpretation of the principles that
have set the appreciation of Antiquity since the Age of Enlightenment as the po-
etics of the fragment, the concept of ruin and the notion of historical patina; the
definition of the limit within which decay and weathering are figuratively tolerable
within modern architecture; the acknowledgement of a formative role to function
in modern architecture. And then, switching to operational matter, how to restrain
the role played by contemporary authors in the restoration of their own works;
how to adjust the relation between old and new in a figurative context where old
is very similar to new; how to process the conservation of materials condemned
to last very shortly, as in the case of plastics; how to prevent or cure the effects of
aging and decay in the case of materials with sensible surfaces, as with fair face
concrete, and much more.
[291]
SIMONA SALVO
Countries bound by a common Latin and Mediterranean culture such as Ita-

ly, Spain, Portugal and Latin American are tasked to continue working around
shared ideas, concepts and principles, although standing on the margins of a
globalized world. In this context, Italian literature of the field gathers a strong
and rich tradition, which may still be inspiring to solve new problems. Much
has been already analyzed, discussed, and improved by authors as Camillo Boito,
Gustavo Giovannoni, Cesare Brandi, Roberto Pane, Giulio De Angelis d'Ossat,
Renato Bonelli, and recently Giovanni Carbonara. Still, the use of this heritage
is restricted to the few Italian speaking readers; but this is another question, or
perhaps it isnt.
[292]
CONSERVATION OF CONTEMPORARY ART: A CHALLENGE FOR THE
THEORY OF CRITIC RESTORATION?
CARLOTA SANTABRBARA MORERA*
Abstract: The Theory of Restoration (1963) by the Italian theoretician and restorer
Cesare Brandi set out some methodological procedures and performing principles
that have been a keystone in the restoration praxis since the 1964 Restoration
Charter. Differences to the Anglo-Saxon world aside, these procedures are current
for what we consider traditional art, although its use in contemporary works of
art is not so obvious, which has given place to theoretical debates on the resto-
ration of contemporary works of art in different museums and institutions. These
restorations have posed a question without consensus, and an evident confronta-
tion between the Italian and the German theories.
Key words: Restoration. Contemporary Art. Althfer. Schinzel. Brandi.
At first sight, it is stunning the restoration of contemporary art since its histori-
cal proximity should avoid it. However, we are in front of works that have been
highly damaged and deteriorated in the last years, due in most cases to experi-
mentation in the creative processes, the using of industrial materials whose aging
was unknown and, above all, to the artists disdain for the material development
of their works.
Artists today give more importance to other artistic values, not so much to
physical aspects but to abstract concepts such as the content, message, the expe-
rimental creative process or the form itself, the design.
In addition to all this, there are works which defy the classical rules of art. If an
artist includes deterioration as a constituent part of the work of art, are we right to
contradict his intention? For instance, the artists who work with food as a means
of expression and consider its self-degradation as an intrinsic part of the work of
* Licenciada en Historia del Arte y Restauradora. carlotasantabarbara@gmail.com
[293]
arts lifetime. This is the case of Dieter Roth1, a German artist who used chocolate
as expressive material, Joseph Beuys2, who used hoax fat in his works, or Wim
Delvoye, who worked with tattooed chickens3.
Todays restoration criteria, consolidated decades away by means of congres-
ses, charters and publications, hold as an absolute principle the respect for the
material and times footprint on it, a principle accepted in old-art restoration but,
meaningfully, of no application in contemporary art. This is due to the loss of
value the artist gives to the material and the importance given to the message, the
intention or idea, and it is there where a basic question lies: where is the authenti-
city of contemporary art? and, therefore, what must be preserved: the material, the
artists intention whether aesthetic of conceptual, or simply the project?
Cesare Brandis theory of restoration
In front of contemporary artists attitude, todays theory of restoration is based,

largely, on the ideas of Cesare Brandi (1906 Siena, 1988 Vignano). Art historian
and restorer himself, he wrote Theory of Restoration (1963) where he summed up
the basic ideas of his thought. For Brandi, restoration is defined as: the metho-
dological moment in which the work of art is appreciated in its material form and
in its historic and aesthetic duality, with a view to transmitting it to the future4.
From this definition it is understood that only the material the work of art is res-
tored and this is prior in the restoration processes since it unites the historical and
aesthetic instances. In the same way, Brandi holds that the fact that the material
may be the same is not enough to allow us to complete an unfinished or damaged
building, because the historicity the material would acquire by means of the new
use must not be taken backwards in time so as to avoid a historical as well as an
aesthetic forgery from being created5. Todays theory of restoration is based on
these ideas when stating that reintegration should be made with different mate-
rials to the original ones otherwise this new material apparently old should detract
the historical value of the work of art.
In this way what Brandi does is to unify the two instances confronted throughout
history, such as those defending the work of art as a historical document (Luca Bel-
trani) and those who consider it a merely aesthetic element (Viollet-le-Duc). Brandi
defines every work as something unique and specific, naming it Unicum.
1 Schokoladenmeer. Chocolate sea. Diether Roth. (1970). Macba Collection. Barcelona.

2 For instance his work: Fettecke in Kartonschachtel, Grease corner in paperwork box. By Joseph Beuys.
(1963). Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
3 Chickens. Wim Delvoye. (1996).
4 Brandi, C., La restauratione. in Enciclopedia Universale dellArte, XI, Venecia-Roma, 1963, pp. 322-332.
5 Brandi, C., La restauratione, in op. cit., pp. 322-332.
[294]
CONSERVATION OF CONTEMPORARY ART: A CHALLENGE?
Depending on his definition of restoration he establishes two principles which

will be the backbone of the theory of restoration up to date: first of all, only the
material form of the work of art is restored; and, the second one, restoration must
aim to reestablish the potential unity of the work of art, as long as this is possible
without producing an artitstic or historical forgery and without erasing every trace
of the passage of time left on the work of art6.
Out of these two principles, Brandi takes the three criteria used systematically
in the field of scientific restoration:
1) The maximum respect to the original; the material form is unchangeable
since it constitutes the aesthetic and artistic value of the work.
2) The recognition of the interventions without producing a historical forgery,
that is, reintegration must be discernible and easily identifiable. As Bran-
di says: additions should be invisible at the distance the work of art is
observed, but immediately discernible, without any support, in a closer ob-
servation7. In order to reinforce his theory he uses the concept of lacuna as
an interruption of the figurative field, a void that has to be filled by means
of chromatic abstraction (trattegio), in such a way that it disappears and is
neutralized at sight.
3) And, last, the repetition of the intervention, erroneously translated as rever-
sibility in many cases, what means to allow future restorers new interven-
tions without being excessively conditioned by previous ones (which has
turned out in a post-Brandian direction towards minimum intervention)8,
because intervention should never be definite. In Brandis words: every
restoring intervention should not make impossible, but facilitate future
interventions9.
Regarding the temporality of the work of, Brandi distinguishes three times:
the first one is the creation of the work of art; the second one elapses up to the
recognition of the work as a work of art, the third one occurs in the very moment
of its reception into our conscience: Restoration, in order to be a legitimate ope-
ration, could not presume that time is reversible or that history can be abolished.
() This historical requirement should translate not only into a differentiation of
the integrated areas, but also into the respect for the patina, and for saving sample
areas that show the state of the work of art before the restoration10.

8 Bonsanti, G., Proposals for a Theory of the Restoration of Contemporary Art in Mundici & Rava
(ed.),Whats Changing. SKIRA editore. 2013. Milano. p.125.
[295]
Once the basic principles of restoration according to Brandi have been mentio-
ned, it only rests to talk about the nature of the work of art in which, as Brandy
states, the material is of great relevance: The physical consistency of the work
of art must be prior since it represents the very place where the image manifests
itself, ensures the transmission of the image to the future, and guarantees its per-
ception in the human conscience11.
The conflict between Cesare Brandis theory and the practice of restoration in
contemporary art
The attention to the material of the work of art is, no doubt, one of the most
important differences between the practice of contemporary art restoration and
Brandis principles of restoration. First of all, in contemporary art the idea of the
work makes up for the hand of the artist, the work loses its value as a material ob-
ject on behalf of the concept. In fact, in some cases, the works are made without
any manipulation by the artist. This is the case of Richard Serra, who designs and
draws the works but they are made in a dockyard, as an industrialized process,
supervising the process but without any active participation.
Contemporary art expresses itself through a new language, reflects some aspects
peculiar to our age based on the ephemeral, the provisional and changeable12.
Our perception of old art and the temporal distance makes it easier to tolerate
a degraded and fragmentary aesthetic aspect, since its being a consequence of an
undeniable passing of time which has left a footprint on the works of art. But in
contemporary art there is not such a temporal perspective and any alteration may
be made up to deny the passing of time and cling to its contemporary image,
which lies on its aspect of already-finished work. In fact, restorations of con-
temporary works have been made in which the aesthetic instance has prevailed
over the historic one, contradicting the Brandian theories and setting out a new
methodology in favor of a perfect appearance, without any trace of the passing of
time, as a reflection of a material history. This is the case of the painting by Barnet
Newman Who is Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue III (1967-1968). In 1989 it was the
subject of a vandalistic attack. Since Newman had passed away his widow was
prompted and the restoration was assigned to Daniel Goldreyer. Once the work
was restored in 1991, its immaculate aspect seemed rather suspicious and, as it
was intuited, was completely repainted with alkyd paint, altering in an irreversible
way the material composition of the work and its look13.
11 Brandi, C., Teoria del restauro, Roma, Edizioni di storia e Letteratura, 1963.
12 Rava, A., Form and Memory; the conservation of Contemporary Art. in Mundici & Rava (ed.), Whats
Changing. SKIRA editore. 2013. Milano. p.125.
13 Roetaeche, M., Conservacin y restauracin de materiales contemporneos y nuevas tecnologas. Editorial
Sntesis, Madrid. 2001, p. 150-151.
[296]
However worrisome the repaints and aesthetic renovations in monochrome

painting may be, it is even more worrying in the sculpture made in an industrial
way, which is not carried out by the artists hands, according to his design or
project, its material renovation being unquestioned since what acquires much
more importance is its look. In this sense the sculpture by Jorge Oteiza Mirador
mirando (1958), placed in the entrance square to the Vitorias Artium, remade in
Corten steel in 2003, a different kind of steel to that used originally. The change
of material was based on its bad conditions of preservation and because Corten
steel could not be used in Spain in 1958 since the trademark was not allowed in
Spain. So, claiming conservative and aesthetic reasons and the authors intention
of using Corten steel, this drastic renovation was carried out, perhaps not so much
a restoration as the reconstruction of a work based on an ideal project.
In the same line we find the work Carmen by Alexander Calder (1974), locat-
ed in the Sabatini Patio in the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia14. Its
restoration was considered due to the obvious decay of the covering paint. The
Calder Foundation, once consulted, guided the restoration process, by means of
a drastic intervention on the work, when compared to the traditional restoration
procedures. Surveys were made, eliminating original paint layers, and those laid
by time, including the artists proofs. The surface was completely polished in or-
der to apply a new layer on an industrial basis15. This process of repainting was
made according to the Calter Foundations instructions, with paint of the Keeler&
Long Company, which was composed as that of the artists and, in this way, no
different material to the original was added16.
This restoration poses an important question: if the patina, defended as an un-
questionable value in traditional artistic heritage, loses its value in contemporary
art because of the scarce temporal distance, to what extend should we restore our
contemporary artistic heritage: for years, decades or centuries? What is definitely
posed is the debate on the historicity of contemporary art, when may an artwork
be defined as historic and not contemporary, and at what time must it be respect-
ed as a bearer of historic and not only aesthetic values.
There is another kind of contemporary artworks, the kinetic ones, whose rea-
son for existence lies on movement, therefore its recovery comes first, prevailing
over the substitution of its original constituent parts. This is the case of Gismo, by
Jean Tinguely (1960), in the Amsterdam Stedelijk Museum collection restored in
14 Santabrbara, C., Conservacin de Arte Contemporneo. Historia y crtica. Diploma de Estudios Avanza-
dos. Departament of Art History. University of Zaragoza. Unpublished. Zaragoza. 2009.
15 Snchez, J.A., Carmen. Alexander Calder, in Conservacin de Arte Contemporneo 10 Jornadas. Museo
Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofa. GE-IIC. Madrid. 2009.
16 Roetaeche, M., Conservacin y restauracin de materiales contemporneos y nuevas tecnologas. Editorial
Sintesis. Madrid. 2001.p. 266.
[297]
the 1990s17. This work had lost its reason for existence as a kinetic work since the
elements compounding the moving mechanism were deteriorated. Many pieces
had to be replaced, above all the rubber straps, completely broken and deteriorat-
ed, and many other elements of the structure. This intervention meant the substi-
tution of the broken original material for a new kind of elements which help the
work to move and produce the sound for which it was conceived. In this case, the
essence of the work lay in the movement, not in its material and historic values,
being the recovery of the moving system the most important question.
Another concern in contemporary art preservation is the early decay of the
plastic elements. For instance, Linear Construction no. 2 by Naum Gabo (1949),
in the Stedelijk Museum of Amsterdam, is made up of nylon threads that became
yellowish and broke, which force restorers to substitute them for new ones, since
they are industrial material. But, in this case, as in many others, we should ask
ourselves if the complete material renovation of the work would affect its origi-
nality, and if we might appreciate a work by Naum Gabo as a work from the late
40s or, on the contrary, a present replica. Perhaps its originality does not longer
lie on the constituting material but on its design.
It is on this point that alternative theories and new contributions to the history
of restoration, specifically in the restoration of contemporary art, must be quot-
ed. Among them, Theory of the Project by Francesco Lo Savio, an artistic theory
contemporary to Brandis, who places the importance of art in the idea and not
in the material creation. Lo Savio claims that: The artist assumed the project in
itself as the most significant part of the artistic process, an original and decisive
act in the artistic creation ,that is why he assigns the realization to others. For him,
the physical production does not count since the work is already completed as a
project, before formulating the idea, with all numbers and measures necessary to
its possible production18.
Contemporary art gives priority to the idea over the material aspect of the work
of art, which decisively conditions contemporary arts restoration, leading inter-
nationally-reckoned restoration criteria into crisis. Therefore in the restoration of
contemporary art the material is admitted to be replaced, whereas in old art there
is a sacred-like respect for it. This obsession for the material is a concept inherited
from the Enlightment and Romanticism, historical movements whicn laid the basis
of contemporary art collection and antiquarianism were.
To this respect we might point out the statements by the theoretician and re-
storer Antonio Rava, who notes the fact that, in many cases, the artifact is not cre-
17 Beerkens, H., Reconstruction of a moving life. In VV.AA. Modern art, who cares? Amsterdam. Foundation
for the conservation of modern art and the Netherlands institute for Cultural Heritage, 1998, pp. 23-41.
18 VV.AA., Conservar el arte contemporneo. San Sebastin, Nerea, 1992. p. 85.
[298]
ated by the artists own hands, unlike conventional painting and sculpture, hence
the necessity of new conservation practices which are still being under consider-
ation nowadays, regarding the transmission of the artistic message to the future.
And if, in order to transmit the original message, the substitution of elements is
required, that would be a legitimate act as far as new information of the date of
the change is provided19.
On the other hand, if we look at the traditional theory relating the patina, Ce-
sare Brandi states that its conservation as a testimony of the passing time is not
only advisable but absolutely compulsory. On the contrary, in contemporary art
there are a lot of restorations, in big size sculptures above all, which are polished,
repainted and chromate, erasing even the original paint layers. In this way, in a
clear confrontation to Brandis theories, not only the aesthetic condition of the
material is disrespected, since it is completely substituted, but also its historical
instance is lost to a great extent when the different polychromes are erased, losing
the patina Brandi emphatically defends in his writings.
These interventions, common to many museums and contemporary art cen-
ters, are opposed to Brandis theories, since he defended the maximum respect
to the original. However, in contemporary art the potential unity of the work of
art is sometimes detached from the work itself, that is, the work is just a means to
transmit the potential unity, never an end in itself. Therefore in contemporary art
restoration the investigation and deep knowledge of both the work of art and its
message are so important in order to discern the importance given by the artist to
the material over the idea or concept to be expressed.
Regarding the recognition of the intervention without committing the false
historicism that Brandi praises, he adopted the reintegrating systems to his pur-
pose, making reintegration by means of hatching, linear hatching, and contoured
hatching and, regarding color, different techniques were used such as neutral ink,
color selection, chromatic abstraction, etc. However, in contemporary art these
reintegration techniques, far from helping to keep the potential unity of the work
of art, have a significant role and, in most cases, distort the very concept of the
work. The recognition of the reintegration frequently makes it difficult or alters the
potential unity of the work, in such cases a repaint is considered more appropriate
than a distinguishable reintegration.
There was not a systematized solution to this problem. Every work in particular
needs a different action adapted to its content. In the context of contemporary art
it seems difficult to admit a monochromatic painting by Mondrian to be refilled
with a clearly distinguishable tratteggio or pointillism since it would imply a fig-
urative stain in the aesthetic contemplation of the piece, but, on the other hand,
19 Rava. A., Form and Memory, in op. cit., p. 150.
[299]
it seems difficult to admit from the point of view of the theory of restoration the
mimetic reintegration of such an avant-guard piece if we comply to the traditional
issues of restoration such as respect for the original material, the visibility of the
intervention and its repetition.
Regarding this, Giorgio Bonsanti20 states that according to todays Italian theory
the impossibility to consider the restoration of a lacuna by means of chromatic
selection in works such as those by Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning or similar
is under consideration. Although these works of art may be defined as paintings
made on so said traditional supports (perhaps a synthetic canvass, but a canvass
after all), even so the repainting of a lacuna with the intention to be visually dis-
tinguishable would become completely incompatible with the technique of drip-
ping or with the abstract gesture.
Regarding the reversibility of the treatment, being a questionable point in early
art where the materials used are well known and in many cases it is unavoidable
that practice contradicts theory carrying out irreversible processes, in contempo-
rary art whose materials as we have already pointed out may be completely
unusual, such an issue is questioned from the very beginning. If we add that, in
many cases the nature of the material is made dependent on its concept, this issue
would be unfounded, since we may find that the decomposing process of many
materials (and so of the work itself), is part of the concept itself, therefore emerg-
ing a contradiction inherent to the work itself: in order to keep the potential unity
of the work of art in the conceptual level we must allow for its self-destruction,
that is, we have to let it vanish in order to preserve it.
Therefore, as we have seen, the theory of restoration by the Italian Cesere
Brandi is contradicted by the restoration practice, and it is this empirical statement
that the German restorer and art historian Heinz Althfer pioneered in 1985 in his
book Restoration of Contemporary Painting. Tendencies, materials, techniques21.
In his book, Althfer stressed a deep change in contemporary art restoration
which made clear a break with the Brandian thought. The German restorer ap-
proached the work of art from a perspective closer in time being his attitude
towards it not to consider it a historic document respectable in its materiality, but
rather a manifesto of intentions to be reinterpreted in order to update the message
of the work without losing the original significance the artist meant, since for
Althfer the value of the work of art lay precisely there. Althfer considered the
existing theory and practice an obstacle in the praxis of the new artistic tenden-
cies, declaring himself against the Brandian concept of potential unity, defending
instead a point of view closer to modernity, giving multiplicity a value as artistic
concept, as well as the concept of physical decay as artistic intention.
20 Bonsanti, G., Proposals for a Theory, in op. cit., p.126.

21 Althofer, H., Restauracin de pintura contempornea. Tendencias, materiales, tcnicas. Ed. Istmo, 2003,
Madrid.
[300]
In Althfers own words: It is not a question of theoretic issues, similar to

that of the neutral retouchment or tratteggio, but of previous conditions of great
importance, that if not taken into consideration, the work of art would be annihi-
lated not only in its physical existence but in its spiritual existence as well. This is
what happens when eat-art works, like Dieter Roths chocolate dwarfs or Richard
Lidners Angel with Blue Breast, are bathed into plexiglass22.
The German theoretician considered needful an advance in the problem of
the theory of restoration in contemporary art in order to update the criteria of
restoration praxis, and not doing it was worse than the absence of technical
knowledge; that is why he demanded a philosophical reflection in order to use
science and technique rightly, that is, he considered absolutely needful to revisit
the theory in order to carry out regulated interventions backed by a strong reflec-
tion on contemporary art.
For Althfer, contemporary art can be grouped into three different levels ac-
cording to restoration: first of all, works that may be considered and deal with in
a similar way to traditional artistic pieces; secondly, those which technically pose
new questions that require to test and implement new materials and techniques,
and third, those that demand a previous ideological analysis to the problem of
restoration.
The instances diverting from the traditional theory of restoration are the second
and third groups. Regarding the second category, Althfer considers we should
acquire new and deeper knowledge related to new materials and the techniques
of todays factories. But in the third group it would be necessary to incorporate a
theoretical reflection which incorporate the new status of modern art and, on the
other hand, take into account the different contributions of past and present his-
tory of thought23. Althfer defended that the work of art determined the conser-
vation methods, and this was also valid to the restoration of that art which refused
conservation24. According to this, he placed some major questions to which he
did not answer but exposed as unresolved questions in the todays theory: Art is
made to never die, or maybe not? Is art manifestation ambiguous? Is its preserva-
tion a mistake? Is restoration essential?25 Althfer questioned even the necessity
to preserve art and in such a case, how should we do it. What seems unbearable
is the absolute sacrilege that supposed the restoring intervention that irreversibly
22 Althfer, H., Teora de la restauracin del arte contemporneo, in VV.AA., Comunicaciones de la 3 re-
unin de trabajo. Grupo Espaol de trabajo sobre conservacin y restauracin de arte contemporneo.
Diputacin Foral de lava. Departamento de cultura. Vitoria. 1991. p.100.
23 Althofer, H., Teora de la restauracin, op. cit., p.11.
24 Ibidem.
25 Ibidem.
[301]
mummified art as an archaeological discovery26. In this sense he advocated for

a theory of restoration not guided by scientific and technical improvements but
by the knowledge of the work of art and its purpose: the right interpretation of
the work of art is essential to its correct restoration. It is, besides, the main source
for information about the object and the artistic purpose27. This approach is very
interesting since lay it bare the way the German restorer introduced into the field
of restoration, ideas related to contemporary aesthetics and present conceptual art
(Beuys, Tingueli, Manzoni, etc), as the acceptance of the works decay (even its
complete disappearance).
In this context, Hiltrud Schinzel, the German restorer disciple to Althfer, has
provided a new vision to the theory of restoration: that of the viewer. For Schni-
zel, the problem of contemporary art restoration lies precisely on this aspect: for
whom do we restore and what do we want to restore, and so we should ponder
whether we want to keep the material as support for an idea which will be part
of the history of art, or on the contrary, we want to preserve this concept jeopar-
dizing its support and constantly updating it so as not to lose the essence of the
work, the message the author wants to provide. Regarding the meaning of both
the material and the content of the work of art, Schinzel underlies how the bipola-
rity between Brandi (aesthetic and historic), is being overpassed by the bipolarity
between the material and the spiritual content in contemporary art28.
Schinzel in his theories sets out three reflective contexts: first of all, the inten-
tion of contemporary art and its contradictions, secondly, the question of the ori-
ginal and multiplicity, and third, the reversibility as justification of the restorating
act. Regarding the first one, Schinzel states how deeply contemporary art is linked
to the material that constitutes the work, and, on the other hand, how materiality
is full of conceptual symbolic contents, therefore in present restoration any inter-
vention on the material mean an alteration of the idea inherent to it.
That is, Schinzel sets out the existence of a double tendency. On the one hand,
the art traditionally understood as material used to depict, this material is adored
as fetish and raised to a supreme value regarding the concepts of originality and
technical execution by the author-artist, and, on the other hand a series of ordi-
nary objects without artistic value upgraded to works of art by the mere fact of
being labeled as such. In this kind of works we can include Duchamps Fountain
(1917), Warhols Brillos Boxes (1964) or The Artists Breath (1947) by Pietro Man-
zoni. On the other hand, in conceptual art the materials are increasingly reduced,
ideas and concepts are better expressed by means of a technically perfect art, and

28 Van Damme, C., Schinzel, H., Ethics and the theory of conservation of contemporary art, En Modern art,
Who cares?, op. cit., pp. 308-321.
[302]
this surfaces perfection is managed more easier by factory processes, so, the
artists hand is being pushed away to suppression in minimal and narrative art29.
Schinzel places the origin of perfect and homogeneous, impersonalized surfaces
in constructivism and figures such as Malewich, De Stijl and Bahaus.
In this way Schinzel states that present art remains completely impersonalized,
what matters is underlie some kind of originality and the aesthetic aspects of the
materials surfaces and endings, in a such a way that the master touch of the ar-
tists hand disappears, giving way to an art based on the genius of the expressed
concept. An example for the above mentioned would be Richard Serra who strai-
ghtly provides the materials properties, not reproducing a texture but letting the
material to evolve in a natural way.
The problem, so, is how restoration preserves or respects the passing of time
in the work of art. Regarding the pictorial space, this is made up by the surfaces
qualities and not by depiction, the material is not longer a means to representa-
tion becoming an object in itself, that is why contemporary painting is even closer
to the concept of the object as an aesthetic element, not as a characteristic of a
depiction but as a symbol for an idea or an aesthetic purpose. In this line we can
mention Soulages paintings, of polished or grooved surfaces in neutral colors,
often black and technically perfect.
Regarding works of art that use time as an important factor for the artistic crea-
tion, process art, we can include James Lee Byars The Rose Table of Perfect (1995),
consisting of a EPS ball with thousands of fresh roses withering as the exhibition
takes place till they are dried as the exhibition ends making a completely different
image. In this case, the artist includes in the work of art the degrading process as
a constituent part of it. Therefore the conservation of the dried flowers as a tes-
timony for the work after the exhibition is out of question, despite the technical
possibilities for doing so. Anytime the piece is exhibited new flowers must be
added, keeping them as long as possible, watering them daily.
Summing up, Schinzel states that contemporary art cannot be regulated by a set
of rules, but rather we must investigate about the artists purpose and his message,
sacrificing sometimes the historical value of the original material, which openly
contradicts the ideas by Cesare Brandi.
Regarding the Italian theory of restoration, the German restorer denies a po-
sitivist historical consciousness, hence her questioning of the defense of the con-
servation of art at any price. Schnitzel proposes a separation between the linear
thought (historic) and the parallel thought (anthropologist), where this kind of
contemporary art that makes use of the spectator in a emotional (action art) or
intellectual (conceptual art) way would be framed. Therefore, regarding the print
29 Althofer, H., Teora de la restauracin, op. cit., pp. 49.
[303]
of the passing of time in the work of art, Schnizel states that the closer the work is
to us, the more repeated, so what must be preserved is the idea. In this way she
approves for the possibility of reproducing the work of art, something completely
different to Brandi, who claimed that with the reproduction of the work the histo-
ric instance would be lost. In Schinzels own words, the theoretical concept of the
immateriality of the contemporary work of art as a pure idea, is linked to the pos-
sibility that could be reproduced as an ultimate consequence. However, regarding
ephemeral art she states that reproduction is not materially possible, that is, all that
is linked to an ephemeral material cannot be repeated in a strict sense. This state-
ment is due to her considering ephemeral art cannot be reproduced nor restore,
but it must disappear since that is its purpose. In this way, Schnizel assumes and
advocates in her theories not to preserve the work of art but make it disappear,
whereas other theoreticians, above all in the Italian world, openly reject any pos-
sibility to vanish the work of art as something unavoidable and imminent30.
We can conclude, then, that the praxis of the restoration of contemporary art
questions Brandis theories and yet, despite the debate on this issue, there are no
unified criteria for restoring contemporary art. Despite the notorious theoretical
contributions in this field (Althfer, Schnizel, etc), there is a controversy between
Brandis advocates and detractors, in fact some of the theoreticians set out the
necessity of a new restoration charter31.
As a conclusion it is needed to point out a concern of serious consequences
related to present art conservation: the absence of unifying criteria, since art today
ranges over different artistic manifestations of a great material and conceptual
diversity. Therefore, its conservation and restoration is still a challenge without
an evident solution, despite the efforts taken in that respect. What does exists,
according to the German restorer Hiltrud Schnizel, is a methodology based on
documentation, investigation and minimum intervention, aiming at the potential
unity, but being aware that this does not longer lie in the physical object, but in
the artists idea or purpose, so we should ask ourselves for whom we restore,
since the answer will determine the intervention criteria.
30 Bonsanti, G., Proposals for a Theory, in op. cit., p.129.

31 De martino, E., Arte contemporanea: conservazione e restauro, En Minutes of the International confe-
rence held in Venice in October-November. Turin: Fondazione di Venezia-Allemandi, 2005.
[304]
INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE IN THE 21ST CENTURY AND ITS
RELATIONSHIP WITH THE POST-INDUSTRIAL CITY
M PILAR BIEL IBEZ*
Abstract: this text is an approximation to the criteria for intervention in industrial

heritage throughout the last two decades in the 20th century and the first one in
the 21st century. The shift in the economic system, being one of its pillars the
exploitation of the citys heritage and cultural values, is the context where the
conservation of this must be placed in a large extent. Those industrial buildings
that have survived ruin and demolition are integrated in the new functions of the
post-industrial city. So, culture consumption is analyzed and evaluated in relation
to different strategies for promotion and prestige of private and public institutions.
It begins with the case of Vapor Vell as an example of institutional promotion.
It continues with Caixas relationship with industrial heritage in a brand-prestige
context, to end with the rehabilitation of the Plaza de Armas in Seville and the
Alhndiga in Bilbao, linking the relationship of industrial heritage with leisure
and culture consumption. Definitely, this text makes clear that a high number of
interventions in industrial heritage aim to transform the historical factory into a
consumer product instead of preserving its historical value.
Key Words: Industrial Heritage. Conservation of Industrial Heritage. Industrial Ar-
chitecture.
1. Introduction: Industrial is in
Industrial heritage is in the news. Press incites us to visit industrial museums,

offers us routes or recommends hotels, restaurantslocated in old factories; even
invite us to live in them after being transformed into modern lofts. Industrial aes-
thetics is fashionable and a decorative style as well. As stated on a web devoted
to indoor design:
* Professor of History of Art, University of Zaragoza. pbiel@unizar.es
[305]
M PILAR BIEL IBEZ
This kind of design tries to keep everything which originated it, hoarding the
industrial aesthetics, accompanied by pillars, beams, face bricks and stainless
steel, together with high ceilings, wide windows, well-lit spaces and concrete
floors or floating hardwood floors1.
No doubt, the precedent for this aesthetics is in High Tech architecture, so
popular in the last two decades of the 20th century. This architectonic style aims
to present architectures technological complexity by showing its technical and
functional elements, in such a way that prefabricated materials, glass walls or
steel structures be facing. Nowadays this complexity still subsists, trivialized in a
fashion style.
However, the urban industrial landscape of the modern city is cast aside in the
post-industrial city. It is no longer possible to talk about landscape, understood
as the product of the coexistence of different architectonic typologies in an urban
framework throughout a long period of time. Nowadays, in the post-industrial
city, just those buildings that, due to different reasons (their historical value, the
neighbours engagement in their conservation, the private or public willingness)
have been saved from demolition and integrated to the new urban functions, do
still survive.
2. The post-industrial city and industrial heritage
In the last two decades of the 20th century, the modern city undergoes import-
ant changes related to its planning which affect the productive context as well as
the consumers, ending in the outcome of the post-industrial city2.
From the point of view of production, the modern city undergoes a deindustri-
alization process. Those sectors which led the economic outburst after the Second
World War such as the mining, iron and steel, textile or car industries disappear
and are substituted by new models based on new technologies (microelectronics,
robotics or information and telecommunication systems). This producing system
favours a widespread and fragmentary location, since it can be placed in not nec-
essarily near areas. So, it evolves from a system based on big industrial factories
located in central urban areas to a network organization where every productive
unit corresponds to a stage in the productive process, located on a metropolitan
basis3.
From the point of view of economic strategy, the modern society develops the
Fordian mass consumption model based on the acquisition of standard products
1 http://www.opendeco.es/el-estilo-loft-y-la-decoracion-industrial/. [Consulted on January 15th, 2014].

2 Muoz, Francesc, Urbanalizacin. Paisajes comunes, lugares globales, Barcelona, Gustavo Gili, 2010.
3 Ibidem.
[306]
INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE IN THE 21ST CENTURY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE POST-INDUSTRIAL CITY
such as appliances, house, or car. A homogeneous model which meets the neces-
sities of a society with homogeneous ways of life. However, from the 1980s con-
sumption is fragmented by the outcome of multiple kinds of consumers. The ways
of life diversify and the search for individualism is translated into the necessity of
distinct products which imply a segmentation of production in smaller lots. The
consumer, influenced by fashion, buys products of a short life cycle and is offered
a great range of models to choose.
It is in this context where marketing and advertising acquire high importance
and their influence extends from the product and brand to the context of coun-
tries, regions and cities. So these last use their strategies to manage the inter-
change between urban offer and demand. Some post-industrial cities manipulate
their intangible products, especially those related to culture and heritage, in order
to develop promotion campaigns following the strategies of the great commercial
brands. The city is conceived of as a consumer product in itself. It is not only the
place where goods interchange, turning itself into a product to be sold.
Many cities turn into brands themselves, in consumer products where one trav-
els to, in places where one wants to live, which offer experiences or monu-
ments which can become consumer urban icons; destinies many people travel
to or dream of as a vital experience4.
From the 1980s, as Penny Sparke says, the work of many British designers
(and from other countries) is focused on creating new experiences, appealing to
the emotional and the intangible by means of the contents of a museum or by the
urban space. This focus is symptomatic of how the culture at the end of the 20th
century is guided towards consumption rather than production5.
All these changes happen in an urban-remodelling context where large emp-
tied industrial spaces turn into land favourable for transformation processes which
combine the creation of cultural equipment and public spaces, building or remod-
elling whole districts. In these processes of urban regeneration, the destiny of the
obsolete industrial buildings suffers different fates. And so we witness both their
complete demolition and disappearance and their partial or total conservation (for
instance the Ruhrs coalfield rationalization process).
In Spain, rationalization of the production system of the main industrial cities6,
such as Barcelona and Bilbao, entails the starting out of an urban regeneration
model based on culture as a pretext for the citys marketing campaign. This pro-
4 Muiz Martnez, Norberto y Cervantes Blanco, Miguel, Marketing de ciudades y place branding, in Pe-
cunica: revista de la Facultad de Ciencias Econmicas y Empresariales, n. extra 1. 2010, p. 142.
5 Sparke, Penny, Diseo y cultura una introduccin. Desde 1900 hasta la actualidad., Barcelona, Gustavo
Gili, 2010, espec. p. 221-283.
6 Borja, Jordi y Mux, Zaida (eds.), Urbanismo en el siglo XXI. Una visin crtica. Bilbao, Madrid, Valencia,
Barcelona, Barcelona, Edicions UPC, 2004.
[307]
M PILAR BIEL IBEZ
cess coincides with a display and revaluation of obsolete industrial structures by

means of both scientific meetings and the reappraisal work of neighbourhood
associations; to this, one has to add the first bills for the protection of the indus-
trial heritage in the Act of the Spanish Historical Heritage in 1985 and in the sub-
sequent autonomic7 Acts. This heritage, despite its recent recognition, is deeply
rooted in the population rather than in any other traditional cultural product, as,
for instance, archaeological heritage. No doubt, according to Jos Castillo8, the
bonds of industrial heritage to human activities, its proximity and its monumental
presence have facilitated the quick acknowledgement by society.
3. Industrial heritage in the post-industrial city. The factory and culture and leisure
consumption
The factories of the first industrialization still working are, nowadays, scarce. A
few examples may be quoted such as the beer factory La Zaragozana (1901) in
Zaragoza and Averly (1880) a casting factory that until recent dates (2012) kept
its production in the same city, or the arms factory in La Vega (1857) in Oviedo
(its closure was announced in April 2012). Usually, production is abandoned and
the architecture is functionally rationalized and updated to the new social needs.
So, the historical industrial landscape is reduced to a urban landmark (a chimney,
a building or a technical structure as La Carola crane in Bilbao) acquiring a high
symbolic value: a tangible vestige of the neighbourhoods industrial history and a
footprint of the conservationist policy by means of which the public administra-
tion or the private entity obtain social prestige.
3.1. An interventionist policy aiming at social prestige
The first activities related to the conservation of industrial architecture date

back to the 1980s, a decade in which great cities such as Barcelona, Bilbao, Ma-
drid, Valencia or Zaragoza started out a rationalization of their emptied industrial
spaces. These were years when the urban model of supplying neighbourhoods
with cultural and social equipments come first, basically working-class neigh-
bourhoods forgotten by the Francoist social policies. As a general practice, these
neighbourhoods offered large industrial infrastructures claimed by the neighbours
in order to install in them the new equipments. This was the situation in Barce-
7 Biel Ibez, M Pilar, La Catalogacin, la proteccin y la conservacin del patrimonio industrial, in Biel
Ibez, M P. y Cueto Alonso, G. (coord.), 100 Elementos del Patrimonio Industrial en Espaa, Madrid,
Institucin de Patrimonio Cultural de Espaa-TICCIH Espaa, 2011, p. 66-73.
8 Castillo Ruiz, Jos, Concepto y conocimiento del patrimonio histrico, in Conocimiento y percepcin
del patrimonio histrico en la sociedad espaola, Madrid, Caja Madrid, 2012, p.50.
[308]
lona9 before the Olympic project. In this way, the city government decided to
preserve some industrial landmarks, allocated to administrative services and to
provide for cultural and social needs. Generally speaking, these interventions do
not preserve the whole industrial complex but a significant part of it (for instance
Barcelona, Can Fabra) allocating the rest of the lot for urban space or for new
roads that optimize the resources for open areas or communication of these new
neighbourhoods.
An example of the above mentioned is the preservation and intervention of the
Vapor Vell (also known as Gell, Ramis i Cia Factory) in the Sants district. This old
corduroy and velvet factory is located in the block surrounded by Galileu, Miracle,
Joan Gell Streets and Serra i Arola Passage. It was built between 1840 and 1844,
year when the industrial activity began, lasting up to 1891. Commissioned by Joan
Gell, it was the first modern factory placed in Sants. After its closure, the spaces
were occupied by industrial and leisure activities, up to 1976 when it was acquired
by Jorba Preciados Company, Rumasa holding, to be replaced by a new big store
building. In 1973 the neighbours started a campaign, Cop dull a Sants, claiming
for the creation in the factory of equipment for the neighbourhood. This neigh-
bour defence will last up to 1986, when the Town Hall of the city of Barcelona
passes the Vapor Vell Especial Plan. Out of the overall industrial premises, just the
main building and the chimney, 54 meters long and a square base 4 meters wide,
is preserved for equipment. The rest of the premises are destined to residential
houses and Joan Gll Street, which stretches out from Diagonal Avenue to Sants
Square. In 1988 was listed as cultural good of national interest10.
It is a square planned building with a gable roof, consisting of ground level
and four storeys. It is made of masonry and solid brick with a wooden collar beam
roof reinforced by metal stripes supported by cast columns.
The restoration of this building was designed by Josep M Julia Capdevila11
between 1998 and 2000, who at that time was Project Manager of the Architecture
Department of Barcelona Town Hall. The process consists in the adaptation of lev-
els 3rd and 4th as a library with an access from Joan Gell Street, and of ground, 1st
and 2nd floors as public school with access from Galileo Street, whereas the play-
9 Checa Artasu, Martn, Geografas para el patrimonio industrial en Espaa: el caso de Barcelona in
Scripta Nova. Revista Electrnica de Geografa y Ciencias Sociales, Barcelona, Universidad de Barcelona,
August, 1st, 2007, vol. XI, n. 245 (32). <http://www.ub.es/geocrit/sn/sn-24532.htm> [ISSN: 1138-9788].
[Consulted: 21st January, 2014].
10 Resolution of May 8, 1998, of the Department of Culture, for which to publicize the Agreement of the
Government of La Generalidad, of April 15, 1998, of declaration of cultural good of national interest, in
the category of historical monument, ofEl Vapor Vell de Sants en Barcelona, BOE n. 131, June 2, 1998.
http://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-1998-12806. [Consulted on January, 21st 2014].
11 Basiana, Xavier, Checa Artasu, Marti y Orpinell, Jaume, Barcelona Ciutat de fabriques, Barcelona, Ivanov,
2000, p. 104.
[309]
M PILAR BIEL IBEZ
ground is placed in the outer zone of Milagro Street. In the process, the original
structure of the building is kept, restoring the damaged parts although the spatial
layoff undergoes an important transformation due to the new usages.
This kind of actions, in which we can include the recovery of the Zaragozas
Slaughterhouse12, are justified, from the utilitarian point of view, by the necessity
for social equipments in the neighbourhoods, trying that the architectonic inter-
vention to find a balance between the pre-existing architecture and the contempo-
rary project. However, the historical building is cut off in a large number of cases.
3.2. Culture consumption: the factory and the museum
The promoting policy of the new post-industrial city needs landmarks to be

identified with, since only when the new equipment is relevant the new city is at-
tractive and can be profitable from a real state point of view. So, the urban regen-
eration that Spanish cities such as Barcelona and Bilbao promote in the 1990s are
focused on the appropriation of old spaces by new usages conceived of for the
consumption of leisure time, entertainment and culture in general terms, which
have enough capacity to generate new urban identities, usually in the form or
spectacular architecture. The oncoming of start architects and the cult for the work
of art happen13. In this decade and the following, the museum as a cultural insti-
tution provides itself with non-artistic functions14. It is a place for entertainment,
meeting, and production; but, above all, a place where processes of urban revital-
ization such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao or the Centre of Contemporary
Culture in Barcelona area activated15. In a not inconsiderable amount of cases, the
new museums and contemporary art galleries are located in dishevelled industrial
buildings which endure hard aesthetic processes by means of contemporary archi-
tecture, as for example, among others, the Aragonese Institute of Contemporary
Art and Culture in the old workshops of the Provincial Orphanage in Zaragoza.
12 Hernndez Martnez, Ascensin, Conservamos o destruimos el patrimonio industrial?: el caso del mata-
dero municipal de Zaragoza (1888-1999), in Artigrama, n. 14, 1999, pp. 157-182.
13 Sudjic, Deyan, La arquitectura del poder. Como los ricos y poderosos dan forma a nuestro mundo, Barce-
lona, Ariel, 2005. Layuno Rosas, Mara ngeles, Museos de arte contemporneo en Espaa. Del Palacio
de las Artes a la arquitectura como arte, Gijn, Ediciones Trea, 2004.
14 Layuno Rosas, Mara ngeles, Museos de arte contemporneo y ciudad. Los lmites del objeto arqui-
tectnico, in Almazn Toms, David y Lorente Lorente, Jess Pedro (coord.), Museologa crtica y arte
contemporneo, Zaragoza, Prensas Universitarias de Zaragoza, 2003, pp.109-123.
Hernndez Martnez, Ascensin, Lestetica del deterioramento e dellimperfezione: una tendenza in cres-
cita nel restauro architettonico, in Palladio. Rivista di Storia dellArchitettura e Restauro, Roma, Istituto
Poligrafico e Zacca dello Stato, n. 50, julio-diciembre 2012, pp. 1-18.
Patrimonio industrial y arte contemporneo: una nueva geografa cultural, in I Jornadas andaluzas
de Patrimonio Industrial y de la Obra Pblica (25,26 y 27 de noviembre de 2010, Sevilla), actas editadas
por la Fundacin Patrimonio Industrial de Andaluca), Sevilla, 2012, p. 1-10 (digital edition).
15 Sudjic, Deyan, La arquitectura del poder op. cit.
[310]
This kind of processes is not only related to the promotion of the post-industri-
al city. There are examples which are the result of a careful marketing campaign
by an entity which conceives of culture promotion as part of its own brand iden-
tity, such as the model promoted by La Caixa in CaixaForum.
La Caixa is a financial entity rooting down to the Caja de Pensiones para la Ve-
jez y de Ahorros de Catalua y Baleares (Retirement and Pension Fund of Catalo-
nia and Balearic Islands Translators Note) founded in 1904 by Francesc Moragas
Barret. Its main purpose is to promote saving and its area of activity is originally
confined to Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. From 1917 onwards, the Caixa
devotes part of its surplus to social projects and civic and cultural promotion. In
1976, Jos Vilarasau is appointed general manager of the entity and a period of
modernisation starts out with him, culminating in the renewal of the brand image
and a new policy for cultural projects.
Up to that moment, the traditional name of the entity (Caja de Pensiones para
la Vejez y el Ahorro) is accompanied by a shorter name La Caixa together with
a motto la Caixa de Catalunya y Balears, in an attempt to be a referent in those
territories using the Catalonian language, in a moment when its use was very re-
stricted due to the Franquist linguistic policy. In short, when Jos Villarasau arrives
to the entity, its corporate image is confusing: they use the traditional image in the
beginning of the 20th century of the Fund, the simplified logo with the icon of the
Via Laietana building and the motto La Caixa. Vilarasau makes the decision to
unify everything in a new image which transmits the idea of both Catalonia and
modernity.
In 1979, in order to fulfil this image change, the Landor studio, commanded by
Claude Alverson, is contracted by Vilarasau. One of the targets is to unify under
a single image all the set of activities the Caixa develops, from both financial and
cultural points of view, in an interrelated and equalitarian way. In order to reach
this target, the Californian studio proposes:
(...) to ask to a world renowned artist a project and use it as visual representa-
tion of the bank is in itself reaffirmation of the social and cultural responsibility
of the financial community and reflects the Catalonian character in its artistic
patronage. The election of the master Joan Mir complies with many of La
Caixas requirements: born in Catalonia, living in Balearic Islands and world re-
nowned, Mir has the unique capacity to communicate efficiently with all pos-
sible market segments of La Caixa, its main customers in Spain and abroad.
His art is naive, fantastic and imaginative at the same time, but also elegant and
sophisticated. It has the strength of primitive art, but also the grace of the sub-
tle. This design concept supposes an ambitious and exciting bet in the world of
financial communication16.
16 Sanchs, Ima, Biografa de una estrella, Madrid, Pennsula, 2001, p. 145.
[311]
M PILAR BIEL IBEZ
Due to the reluctance of some managers to this solution, Vilarasau stated that
quite often the great financiers were precisely the great patrons of contemporary
art and bank, high finance and art have been traditionally good travel compan-
ions17. Finally, La Caixa orders Mir a tapestry out of which a star, initially
eight-pointed, lastly five-pointed, will be detached as the logo for La Caixa,
being its symbol for modernity and internationalism. In 1981 the Mir star is in-
troduced in La Caixa Science Museum opening18. It is the beginning of a policy
of promotion of contemporary art which will be developed by the CaixaForum
model placed, in the two more emblematic instances (Madrid and Barcelona), in
old factories strategically located in the urban scene.
From 1985 on, Jos Vilarasau begins La Caixa contemporary art collection un-
der the artistic management of Mara Corral. This collection is built in by some
eight hundred pieces of contemporary art. In the beginning it is located in the
Paseo San Joan, but this seat will become small soon. For this reason, La Caixa
Foundation considers the old textile factory Casarramona, placed in Plaza de Es-
paa, in the surroundings of the trade fair, the National Museum of Catalonian
Art and in front of the just-rebuilt Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, to be the perfect
place for its collection and the starting-out of a built-in culture model: CaixaFo-
rum. Under the motto CaixaForum the new factory of art, it tries to become a
dissemination platform, mindful of social and cultural necessities and concerns.
Families, students, old-people groups and schools have found in CaixaForum a
new meeting-point19.
Inaugurated on March 2nd 2002, CaixaForum Barcelona is a project which in-
cludes an exhibition centre in addition to a large set of cultural infrastructures
such as media library, library, auditorium and conference hall, places devoted to
develop an intense program of social and educational activities (literary and ar-
tistic workshops for adults and children, poems reading, film, music, multimedia
days, etc.)20.
The original building is the Casarramona Factory, built between 1909 and 1911
by the architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch. The building is considered one of his latest
modernist works with a neo-gothic inspiration. The factory was closed in 1920, af-
ter the Civil War was used as stables of the mounted police up to 1992, despite its
being a property of La Caixa since 1963. The set was listed in 197621. The building
17 Ibidem, p. 154.
18 Ibidem, p. 184.
19 2002 Annual Report, La Caixa. http://obrasocial.lacaixa.es/deployedfiles/obrasocial/Estaticos/pdf/Infor-
macion_corporativa/2002/Caixaforum2_esp.pdf, p. 11. [Consulted on January 15th, 2014].
20 Ibidem.
21 Decree 248/1976, of January 9th, for which many works by the architect Puig i Cadafalch are listed as
National Historic-artistic monuments, https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1976/02/17/pdfs/A03316-03317.pdf.
[Consulted on January 15th, 2014].
[312]
is made up of many units, three parallel united by a transversal one. Two of them
are used as production units, warehousing and retail sale.
The intervention of the architect Roberto Luna is characterized by the respect
to the structure and outer condition of the building. The units have been mini-
mally modified in order to show temporal exhibitions and part of the permanent
collection. The restoration of the faades and the brick treatment was supervised
by Francisco Javier Asarta. The access to the building is a project by the Japanese
architect Arata Isozaki. It consists of two big weathering steel tree-sculptures that
point to the subterranean entrance into the building, and an inner stepped marble
patio used as stage in musical and dancing events. In conclusion, as it is stated
in the 2000 Annual Report, in the new seat of La Caixa Foundation Modernist
architecture will be united to cutting-edge architecture22.
A more radical way of combining the old with the new is expressed in the next
CaixaForum23 inaugurated in Madrid. In this case, it is the Herzog and De Meuron
studio that participates or, as it is textually stated in the 2008 Annual Memory,
builds from the recovery of the old Medioda Power Station in Madrid24. The
option in Madrid is a less singular building than in Barcelona but placed in the
Paseo del Prado, in the known museums mile, next to El Prado Museum, Thys-
sen Museum and Reina Sofia Contemporary Art Museum.
The Medioda Power Station is a building from 1900 built by the architect
Jess Carrasco y Encina, made of two brick units on a granite base with a central
skylight and gable roof. The project by Herzog and De Meuron, inaugurated in
March 2008, respects only the primitive geometry since it modifies the openings
(some were blocked off and other news were opened), the faades are increased
(a new level was added in addition to the excavation of underground in order to
gain square meters) and the granite base is removed (in order to generate a new
public square).
Summing up, the general image is maintained but, when hollowed out, the
historic, architectonic and technological values the old power station building
harboured were ignored.
22 La Caixa, 2000 Anual Report. http://obrasocial.lacaixa.es/deployedfiles/obrasocial/Estaticos/pdf/Infor-

macion_corporativa/2000/centos_culturales.pdf, p.75. [Consulted on January 15th, 2014].
23 Hernndez Martnez, Ascensin, El museo como reclamo turstico de la ciudad. Caixa Frum Madrid y el
Matadero de Madrid, in Integracin y resistencia en la era global. Evento terico X Bienal de La Habana,
2009, La Habana: Bienal de La Habana, SEACEX y Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores y de Cooperacin,
p. 133-146.
24 La Caixa, 2008 Anual Report. http://obrasocial.lacaixa.es/deployedfiles/obrasocial/Estaticos/pdf/Infor-
macion_corporativa/2008/38_caixaforum_madrid_ESP.pdf, p.38. [Consulted on January 15th, 2014].
[313]
M PILAR BIEL IBEZ
3.3. Leisure consumption: from mall to citizens experience
This conservationist attitude, developed by public and private institutions, at

the service of propaganda (political and/or corporatist) is completed with its cor-
relation with the consumption strategies of the post-industrial city. And so, when
choosing a new use, industrial heritage turns into a container for different types
of leisure which aim at stimulating consumption in society.
A commercial strategy of these characteristics gathering strength is:
(...) to locate shopping centres in places where pedestrians flux is guaran-
teed, such as railway stations, transport hubs and airports. In this sense, Renfe
has undertaken an innovative journey, following the track of similar initiatives
in the rest of Europe, founding companies such as NECSA (Nuevos Espacios
Comerciales S.A.), NEFSA (Nuevas Estaciones de Ferrocarril S.A.), etc. guided
since 2005 by ADIF (Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias) in order to
optimize the stations (new and disused) with the promotion of Riofisa, in rela-
tion to integrated commerce25.
This model of commercial business located in a railway station has been designed
in the projects of many railway stations such as Plaza de Armas, in Seville, Malaga,
Prncipe Po in Madrid and Sants in Barcelona and is in progress in other Spanish
cities such as A Corua, Vigo, Alicante, Albacete, Cartagena, Miranda de Ebro, Vall-
adolid, Zamora, Lleida, Logroo, Huelva, Jan, Cceres, Gijn and Valencia.
The reason to revert the historical into a commercial station is due to the add-
ed value it possesses, because they are actually urban landmarks in the lay-out of
cities, both for the conspicuousness of its presence as for the noble and singular
architecture that enhances the places they enclose26.
The consumer culture that surrounds us turns the shopping routine in a leisure
activity: to spend the whole day in a mall is entertainment, especially if a total ex-
perience is afforded. Shopping centres are, according to George Ritzer (1996), the
modern cathedrals of consumption where we practice our religion of consump-
tion and no better place to practice this religion than an old industrial cathedral.
An instance of this conversion from railway station to a commercial station
is the commonly known as Crdoba Station or Plaza de la Armas Station in Se-
ville. Its construction began in 1898 according to the project by engineers Nicols
Surez Albizu and Jos Santos Silva, being inaugurated in 1901. It is the terminal
building of the railway company M.Z.A. (Madrid-Zaragoza-Alicante). Its roof fram-
ing imitates that of the machine room in 1897 Paris Exhibition. The facades are
25 Vah Serrano, Amalia, La perspectiva territorial y urbana de los grandes equipamientos comerciales en
Andaluca, Sevilla, Consejera de Obras Pblicas y Transportes y Universidad de Sevilla, 2007, p. 47.
26 http://www.riofisa.com/track-record/estaciones-comerciales.aspx?page=2. [Consulted on January 15th,
2014].
[314]
designed in the neo-mudejar trend taking historical buildings like the Alhambra in
Granada as a reference27.
In 1982, architect Antonio Barrionuevo and engineers Damin lvarez and J.
Caada proceeded to restore the lobby up to 1990. In this year it was listed as
cultural good in the category of monument by the Andalucia Government28.
As a consequence of the Sevilla Universal Exhibition in 1992, Santa Justa railway
station is put into operation and the old one in Plaza de Armas holds part of the
citys pavilion. In this process of change of use, all buildings and auxiliary infra-
structures of the station but the passengers building are demolished. At the same
time, the refurbishment of the outer space is carried out according to the project by
architects Antonio Gonzlez and Vctor Prez Escolano. The rails dismantlement
allows the city to recover its relationship with the Guadalquivir River and to open
a new public square in the trains access into the station. This process implied to
strip the passengers building of all infrastructures that give meaning to it.
After the Exhibition, the building is abandoned until 1999, when it is reopened
as Plaza de Armas Leisure and Shopping Centre. This shopping centre houses
many cinemas, restaurants and fashion shops. The transformation works in this
shopping centre were carried out by NECSA, a company participated by Riofisa
and Adif. Both the historical building, preserved with a few modifications, and the
platforms area, where restaurants and shops stand, are modified so as to adapt the
building. Finally, the entrance and way-out tracks were closed by a new steel-and-
crystal window. Definitely, all this means a tailored preservation and the use of
a heritage landmark at the service of a process of transformation of the city and
the needs of a real state agency.
The Bilbao Alhndiga (Public granary TN) case exceeds the shopping centre
model and goes beyond a new space for leisure and culture consumption ad-
dressed to the citizen, although from the point of view of heritage conservation
presents a very similar result. What is intended in the new Alhndiga is to unite
culture (high culture since it has a generalist exhibition hall29) with different ac-
tivities such as reading, sport, cinema, cooking, (more suitable to popular leisure).
According to the Espacios architect-designer, Philippe Starck, the complex is a
free space where people go to know, to kiss and to feel themselves. A wonderful
space, full of energy and enthusiasm30.
27 http://www.iaph.es/patrimonio-inmueble-andalucia/resumen.do?id=i21890. [Consulted on January 15th,

2014].
28 Royal Decree 1380/1990, from November 8, for which it is listed cultural good, in the category of mon-
ument, the Railway Station, placed in plaza de Armas, no number (Cordoba Station), in Seville. https://
www.boe.es/boe/dias/1990/11/10/pdfs/A33098-33099.pdf. [Consulted on January 15th, 2014].
29 Al sol de la Alhndiga, in El viajero Bilbao, 26-02-2011 p. 3.
30 Ibidem.
[315]
M PILAR BIEL IBEZ
La Alhndiga31 is located in a block of the Bilbaos Ensanche, in Indautxu, and

was projected by architect Ricardo Bastida. Between 1905 and 1909, Bastida erects
a building of concrete pillars articulated around two inner patios and surround-
ed by facades of a carefully thought design because, despite being an industrial
building, its location makes the architect to create very high-quality elevations,
aesthetically speaking. The vanes encompassed rhythm defines the horizontal el-
evations broken by the presence of five towers placed in the angles. This building
is in use until 1976. From that moment on, up to its transformation into a leisure
and cultural centre in 2004, different projects are offered (parking in 1988, cultural
centre proposed by Senz de Oiza y Fullaondo and sculptor Oteiza in 1989, seat
to the Guggenheim Foundation, or sport facility in the 1990s). All of them, despite
their different use, have in common the starting point: to demolish the building. In
order to avoid this possibility, the Culture Department of the Basque Government
listed the Alhndiga in December 199832.
In 2002, within the actions by BILBAO Ra 200033, the Town Hall decided to
place in the old Alhndiga leisure, cultural and sport centre. In order to accom-
plish it, architect Jos Luis Burgos, between 2001 and 2002, demolished the inner
structure and excavated five basements. In this process, the first gallery of pillars,
in addition to the facades, is preserved, as it is stated in the Decree. In 2004 the
parking is inaugurated and in 2005 the restoration of the facades is carried out.
In the same year, Philippe Starck is contracted to design the leisure and cultural
complex. In order to house the different activities in the inner part, he erects three
cubes (leisure, culture, sport), supported by wide pillars, and turned around the
axes that define the old building perimeter leaving a fourth empty space as an
agora. Together with Starck work Thibaut Mathiey, who is in charge of the build-
ing corporative brand, and Lorenzo Baraldi, scenery expert, who recreates the
different west and east architectonic styles in the columns that support the cubes.
These columns, three meters high, are made of marble, bronze, steel, brick, glazed
terra-cotta, cement and Lecce stone, and bring a theatrical and playful air to the
complex.
Thibaut Mathieu in an interview states that:
(...) it is not a shopping centre. The future Alhndiga is a multicultural complex,
but not from a rigid point of view. The users may visit exhibitions, but also go
to the gym, indulge a massage in the spa or have dinner in a restaurant. It is a
31 Crcamo Martnez, Joaqun, Alhndiga municipal de Bilbao, in Patrimonio Industrial en el Pas Vasco,
Vitoria, Departamento de Cultura del Gobierno Vasco, 2012, p. 737-742.
32 Decree 397/1998 of December 22 for which it is listed cultural good, in the category of monument,
the Alhndiga Municipal building in Bilbao (BOPV 20/01/1999). http://www.euskadi.net/cgi-bin_k54/
ver_c?CMD=VERDOC&BASE=B03A&DOCN=000019003&CONF=/config/k54/bopv_c.cnf. [Consulted on
January 15th, 2014].
33 http://www.bilbaoria2000.org/ria2000/index.aspx. [Consulted on January 15th, 2014].
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space for and by the citizen. In fact, the logo is made up of four inserted images
of the city and two young people. Integration and enthusiasm34.
Definitely, the Starcks team creates a modern leisure complex with an elitist
ambition. Which is achieved by means of both the offer, including exhibitions
(consumption of contemporary art as cultural and social distinction), and the ar-
chitecture and design, united in this case in the always polemic and singular figure
of Philippe Starck. About the appointment of this architect-designer the web of the
newspaper El Correo states:
Beyond the astonishing figures the project handled, the excitement resides in
the fascinating capacity of Starck, a designer appropriate to the prestigious list
of architects and planners who draw the present and future of Bilbao from
years ago35.
To this, the statements of the start himself are added: I want to make some-
thing splendid, full of energy, of enthusiasm. Definitely, a building with the el-
egance of the understanding and the beauty of happiness36. The appointment
of Philippe Starck, a media character better known as a start-designer than as an
architect, is explained by Marian Egaa, La Alhndiga Managing Director:
(...) the project would not be easy, the building was listed in 1989, so the fa-
cade and the first gallery had to be respected, the plan should be viewed and
addition could overpass the towers height. The project did not leave room
for ostentation in the facades, for that reason an interior designer was the best
option. Stack is not an architect but he collaborated with an office that signed
for him37.
The triumph of design over architecture occurs also in the interior. And so,
the same news has it that authorities asked for a sober building far from glam-
our; however, the Alhndiga is full with what the employees name starckadas,
as for instance: the stage in the auditorium has a frame as if it were a picture and
two yellow chairs in a grey stall, or the design appearance the public library has.
There are corners with little armchairs, wheeled shelves where the books are or-
dered according to theme areas rather than call number38. To all this, the design
of the furniture and signage must be added. At the same time, Starck has worked
in the surroundings, designing the pavements and the park. Summing up, a whole
design, where the designers task is to create experiences above any other value,
where one could wonder: is architecture the mother of all arts? Does architecture,
34 http://info.elcorreo.com/bilbao/inauguracion-alhondiga/entrevistas/el-ho-es-una-expresion-de-
sorpresa-que-nos-llega-a-todos/. [Consulted on January 15th, 2014].
35 http://www.proyectosbilbao.com/laalhondiga-reportaje.html. [Consulted on January 15th, 2014].
36 Ibidem.
37 Al sol de la Alhndiga, in El viajero Bilbao, 26-02-2011, p. 3.
38 Ibidem.
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M PILAR BIEL IBEZ
historic architecture in this case, matter? And, what is the role of heritage preser-
vation in all this process?
Definitively, a model in which art and culture, sweetened by design, are ex-
ploited by public and private institutions in order to reinforce the local identity,
to generate employment in the creative sector and to provide popular leisure ac-
tivities which persuade of any conflict or questioning. A cultural model based on
consumption rather than knowledge.
4. As conclusion
The industrial heritage is in fashion despite the process of destruction it has

been subjected to, especially in the great factory centres such as Madrid, Barcelo-
na, Bilbao, Valencia or Avils, among other cities. It consists of a slow but system-
atic process which substitutes industrial emptiness for new buildings. However,
out of this destruction some specific examples, historical landmarks, can be saved,
those to which a historical value is added in an attempt to recover the industrial
past, what, in no case, implies a complete historical narration.
Once the conservation of these monuments has been agreed, it is necessary to
provide new functions among which outstand those related to social equipments,
culture and new ways of leisure consumption. Of all of them, those with more
media relevance, due to start architects and their risky proposals, are related to the
new model for museums at the end of the 20th century.
This adjustment, in a high number of instances, is made to listed buildings
where legal protection has provided no limit or obstacle to prevent from hollow-
ing them out, eliminating their structure or mutilating some of their parts. These
criteria are not questioned nor the expedience of their use, despite their belonging
to the cultural heritage of society. To end up, the industrial heritage is subject to
the triviality of post-modern society which entails the unawareness by society of
the importance of the History of Work, a key stage without which it could not
have been possible to arrive to the present situation.
[318]
THE URBAN FRINGE AS HERITAGE: INTERVENTION STRATEGIES
NOELIA CERVERO SNCHEZ*
Abstract: The social housing estates built in Spain during the Franco dictatorship
currently present less than adequate living conditions in addition to problems of
a social nature and those stemming from urban blight. There are many issues to
take into account when it comes to deciding on the most appropriate form of in-
tervention, which will be evaluated by means of different operations in order to
contribute to the development of this model of action: should they be dealt with
as more current versions of these estates that are integrated into the city and gen-
erate life, or on the contrary, should more radical policies of urban redevelopment
be applied?
Key words: Urban Rehabilitation. Redevelopment. Housing Estate. Obsolescence.
Urban Fringe.
The legacy of inhabited spaces
the successive processes of urban growth that have been expanding infrastruc-
ture networks until the present day have led to the creation of disperse metropol-
itan areas that are made up of a complex collage revolving around the traditional
city1. The sum of different strata constitutes the hallmark of a landscape, in which
knowledge of what the old inherited urban fabrics are and mean today is essential
if we are to deal with the problems that arise in them. Indeed, the nature of these
expansion zones and the trends affecting their immediate surroundings determine
whether they are now integrated into a coherent continuum or maintain their mar-
ginal character, influenced by processes of rupture or of discontinuity. The natural
tendency of these areas to become progressively fragmented, together with a great
* U.P. Arquitectura. Escuela de Ingeniera y Arquitectura de la Universidad de Zaragoza.

ncervero@unizar.es
1 Arias Sierra, P., Periferias y nueva ciudad. El problema del paisaje en los procesos de dispersin urbana,
Seville, Secretariado de Publicaciones Universidad de Sevilla, 2003, pp. 245-246.
[319]
reduction in their densities and their complexities, require parallel processes of

development and conservation, which give priority to their transformation rather
than to the unsustainable occupation of land2.
In Spain, the colonizers of these fringe areas are in many cases the large-scale
housing estates that came into existence between the 1940s and early 1960s. Hast-
ily built to cope with the housing shortages affecting the most industrialized towns
and cities, they have become a construction typology commonly found in contem-
porary Spanish cities. Their creation was the result of a strict policy with a stand-
ard design for the entire country and its morphology, and of intense investigation
that looked to the Modern Movement in an attempt to optimize construction sys-
tems, typologies and models of composition. The incomplete implementation of
the principles of rationalism, owing to the speed with which the processes were
carried out and to restricted economic resources, led to this experimental model
becoming materialized as a serie of residential conglomerations of poor quality
and limited prospects for proper urban development. The uniformity of these de-
velopments, generally unconnected to the surrounding area and to the reality of
the local areas, had a great impact on both the landscape of the urban fringes and
the population residing in them.
Over time, these intial imbalances increased and, combined with total lack of
control and maintenance, and an intensification in their autonomous nature, led
to the early onset of blight, which would result in triple obsolescence. First, the
physical obsolescence of the buildings gave rise to a progressive deterioration of
living conditions owing to a series of flaws in construction. Second, obsolescence
in the design was reflected on both the domestic level, with highly compartmen-
talized dwellings that were difficult to adapt to contemporary lifestyles, and on
the overall planning level, with high densities and disconnected open spaces that
were bereft of activity. Third, as a consequence of the previous two, social and
cultural obsolescence was characterized by a selective loss of population that led
to excessively uniform types of residents with limited economic resources and
affected by problems of segregation and difficulties in adaptation.
Despite the conditions in which they came into existence and the situation in
which they are now found, these housing estates are a living testament to their
time. While they have no intrinsic value, they form a past historical context and a
present human one, which means that if they are to be studied within the scope
of heritage, they should be viewed from a perspective that is totally different
from that applied in the case of monumental restoration. The specificity of their
problems and their degree of protection imply the need to extend the traditional
concept of heritage, in which factors concerning not only the buildings but also
2 Lpez de Lucio, R., Ordenar el territorio, proyectar la ciudad, rehabilitar los tejidos existentes. Premios
Nacionales de Urbanismo 2004/2005/2006, Madrid, Ministerio de la Vivienda, 2009, p.124.
[320]
the fields of urban development and society should also be taken into account.
The purpose of these mechanisms is to preserve the environment of buildings
that could be replaced or renewed, but which, in any case, should provide living
conditions and levels of energy efficiency that are more appropriate for the pres-
ent day. Moreover, these types of assets cannot be considered separately, owing
to the fact, on the one hand, that any changes made to them affect the city on the
whole and the population living in it, and, on the other, that the complete inte-
gration of these projects is determined by their connection with their immediate
context and with overall socio-economic distribution.
This approach has given rise to a model of intervention with the aim of achiev-
ing the revitalization of these areas and not only the refurbishment of buildings.
For this to happen, any material intervention made to the buildings and support-
ing infrastructures should be accompanied by an intangible intervention that is
concerned with historical, social, cultural, environmental, economic and time-re-
lated aspects. If action is focused exclusively on material or physical aspects,
gentrification3 processes will be enabled, through which the original population
is replaced by another with greater purchasing power, transferring the problem
to other areas. If only the intangible aspects are dealt with, this will encourage
abandonment by more average families in search of better conditions, with the
consequent deterioration of the social fabric. Therefore, the complexity of these
operations lies in the requirement that both material and intangible actions are
implemented simultaneously so that the effects in the different spheres will be fed
back, providing the housing estates with a new life cycle that has a general, lasting
effect, thus achieving their recycling4.
Recycling versus redevelopment
The relationship between the building formulas espoused by the Modern

Movement and the effects of urban segregation has been considered since the
1960s, when a worldwide campaign began to discredit social housing. The dem-
olition of Pruitt-Igoe housing project in Saint Louis, United States, in 19725 could
be considered its symbolic starting point. When this complex was inaugurated in
3 The process of urban transformation in which the population of a blighted area is progressively dis-
placed as the result of the increase in the price of their homes.The process of urban transformation in
which the population of a blighted area is progressively displaced as the result of the increase in the
price of their homes.
4 Valero Ramos, E., Reciclaje de polgonos residenciales, una alternativa sostenible, in SB10mad Sustai-
nable Building Conference, 2010, http://www.sb10mad.com/ponencias/archivos/area_a.htm. (Consulta-
tion date: 26 February 2013).
5 Hall, P., Ciudades del maana. Historia del urbanismo en el siglo XX [Cities of Tomorrow: An Intellectual
History of Urban Planning and Design in the Twentieth Century], Barcelona, Serbal, 1996. pp. 373-412.
[321]
1955, it was internationally acclaimed as an experimental prototype inspired by

the Athens Charter. But the lack of maintenance led to an accelerated process of
decay and abandonment that finally turned it into a ghetto. The solution of demol-
ishing the complex, which was highly publicized by the media, demonstrated the
failure of social housing programmes and of modern architecture6. Since then the
negative effects of this type of architecture on its residents have been condemned,
with the argument that it does not permit maturing of the man-land relationship.
The poor reputation of public housing continued throughout the 1980s, reflected
in a huge number of demolitions and its being turned into a political instrument,
despite the housing shortages experienced in both Europe and the United States.
Coexisting with this trend towards the blank slate, belonging paradoxi-
cally to the Modern Movement, is a new awareness of land and its resources
as finite assets, which has led to the consideration of urban transformation by
means of operations involving pre-existing models. These types of interventions
are guided by criteria of economic, social and environmental efficacy and, un-
like demolitions, prevent the production of solid wastes, make use of existing
infrastructure and resolve problems of social integration by retaining the original
population7. The French architects Druot, Lacaton and Vassal, defenders of the
idea that acting on something is more rewarding than erasing traces of the past,
propose a total reinterpretation of the ideas of rationalism, which they consider to
be an unfinished process. With this as the starting point, the past is appropriated
and built over: never demolish, never remove or replace, always transform and
reuse. They study housing developments as heritage assets that are able to create
value, which is why they consider it important to defend their position, analysing
them based on their use and providing diagnostics for them. Without the need
to rehouse the population during works, they design deep-seated rehabilitation
projects with which they adapt the different housing types and radically modify
the aesthetics of the buildings. Their concern for the residents of these buildings
is seen in their way of treating public spaces as an extension of the interior, by
means of a form of urban development that emerges from individuality8.
The completion of their intervention in the Tour Bois-le-Prtre in 2011 was the
materialization of these architects assertions9. This 1960s high-rise block, part of a
housing estate in the north of Paris, underwent a process of metamorphosis that
6 sambricio,C. et al., La Vivienda Protegida, historia de una necesidad, Madrid, Ministerio de Vivienda,
2009, pp. 218-219.
7 Valero Ramos, E., La cuestin: la obsolescencia de las barriadas residenciales, in Revista Ciudad Viva,
2009, n. 3, pp. 16-19.
8 Druot, F., Lacaton, A. and Vassal, J. P., Plus: la vivienda colectiva, territorio de excepcin, Barcelona,
Gustavo Gili, 2007, pp. 10-25.
9 Druot, F., Lacaton, A. and Vassal, J. P., Metamorfosis de altura. Rehabilitacin de la torre Bois-le-Prte,
Pars, in Arquitectura Viva, 2011, n. 139, pp. 88-99.
[322]
lowered the density of the building and transformed it by increasing both interior
and exterior private spaces. The lower and intermediate floors were enlarged to
introduce service installations and equipment, and the floor plans were diversified
to allow users the choice of a different model of dwelling. The main strategy con-
sisted of providing the building with a new skin, which added glass-enclosed and
open balconies to each dwelling to increase the space available to the residents
by 60-100% of the floor space. Walls were punched through to unite the interiors
to these bioclimatic extensions which, protected by thermal panels and curtains,
had the function of controlling the entry of light, solar radiation and ventilation,
adding transparency to the faade. This type of completed example is important
owing to its pull effect, and for its confirmation of the feasibility of these projects
in being able to increase the useful life of whole areas of a city.
Intervention strategies in Spain
There cannot be said to be a specific tradition in Spain of intervention in

consolidated residential areas of the type found in other European countries10.
Although Spain possesses housing stock that is among the most underutilized in
Europe, it is one of the countries that has invested the least in its management, in-
stead directing efforts towards continuous construction. Nevertheless, there have
been isolated processes of redevelopment and renovation that can be analysed
in order to evaluate the countrys contribution to revitalization of social housing
estates.
Urban redevelopment processes
Urban redevelopment consists of the replacement of buildings by newly built

ones, designed as part of an overall restructuring of the urban fabric11. This pro-
cess involves an extremely complex management process which, given its remit
for complete renewal, eliminates any type of prior reference and requires the tem-
porary rehousing of the residents, causing a rupture that is difficult to overcome.
This occurs when the buildings suffer from irremediable structural problems that
tend to be combined with the functional inadequacy of the dwellings. Despite this
intervention strategy being applied since the 1980s in Madrid and later in Barce-
lona, it has involved the adoption of a homogeneous criterion that may not be
suitable if no differentiation is made between specific situations. Furthermore, it
10 The report Les principales tendances de la politique du logement dans les pays de la CEE (United Nations,
1980) had already considered the disquisition between demolition and reconstruction or renovation as
a problem affecting the countries of the European Economic Community.
11 Blos, D., Los polgonos de vivienda social: perspectivas hacia su recuperacin en Espaa, Francia y Bra-
sil, Barcelona, ETSAB, 1999, p. 324.
[323]
requires the concentration of large-scale investment in a limited number of neigh-

bourhoods, which makes its general application impossible.
The absence of a genuine regional master plan or strategy during the first
redevelopments taking place in Madrid meant that there were no effects of ur-
ban or socioeconomic integration in the areas that underwent this process. The
rigid initial designs in the Programa de Remodelacin de Barrios [Neighbourhood
Redevelopment Programme]12 gave rise to operations that placed excessive im-
portance on the construction process and a total lack of attention to the other
needs of their inhabitants. This is the case of the redevelopment of the pobla-
do dirigido or planned satellite town of Orcasitas (2,964 dwellings, 40.27 ha) in
1976, directed by the architects Manuel Gutirrez, Jos Ignacio Casanova and
Eduardo Hernndez. After its construction in 1957, structural problems caused
by foundation settling were soon identified, combined with a parallel process of
deterioration in its buildings and social fabric. The show of force made by a local
neighbourhood movement in its campaign for improvements to the conditions of
the homes won acknowledgment from the Spanish government of a social debt
and its commitment to a general intervention, assuring the entire population of the
district that they would be rehoused. The operation was based on the reconstruc-
tion of the two previous housing types single family dwellings and free-stand-
ing blocks while keeping their discontinuous layout, with clear contrasts and
disproportionate expanses of open spaces that were totally lacking in function.
Because housing was considered an end in itself, one of the initial goals of the
programme, that of creating a city was not actually achieved. Instead, the result
was the continuing existence of the negative factors that hindered the generation
of life inside the estate. Outside, the surrounding voids were not given any treat-
ment that would encourage the development to become open to the encircling
urban grid or to form any relationship with it. Moreover, the non-inclusion of any
productive land uses did not contribute to combating the single-function nature of
the project, leaving it unable to renew or vary its social composition13.
Faced with the large number of districts in the Barcelona metropolitan area
where the quality of building was so poor that renovation was deemed unfeasi-
ble, the regional goverment of Catalonia applied its Programa Reviure els barris
[Revive the Neighbourhoods Programme]14, focused on building clearance and
12 This was created prior to the creation of the Spanish autonomous regions in 1979. Its activities lasted
until 1996 and covered thirty areas in the municipality of Madrid, involving a total of 837.8 ha of land.
From the mid 1980s it focused its activities on renovation, with total redevelopment only carried out in
irremediable cases.
13 Rodrguez-Villasante, T., et al., Retrato de chabolista con piso. Anlisis de redes sociales en la remodela-
cin de barrios de Madrid, Madrid, Revista ALFOZ-CIDUR, 1989, pp.142-146.
14 This began in the early 1990s and its scope grew spectacularly throughout the decade. It is currnetly
managed by the Government of Catalonia-owned company INCASL.
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reconstruction, throughout the 1990s. The intervention in the Via Trajana neigh-
bourhood (656 dwellings, 6 ha) between 1995 and 2005, processed and execut-
ed by the Government of Catalonias Institut Catal del Sl [Catalan Institute of
Land] (INCASOL) and designed by the teams of architects Ventura-Gil-Ventura,
L35, Moiss Gallego and Joan Jorba, Jordi Bosch and Joan Tarrs, was a great
improvement on previous situations. Key to its success was the fact that when the
plans were drawn up for the new buildings, the conditioning factors of the land
outside the actual intervention area were taken into account. Built in 1952 in an
area adjoining Sant Adri de Bess and surrounded by infrastructure and industry,
life in this district was separated from that of the city until 1995, when the radical
transformation of the neighbourhood was begun in order to solve its problems of
marginalization. Social fragility nourished the physical deterioration of outdated
buildings suffering from degradation of cement, and their positioning perpen-
dicular to the railway line that formed the boundary of the district created open
spaces with no clear exit. The new design for the development15 placed a band
of linear blocks parallel to the railway line, forming a relationship with it through
ground floor premises set aside for commercial uses, in order to revitalize activity
in the district and to free up open space for the construction of residential towers
and services16. These measures enabled the internal functioning of the estate, but
the requirements of establishing links that connect it to the city and of achieving
socio-economic integration with it are still pending.
The only solution available in order for this final aspect not to be left unre-
solved is to provide incentives for growing participation of residents throughout
the entire process. The best example of cooperation between the different players
(government, technical professionals and residents) is the redevelopment of the
Trinitat Nova neighbourhood (1,941 dwellings, 20 ha) of Barcelona, which began
in 2002 with the approval of the Plan Especial de Reforma Interior [Special Internal
Reform Plan] and the first stage for the clearance and replacement of 250 homes
designed by the architect Manuel Ruizsnchez. The estate was built in 1957 in an
area of irregular topography, with the existence of infrastructure that did not serve
it, causing situations of serious incompatibility with the buildings. Its location
was considered ideal to connect the neighbouring localities with the metropolis.
The 1997 idea of creating a plan to channel community participation in order to
achieve an integrated intervention turned this project into a laboratory in which
to test different collaborative methodologies involving technical professions and
15 The conditioning factors for the process consisted of the requirement to build new homes before demol-
ishing the existing ones and to rehouse the residents within the municipality to which they belonged.
Pradas, R., Via Trajana ms enll de la frontera, Barcelona, Institut Catal del Sl, 2010.
16 Sol, J., et al., Reviure els Barris, Barcelona, Departament de Poltica Territorial i Obres Pbliques Gene-
ralitat de Catalunya, 2001, pp. 246-257.
[325]
residents so as to create an eco-neighbourhood based on urban sustainability17.

The criteria for the intervention were set out in a consensual manner by communi-
ty representatives, Barcelona City Council and INCASL, with the city council re-
posible for the design and INCASL responsible for constructing the new homes
that would replace the 900 homes affected by degradation of concrete. The idea
was to create a neighbourhood characterized by environmentally friendly con-
struction, energy-efficient dwellings and the use of renewable energy and water
recycling systems18. The possibility that subsidized housing could be complement-
ed by free-market homes, the enhancement of the possible connections with the
neighbouring districts and the opening of new transport links were actions in a
single strategy directed at revitalizing the neighbourhood on all levels.
Comprehensive rehabilitation processes
Urban rehabilitation is a model of intervention focusing on improving living

conditions, retrofitting buildings to adapt them to new building codes, and the
redevelopment of open spaces, roads and infrastructure networks. It is conceived
through the recognition of the specificity of an area and of its potential for re-
lationships with the city, and is included in an overall project for preserving the
urban structure, with the possibility of occasional replacement of irremediable
buildings or ones that hinder the areas integration. The choice of degree of action
depends on the structural problems found in the buildings, the needs of residents
and the capacity of the managing entity19.
Most of the interventions practised in Spain until the 1990s cannot really be
considered rehabilitation actions with the sense that this currently has, given that
they were directed at the preservation or improvement of buildings, but did not
respond to a more extensive urban development operation20. These maintenance
works began on public intiative as a response to community protests during the
1970s under the title of Proyectos de Reparaciones Extraordinarias [Extraordinary
Repairs Projects] and coexisted with other types of operations of a more intense
nature that were put into practice when the living conditions and characteristics
of the intial project did not adjust to those required.
It was with these first experimental processes that the possibility of implement-
ing more profound rehabilitation was studied, with changed layouts for homes
or increasing the surface area of existing homes. Most of the interventions of this
17 Velzquez Valoria, I., La participacin social en el proceso de Remodelacin de Trinitat Nova, in Ciu-
dades para un Futuro ms sostenible, (Consultation date: 10 April 2012).
18 Sol, J., et al., Reviure els Barris, op. cit., pp. 224-229.
19 Blos, D., Los polgonos de vivienda social, op. cit., p. 333.
20 Busquets, J., Ferrer, A. y Calvet, L., Evaluacin de las necesidades de rehabilitacin, Madrid, Cegraf,
MOPU, Direccin General de Accin Territorial y Urbanismo, 1985, p.20.
[326]
type remained on paper owing to structural and functional complexity, although

mention should be made of the rehabilitation carried out in the Madrid housing
estate of Juan Tornero (1,098 dwellings, 6.72 ha) between 1992 and 1993, financed
by the Instituto de la Vivienda de Madrid (IVIMA) [Madrid Institute of Housing].
The original 1959 buildings suffered from problems of overcrowding, which led
to the design of a morphological transformation with the extension of floor space,
improvement of common spaces and structural consolidation by means of mi-
cropiles. The operation consisted of the juxtaposition of a load-bearing structure
against one of the faades containing the extension to the wet areas and the in-
corporation of a semi-open multifunctional space21, meaning that it would not be
necessary to rehouse the residents during the building works. The reasons in this
case that led to rehabilitation instead of redevelopment were of a more practical
nature rather than one of conservation or associated with the sustainability of the
process. The determining factors were the small intervention area, the practical
non-existence of intermediate open spaces, savings on temporary rehousing and
the difficulty in changing an urban structure that would have been unable to han-
dle the consequent population density had current parameters for living condi-
tions been applied. It is evident that the costs of this experimental operation, 1.5%
higher than those of redevelopment with clearance, new buildings and provision
of new services, and 15.4% higher than those of simple buildings replacement22,
were determinant in this type of intervention not becoming more widespread in
Spain.
It is currently becoming more habitual to find medium-scale comprehensive re-
habilitation projects, which are designed to guarantee basic but decent living con-
ditions and the adaptation of the structures and function to present-day standards.
On the construction side, these involve improvements to the hygrothermal perfor-
mance of the faades, updating of service installations and common elements, and
upgrading accessibility by modifying building cores and installing lifts. This is the
type of action being carried out on several social housing estates that were built in
Zaragoza between the 1940s and 1970s. One of these is the intervention made to
the Grupo Alfrez Rojas housing estate (656 dwellings, 4.39 ha), with a layout and
pilot project by the team formed by the ACXT and IDOM studios, coordinated by
Eduardo Arags and Ana Morn, which began in 2006. This estate, built in 1957,
presented building flaws related to function: lack of watertightness and thermal
insulation in faades and roofs, outdated service installations and poor upkeep
of common areas. It was listed as a Conjunto Urbano de Inters or conservation
area, as were other estates in the city with similar characteristics, as a measure to
21 The intervention involved 416 homes with a useful floor space of 37m2, which was not compatible with
the average family of 6 members, and meant an increase of 35% in private space.
22 Blos, D., Los polgonos de vivienda social, in op. cit., pp. 341-348.
[327]
control the restoration process. In 2004 Zaragoza City Council, through its housing
organization Sociedad Municipal Zaragoza Vivienda, established the methodology
for in-depth analysis of the physical and social situation of these estates, and put
into practice a long-term intervention with criteria for innovation, connection and
environmental sustainability23.
This rehabilitation project was energy-related, not only through the actual de-
sign of the process, but also through the reduction in CO2 emissions throughout
the life cycle of the buildings24. The upgrading of service installations and clad-
ding of faades were complemented with the installation of solar panels on roofs,
measures that achieved increased levels of comfort and energy efficiency in the
buildings, with average savings of 37% in energy use per home25. The application
of these measures to the entire neighbourhood was an important instrument to
encourage sustainability and succeeded in making energy affordable in these ar-
eas. Visually, this type of intervention had a decisive influence on the new image
of the estate, by providing an outward appearance of innovation and revitalization
in place of one that was traditional and monotonous, while maintaining its formal
unity and coherence.
In terms of urban development, the scale of the social housing estates often
determined the nature of the operation with regard to the potential for interven-
tions to cover a broader area. The scale of the urban landscape was highly present
in the comprehensive action carried out in the Camp Red neighbourhood (568
dwellings, 2.3 ha) of Palma, Majorca. It was begun in 2008 with a building design
by the NIU architectural practice led by Joan Cerd26 and was a medium-scale re-
habilitation project carried out on buildings with specific modifications to the city
grid. From the time of its construction in 1954, the atmosphere of social conflict
perceived in the neighbourhood, the poor use of public spaces and the progressive
deterioration of living conditions in the homes led Palma City Councils Consorci
per a la Rehabilitaci Integral de Barris [Consortium for the Comprehensive Reha-
bilitation of Neighbourhoods] (Consorci RIBA) to carry out studies on the popula-
tion and their immediate reality in order to design programmes for the renovation
of homes, services and infrastructures, in addition to socio-economic integration
23 Ruiz Palomeque, L. G., y Rubio del Val, J., Nuevas propuestas de Rehabilitacin Urbana en Zaragoza:
estudio de Conjuntos Urbanos de Inters, Zaragoza, Sociedad Municipal de Rehabilitacin Urbana de
Zaragoza, 2006.
24 The intervention on the Grupo Alfrez Rojas estate won the 2010 Endesa Award for the most energy-ef-
ficient rehabilitation project.
25 This was verified in the rehabilitation project carried out using the same criterion on the Grupo El Pica-
rral housing estate in Zaragoza.
Rubio del Val, J., Rehabilitacin Urbana en Espaa. La experiencia de Zaragoza. in Mster en Ecodiseo
y Eficiencia Energtica en Edificacin, Zaragoza, 31 March 2011.
26 http://www.niuarquitectura.com/inicio.php. (Consultation date: 10 December 2012).
[328]
and innovation27. The intervention made to the original linear layout of apartment
blocks consisted of the removal of the residential blocks built perpendicular to
the prevailing direction, which had been hindering the flow of transit, and the
perforation of longitudinal blocks with intermediate passageways to provide per-
meability to public spaces through them. The actions on existing buildings were
more invasive than in the previous case owing to the fact that the project not only
aimed to update the living conditions in the homes and give them a renewed ap-
pearance, but also aimed to modify the use of public spaces from the perspective
of the building morphology. As in the other comprehensive rehabilitation actions,
the existence of a master plan, with studies of the estates relationship with the
surrounding area and the totality of the urban area that allowed long-term specific
actions to be designed was essential to guarantee the coherence of the process.
Urban transformation processes
Currently, both comprehensive redevelopment and rehabilitation plans are be-

ing focused on halting the deterioration of buildings, increasing the sustainability
of the urban fabric, preserve heritage assets, reinforce social cohesion and encour-
age economic activity. In spite of the fact that their scale of action and aims are
the same, the urban planning tools that regulate these two types of interventions
have continued to be considered hermetic28. However, as a general rule, it would
be desirable to have mixed actions set withing a diverse perimeter that are able to
adapt to the different needs of buildings and the urban grid. The transformation
of the Barcelona neighbourhood of La Mina (2,727 dwellings, 21.21 ha), executed
through the Pla Especial de Reordenaci i Millora [Special Redevelopment and Im-
provement Plan] approved in 2002, managed to combine differentiated strategies
by providing a solution adapted to unique situations found within the same unit
of execution. The physical transformation of the district was completed in 2010
and received the European Urban and Regional Planning Achievement Award in
the same year29 for materializing a process of urban renewal in which different
scopes were integrated into a transversal project involving a variety of instruments
and contents.
Located in within the boundaries of the municipality of Sant Adri de Bess,
the housing estate of La Mina was built in 1971 to rehouse residents of the shan-
27 Equipo del Consorci RIBA, La rehabilitacin integral de barrios: Un modelo centrado en la ciudadana,
Communication for the International Congress Urban Rehabilitation and Sustainability. The future is
possible, 2010, http://www.rsf2010.org/es/comunica. (Consultation date: 22 February 2013).
28 Rubio del Val, J., y Molina Costa, P., Estrategias, retos y oportunidades en la rehabilitacin de polgonos
de vivienda, in Revista Ciudades, 2010, No. 13, pp. 15-37.
29 2006 Spanish National Planning Award, 2010 European Urban and Regional Planning Award and inclu-
sion in the Spanish Habitat Committees 8th catalogue of good practices.
[329]
ty towns that had mushroomed in the surrounding area. It was characterized by

a fragmented layout, in which the concentration of services, acting as a central
void between two residential areas, was complemented by a tense relationship
between the buildings and the huge expanses of open space30. Attempts to modify
the situation of serious social degradation that it presented since its first decade of
existence had been unsuccessful. Its situation of marginalization began to change
in the mid 1990s with the extension of the Avinguda Diagonal thoroughfare and
actions related to the Frum Universal de les Cultures [Universal Forum of Cul-
tures] event of 2004, which brought value to its location.
The transformation of the neighbourhood started with the formation in 2000
of a consortium between the Provincial Council of Barcelona, the Government of
Catalonia and the municipal authorities of Sant Adri de Bess and the city of Bar-
celona to direct and execute a hybrid intervention. The operation, designed by the
team of architects made up of Sebasti Jornet, Carlos Llop and Joan Enric Pastor,
had three basic ideas: centrality, to convey a sense of identity to the estate; diver-
sity, to add complexity on a physical, social and economic level; and exchange,
to prevent social atrophy and fragmentation31. On a planning level, the central
void was completely modified through the construction of an urban axis that con-
densed the three basic principles into a central avenue that created new spaces for
activity, services and residential architecture. According to Sebasti Jornet: [it was]
cut open so as to be sewn up again, but with the insertion of a good zip instead
of simple stitching. In order to design the public space, the idea of urban density
considered, with regard to the distance and relationship between the buildings,
and the coherence of the space that they defined32. The residential buildings were
mostly retained, but with improvements to their living conditions and accessibility;
certain buildings were selectively replaced and new arrangements were added to
achieve a mix of building types that would enhance the diversity of the neigh-
bourhood. The services were also distributed throughout, with the best locations
singled out in order to encourage transversal flows to the central avenue and
exchanges between the neighbourhood and the rest of the city. Finally, parallel
to these actions, an action plan was created that would span the socio-economic,
occupational, educational, coexistence and community participation aspects. This
different type of intervention, which was essential if the total transformation of the
30 Sainz Gutirrez, V., Repensar la vivienda, reinventar la ciudad. La transformacin del barrio barcelons
de La Mina, in Proyecto, Progreso, Arquitectura, 2011, No. 5.
31 Lpez de Lucio, R., Ordenar el territorio, op. cit., pp.124-171.
32 The special plan was based on an flexible layout in order not to force any excessively rigid design solu-
tions. Essential aspects such as hygiene, order and urban significance were combined by defining three
types of alignments: fixed or obligatory, flexible or sliding, and free in areas of movement.
Jornet, S., Llop, C. y Pastor, J.E., Plan de transformacin del barrio de La Mina (2001-2010), in Revista
Ciudad Viva, 2008, No. 2. pp. 28-29.
[330]
area was to be achieved, was designed with very different time frames from that
of the physical transformation.
Challenges for intervention methodology
In conclusion, physical decay in the urban landscape reveals difficulties of an

economic, social and cultural nature that are not always in plain view, but which
tend to characterize the urban fringe of Spanish cities. In general terms, the man-
agement process, the characteristics and demands of the affected population and
the possible structural and urban design problems stemming from these obsolete
residential buildings are determining factors for deciding what is to be the most
suitable intervention process for each operation. The factor that is common to all
of them is that they have to be designed with a larger territorial dimension that
should prevail over the partial actions in each sector.
Compared to the processes of redevelopment or construction of new urban
areas, actions for conservation take as their starting point respect for the inher-
ited infrastructures and the awareness that resources are limited assets that have
to be preserved as much as possible. When their environmental impact is con-
sidered, these processes are efficient both during their execution, by preventing
the mass generation of waste from demolition and the emissions produced by
the subsequent construction of new buildings, and during the new life given to
the buildings as their energy efficiency is improved and they are adapted to the
levels of comfort that are considered acceptable by present standards. They are
also seen as an advantageous economic solution33, making them more feasible
and therefore allowing them to become more extensive, and a social guarantee
by preventing the greater need for rehousing during the process and solving the
problems of integration with specific parallel programmes.
As a challenge for the implementation of these types of interventions, a meth-
odology would have to be created based on three fundamental aspects: technical
designs to resolve structural problems in buildings and planning problems, suita-
ble management and community participation mechanisms that enable the inter-
vention to be completed and not left unfinished, and means of finance focused on
involving the private sector, which has remained on the sidelines until now. More-
over, as this is a new model for action, despite controlling targets, scales, players,
resources, processes, and its own regulatory frameworks and management, urban
33 As demonstrated by medium-scale rehabilitation projects carried out in Zaragoza, intervention on a

home is equal to 38% of the cost of demolition and new build.
Ruiz Palomeque, G., Conjuntos de Zaragoza. Mtodo de planificacin tcnica y gestin para la rehabili-
tacin y la regeneracin urbana, in Seminario Regeneracin urbana integrada: cohesin social, respon-
sabilidad ambiental e integracin urbana, octubre 2012.
[331]
rehabilitation is not yet seen as a defined area of activity. It is therefore necessary

to fill in the gaps, such as the absence of specific laws and regulations, and of
appropriate technology and specialized technical professionals in order to create
a separate and independent sector with which to rectify current urban planning
methodologies**.
** I am grateful for the economic support received from the University of Zaragoza and Banco Santander
under the project UZ2012-TEC-03. My thanks to Juan Rubio del Val for his previous guidance and to Pilar
Biel Ibez for her comments and observations that have contributed to improve this text.
[332]
NDICE
M. Pilar Biel Ibez y Ascensin Hernndez Martnez

Presentacin ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
Jos Castillo Ruiz
El Patrimonio Cultural del siglo XXI: tendencias, desafos y esperanzas.
Su efecto sobre la restauracin monumental. ...................................................................... 11
Restauracin, transformacin, reciclaje. La deriva de la disciplina
ms all de los criterios consolidados ........................................................................................ 31
Beatriz Mugayar Khl
tica na preservao no sculo XXI ............................................................................................. 53
Luis Franco Lahoz
Algunas reflexiones sobre el papel del arquitecto en la
intervencin contempornea .............................................................................................................. 69
Riccardo Dalla Negra
Larchitettura storica tra cultura della conservazione e
cultura del progetto: contrapposizioni, equivoci e finalit ................................. 89
Claudio Varagnoli
Uso e consumo del patrimonio architettonico in Italia,
prospettive per il secolo XXI ........................................................................................................... 105
Simona Salvo
Trentanni dinterventi sullarchitettura del Novecento:
il punto di vista della cultura italiana del restauro ........................................................ 123
Carlota Santabrbara Morera
La conservacin del arte contemporneo: un desafo para
la teora de la restauracin crtica? .............................................................................................. 141
M. Pilar Biel Ibez
El patrimonio industrial en el siglo XXI y su relacin con
la ciudad posindustrial .......................................................................................................................... 157
Noelia Cervero Snchez
La periferia de la ciudad como patrimonio: estrategias
para la intervencin ................................................................................................................................ 177
[333]
PRESERVING THE PAST, PROJECTING THE FUTURE
M. Pilar Biel Ibez y Ascensin Hernndez Martnez

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 195
Jos Castillo Ruiz
Cultural heritage in the 21st century: tendencies, challenges and hopes.
Effects on monumental restoration ............................................................................................ 201
Restoration, transformation, recycling. The drifting of the discipline
beyond the consolidated criteria .................................................................................................. 215
Beatriz Mugayar Khl
Ethics in preservation in the 21st Century ............................................................................. 231
Luis Franco Lahoz
Reflections on the role of the architect in
contemporary interventions ............................................................................................................. 245
Riccardo Dalla Negra
Historical architecture between the culture of conservation and the
culture of design: controversies, misunderstandings and aims .................... 259
Claudio Varagnoli
Use and consumption of the architectural heritage in Italy,
outlook for the 21st century .............................................................................................................. 267
Simona Salvo
Thirty Years of Practice on Modern Architecture:
the standpoint of the Italian culture of restoration ....................................................... 281
Carlota Santabrbara Morera
Conservation of contemporary art: a challenge for the theory
of critic restoration? ................................................................................................................................. 293
M. Pilar Biel Ibez
Industrial heritage in the 21st century and its relationship
with the post-industrial city .............................................................................................................. 305
Noelia Cervero Snchez
The urban fringe as heritage: intervention strategies .................................................. 319
[334]
CECEL (CSIC)

Conservando El Pasado Proyectando El Futuro

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CONSERV

PRESERVING THE PAST

Motivo de cubierta: edificio Capitol de Madrid

Preserving the Past, Projecting the Future

Preserving the Past, Projecting the Future

INSTITUCIN FERNANDO EL CATLICO

que contiene en s mismo un bagaje de conocimiento notable; cualquier interven-

1 Torsello, B. P., Che cos il restauro?, Venezia, Marsilio, 2005, p. 31.

En este contradictorio escenario aparecen entonces, al menos, dos exigen-

6 Torsello, B. P., Che cos, op. cit., p. 15.

legtimo intervenir con el lenguaje contemporneo con independencia de la arqui-

de los valores patrimoniales y culturales de la ciudad, es el contexto en el que la

M Pilar Biel Ibez y Ascensin Hernndez Martnez

JOS CASTILLO RUIZ*

Resumen: La restauracin arquitectnica debemos entenderla como una activi-

1. Introduccin. La legitimidad de los criterios de restauracin instituidos

La restauracin arquitectnica, como dice Antoni Gonzlez, es una disciplina

* Profesor Titular de Historia del Arte. Universidad de Granada. jcastill@ugr.es

y significados de un tipo de bienes culturales, el patrimonio arquitectnico (o los

Figura 1. Manifestacin (29/1/2011) de la Asociacin Amigos de la Alcazaba de Almera contra la restauracin de la

las decisiones de los profesionales y las instituciones son manifiestamente perju-

2. Tendencias. Los nuevos patrimonios emergentes (y perifricos)

La Tutela del Patrimonio Histrico es una disciplina, y una prctica cientfica,

con la intencin holstica de identificar el conjunto de bienes susceptibles

4 En el mbito historiogrfico y administrativo (no tanto en la normativa internacional) encontramos

Universitario, etc. Aunque menos perceptibles que en el caso anterior, las

Uno de los efectos ms claramente perceptibles de estas tendencias en la evo-

La segunda, es la dificultad que existe para delimitar los bienes territoria-

Existencia de graves amenazas de deterioro o destruccin.

10 El referente doctrinal ms importante al respecto es la Convencin sobre la proteccin y la promocin de

adecuacin respetuosa a las condiciones naturales del medio fsico y, fi-

Respeto a los derechos fundamentales del hombre y los animales. Uno

reconocidos en la Convencin) actuales. El principal ejemplo en Espaa

Los desafos que tiene planteados en la actualidad el Patrimonio Histrico son

de trabajo y la generacin de riqueza en general) est legitimando actuacio-

da del titular. El evidente fracaso de esta armonizacin es lo que produce

Aunque pueda sonar a iluso voluntarismo en tiempos tan oscuros, creemos

Pero, sobre todo, para nosotros, la principal esperanza es la gente, la ciuda-

disponen de legitimidad para participar, reclamar, disfrutar o aprovecharse del

5. Efectos sobre la restauracin monumental

La necesaria integracin de la restauracin dentro del proceso tutelar hace que

La difcil incorporacin de la participacin pblica en el proceso de restau-

el sentir de la poblacin. Desde luego, la solucin no es la minusvaloracin

ASCENSIN HERNNDEZ MARTNEZ*

Resumen: En los ltimos aos se constata en el mbito de la restauracin arqui-

Nuevos trminos para nuevos conceptos?

En enero de 2013, la revista espaola Arquitectura Viva cambiaba su formato

* Profesora Titular de Historia del Arte. Universidad de Zaragoza. ashernan@unizar.es

palabras (valores, restauraciones) implicaran algo obsoleto, anticuado, inservi-

2 Las cursivas utilizadas en este texto son de la autora.

Pero, qu hemos entendido por restauracin hasta hoy? Al margen de las

de intervencin en el Patrimonio Histrico-Artstico. En el umbral de la memoria (Logroo, 3 al 6 de

reflexionaba sobre la situacin del patrimonio cultural, lanzando unas incitantes

presenta desde este punto de vista la arquitectura industrial obsoleta, ya que

Algunos casos de estudio

Entre los casos espaoles a mencionar destaca el conjunto de actuaciones

inmerso en un relevante proceso de rehabilitacin, dentro de una estratgica pol-

20 Documento incluido en http:/www.mataderomadrid.org/una-nueva-arquitectura-para-los-nuevos-tiem-

Figura 1. Auditorio de la Cineteca del Matadero de Madrid (2015). Foto de la autora.

la disposicin basilical original32 [figuras 2 y 3]. Las objeciones que se podran

32 Casa del Lector, Madrid, en Arquitetura Viva, n. 148, 2013, p. 22.

Otra de las intervenciones fue la adecuacin de parte de la Nave 17 como sede

Figura 4. Vista exterior de la Nave 16 del Matadero (2015). Foto de la autora.