High-Tech Additions: Italian Research in Preserving and Reusing Built Heritage

After World War II, the issues related to the design of new elements for the conservation and reuse of pre- existing buildings have increasingly received attention by professionals, critics and within the educational programs for architects’ training. Between the 70s and the 90s, well-known architects of the High-Tech Movement also challenged themselves in the designing of new architectural elements/volumes for the built heritage. In this field, the international works of Ieoh Ming Pei (Louvre Museum, Paris, 1985-1989), Jean Nouvel (Opera House, Lyon, 1986-1993) and Renzo Piano (Auditorium Paganini, Parma, 1996-2001). However, in those same years the issues concerning the relationship between contemporary architecture and built heritage were also at the center of studies/projects of the Italian scholars/professionals in the field of architectural conservation. The debate had started during the postwar reconstruction (Roberto Pane, Carlo Perogalli, Renato Bonelli, Cesare Brandi, Franco Minissi, etc.), leading to the drafting of the Venice Charter (1964) which established that new interventions on pre-existing buildings must “bear a contemporary stamp” (art.9). The essay aims at analyzing the concept of High-Tech Architecture as a tool to intervene in historical contexts. The perspective of Italian experts in architectural conservation will be explored by comparing distinguished high-tech projects by Marco Dezzi Bardeschi (1934-2018) and Andrea Bruno (1931-) who were professionals in architectural preservation and scholars at the Politecnico di Milano. They believed that an architect specialised in conservation/restoration was not only an expert but was foremost a designer, with the ability to plan new contemporary elements/volumes as drivers for the preservation/reuse of historical buildings. Dezzi Bardeschi’s projects (Palazzo della Ragione in Milan 1977-2003, Council Hall in Campo Bisenzio, 1985-1993, and more recently Tempio-Duomo in Pozzuoli 2003-2009) and those of Bruno (Rivoli Castle 1961-1996, Lichtenberg Castle 1992-2002, and more recently Les Brigittines in Bruxelles 2001-2007) will be analyzed to highlight the relationship between the history of the buildings and the new high-tech insertions/additions, built mainly using steel and glass. Today the challenge in evaluating these objects lies in the dual nature of their innovation. This innovation refers to the advanced technology used, but also to the cutting-edge approach towards the built heritage of which they are witnesses. The study will also discuss how far these high-tech elements/volumes are future- proof. Conserving/preserving the elusive character of their “innovation” means dealing with both the durability of the materials and the perception of these constructions by the public. Some of them are already considerably damaged (e.g. the staircase of Palazzo della Ragione in Milan) and could also be perceived as outdated, others will become so in the future. To what extent should these objects be preserved? What are the regulations which could be applied to safeguard them? What approach (conservation, restoration, repair, replacement, etc.) should be used in future interventions? How could the fragilities of these cutting-edge objects guide the construction of further high-tech elements in the historical context? The paper will examine cultural and methodological aspects of preserving and reusing the built heritage through technologically innovative insertions/additions.