«Garantiti dall’esperienza». Restauro e tecniche costruttive sperimentali nella remissione dai danni nel secondo dopoguerra

The damage remediation work carried out after the Second World War on Italian monumental heritage took the form firstly of a safety operation, providing then for the restoration of roofs and, as third stage, for the salvage of architectural interiors. The reconstruction of the bombed buildings, supported by the Marshall Plan’s welfare policy, was confronted with “innovative” techniques whose use seemed to respond to the need for speed and economy required by the ongoing emergency, as well as for more rapid psychological compensation. Placing itself in continuity with the guidelines of the Athens Charter, the reintegration of damaged elements constituted, therefore, a bold, if legitimate, opening of restoration to “experimental” materials. Starting from these considerations, the essay proposes a critical reading of the post-war construction sites, dwelling on the products adopted for the conservation of decorated wooden coffers and frescoed vaults and delving into case studies of the application of such “modern” materials.