Open-air Conservation of Ruins and the Concept of “Non-Dislocation” (original) (raw)
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Musealization and Exhibit Questions inside the Archeological Site
Best Practices in heritage, edit by C. Gambardella, 2014
The archaeological area is increasingly seen as a place of connection with the space of the active, cultural and civil life, towards the overcoming of the idea that archaeological sites are places situated on a separate dimension , which is unrelated to everyday life. This tension obviously implies the need for special attention paid to the problems of preservation and protection, but it opens up the fields of action and research to a growing awareness and management of the communicative possibilities and of the opportunities to spread knowledge through physical and direct experience of the site. This process is widely evident in all those cases in which fragments of architecture, frequently discovered by chance in stratified cities, interpose themselves within urban routes, public and also private spaces, providing the opportunity for the construction of an awareness of the history of the places even for a distracted citizen, who is not driven by a particular intention of knowledge and of realization of the idea of widespread museum. But this is also found in the increasing attention paid to the possible, even if temporary, exhibits, achievable within the sites , which allow the general public to a more intense use, and the scholars to an even more depth one, thanks to the use of technologies and techniques, which are less and less invasive in terms of materiality, but more and more effective.
Conservation criteria in the Musealization of archaeological sites
PÁTINA, 2014
The Patrimony Act of 1985 adopts and accepts recommendations of the 1964 Venice Charter, however in practice there are precepts which are not complied with. The large amount of restorative work carried out on archaeological sites in recent years after the effect of the global economic crisis has inevitably resulted in corresponding reflections on the activities carried out. For a progressive and creative sector led by architects and restorers, the Patrimony Act falls short of fulfilling its objectives and leaves little room for maneuver for the creation and reconstruction of patrimony. For other more realistic sectors whose spokespersons are restoration and archaeology professionals, the Historic Spanish Patrimony Act must continue to protect patrimony without giving creators carte blanche, and must deal more comprehensively with ambiguities or matters which are not clearly defined in the text. Examples of such issues are the restoration of wall coverings, choice of mortar, treatment of floors and road surfaces or reinforcing strati-graphic profiles. Analysis is made of the current situation with examples of actions carried out on different archaeological sites.
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History" has allowed that ruins from past epochs characterized the contemporary landscape over the following centuries. But when did they begin setting up an "archaeological site" within this environments? This contribute provides, through the analysis of some emblematic cases, an historical reading of the main events that have contributed to the modern concepts of "archaeological park" and "archaeological site", summarized below, and to the difficult relationship among their surroundings. Starting from 1700 the monuments of antiquity became a "material witness" and not only a model of inspiration: this was the end of the practice of re-using ancient architecture as building materials. Meanwhile, scientific archaeological research replaced the clandestine excavations, providing finds to be exhibited in new museums. The exceptional discovery of Herculaneum and Pompeii gave a new role to the architectural remains: they became materials to be restored, preserved and exhibited, also towards a non-specialist audience, in a kind of "open-air" museum with didactic purposes. Since 1800 archaeological excavations were focused on urban areas, at first in sparsely built-up areas, later in central zones. In Rome with this cultural climate, it began to feel the need of designing a route among ruins and, at the same time, reconnecting the "big central archaeological area" with the historical city. However, during the same years, the practice of "isolating monuments" also began, denying the relationship with the surrounding environment. This practice remains in use during the first half of '900: it determined a deep fracture (still unresolved) between the modern town and new and old excavated area. Lately, a new cultural use of the ruins and the protection of them together with their context determined the birth of the legal instrument of the archaeological park, a new concept of protection that allows you to combine all the modern instances of restoration and museology.
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Architecture, 2024
Starting from the critical premises that underpin the debate between archeology and architecture, some evidence emerges: sometimes, the musealization of buildings, "urban carcasses" and historical ruins – which are our legacy from the past – is even more harmful than that of any other artefact, for the purposes of their real understanding. In a country like Italy, which has archeological presences more than any other, architecture must contribute to overcoming the consolidated aporia that the Contemporary, conceived not only as a period but also and above all as its "forms and functions", is structurally in opposition to the conservation of archeological heritage. "Spatium ad Omnes", the project presented in this article, is an attempted exercise at "inhabiting archaeology", that is, trying to re-grant inclusive usability to a historical fragment, which has lost the elements necessary for its liveability, paying attention to the reversibility of the project itself. The set of questions, doubts and steps preliminary for the design have been highlighted more than the final "figure" of the project: an essential form directly connected with the primordial principles of its constitution. "Spatium ad Omnes" protects and encourages visiting the complex, trying to offer new perspectives, new narratives and new connections that translate into the possibility of being – for those who visit this place – the protagonists of a unique experience made of history, memory and continuous discoveries.
History" has allowed that ruins from past epochs characterized the contemporary landscape over the following centuries. But when did they begin setting up an "archaeological site" within this environments? This contribute provides, through the analysis of some emblematic cases, an historical reading of the main events that have contributed to the modern concepts of "archaeological park" and "archaeological site", summarized below, and to the difficult relationship among their surroundings. Starting from 1700 the monuments of antiquity became a "material witness" and not only a model of inspiration: this was the end of the practice of re-using ancient architecture as building materials. Meanwhile, scientific archaeological research replaced the clandestine excavations, providing finds to be exhibited in new museums. The exceptional discovery of Herculaneum and Pompeii gave a new role to the architectural remains: they became materials to be restored, preserved and exhibited, also towards a non-specialist audience, in a kind of "open-air" museum with didactic purposes. Since 1800 archaeological excavations were focused on urban areas, at first in sparsely built-up areas, later in central zones. In Rome with this cultural climate, it began to feel the need of designing a route among ruins and, at the same time, reconnecting the "big central archaeological area" with the historical city. However, during the same years, the practice of "isolating monuments" also began, denying the relationship with the surrounding environment. This practice remains in use during the first half of '900: it determined a deep fracture (still unresolved) between the modern town and new and old excavated area. Lately, a new cultural use of the ruins and the protection of them together with their context determined the birth of the legal instrument of the archaeological park, a new concept of protection that allows you to combine all the modern instances of restoration and museology.
Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites, 2015
This paper offers some considerations on the concept of musealization at archaeological parks. It focuses on aspects of the design and development of a musealized archaeological site: conservation, security, museological techniques, communication, and, above all, the role of research as the basis to develop continuously renewed and high-quality content for public dissemination. The case of the Gavà Mines Archaeological Park (Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain) is used to exemplify the reflections presented in this article.
Save the Heritage Benefit Corporation (ed.). Life within ruins Essays on architecture restoration theory, 2022
George Simmel, in his famous essay Ruins written in 1911, observes that a ruin is an artifact that, on the one side, evokes the memory of how it had been used by men and that, on the other side, collapses under the force of Nature. The sprout of Nature inside a building - that was originally excluded from its original functional program - is a manifestation of new aesthetic concepts. In 2005, Giorgio Agamben claims that today what was once sacred cannot be profaned anymore because it allows only uses that are coherent with its actual state. For example, the ruins of an ancient building allow only its consumption for touristic uses. The Italian philosopher then advances the hypothesis that such a mechanism can be profaned only with an act of nonchalance typical of art. This paper aims to investigate practices of profanation of the monument apparatus. The profanation of ruins is thus understood as a process of invading the perimeter that separates the inside from the outside. This investigation will be conducted presenting some collage works that challenge the meaning of preservation and envision some radical ways to re-use and re-signify a ruin.
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The present study deals with the accessibility problem of museums, that is, with the fact that museums should be thought to be understandable by everyone, not only by specialists. In particular, we will describe how we tried to reach the understandability for a non-specialist public and for kids, in a real multidisciplinary case study related to the exhibit of a sample of human skeletal remains from the archaeological site of Leopoli-Cencelle (Viterbo, Italy) in the Museum of History of Medicine of the University of Rome “La Sapienza”. The results of the cooperation between archaeologist, anthropologist, medicine historians, museum curator and director showed the benefits of collaboration of different fields specialists in order to make the museum a space for everyone who wishes to enjoy it.