L'architettura come opera aperta. Il tema dell'uso nel progetto di conservazione

Reuse of historical buildings is a controversial topic as it involves transformations of, and possible changes to, historical buildings, which are often considered immutable. What happens if, instead, one considers a historical building as an “open work”? As such, a project of conservation, which frequently includes re-use of the building, therefore becomes a process to manage potential unavoidable transformations? This question is the starting point of the research here presented on the topic L’architettura come “opera aperta”. Il tema dell’uso nel progetto di conservazione. The main idea of the author, who elaborated this study during his PhD Course, is that it is possible to manage the potential transformations which a project of reuse could involve, using semiotics to understand, explain and preserve all the values (stratifications and traces over time) that it holds. It is an original point of view – which however is not without risks – that considers the project of reuse and conservation as a great opportunity to understand and protect the richness and complexity of historical buildings and also to connect the past (the historical building itself) and the future (the new function of it).