Built Heritage as a Cultural Resource: Didactic Experiences of Architectural Restoration Patrimonio costruito come risorsa culturale: esperienze didattiche di restauro architettonico

The preservation and maintenance of the cultural identity of a territory passes through the recognition of the architectural landscape and anthropological peculiarities of the area, so called “recognition of the genius loci”. The risk is of the gradual loss of memory of these fundamental elements, which are being mainly replaced by standard elements, belonging to a substance of “virtual” poor, both in singularity and specificity. The study and identification of "monuments, settled in historical centres which are abandoned, or, in the process of abandonment, architectural ruins almost completely devoid of "meaning". Their preservation with new functions can be the way to reach the Goal, only if the knowledge procedure of restoration, restoration work analysis, and reuse project – in other words – the restoration and the architecture project satisfy the real needs of the users of these so-called new monuments. The real risk is that of creating ancient paradigms, recognised in semantic languages, that are gradually being lost, numerous “new” urban architectural units which are not integrated with the landscape, which are not “really useful” and which do not provide a connection to an overall masterplan. Rediscovering ancient mills located on the internal mountain areas, industrial factories existing along the Calabrian coastlines, ancient powerfully-built places such as fortresses: the restoration of these buildings can have a lasting outcome over time when completed together with a more general plan including the realisation of eco-sustainable routes and connection routes within the surrounding territory.