Architecture and Society of the Holiday Camps. History and Perspectives

This publication is the result of a project funded by the “Culture 2000” programme of the European Commission to promote European cooperation in the cultural heritage field. The project concerns the “colonie di vacanza” in four different European countries: Italy, Belgium, Romania and France. “Colonie di vacanza” are a relatively new yet highly topical research area. They have echoed European history for over a century and a half, representing the synthesis of health and education concerns but also a fertile context for architectural research. The “colonie di vacanza” have formed the basis of many theoretical elaborations involving different fields, from architecture to town planning, from medicine to pedagogy, stimulating overall reflections on childhood, education, architecture, and the territory. The heritage left by a century of “colonie di vacanza” is particularly difficult to research, preserve, and positively introduce into contemporary society. The “colonie di vacanza” represent in fact a vulnerable architectural heritage made up of a multitude of buildings widespread throughout the European territory, on which however, with the exception of limited areas, there is little information. Furthermore, the study of these buildings constructed over a relatively long period of time has not revealed one same architectural typology also due to the fact that they include buildings built in the past for different purposes, which have now been transformed or destroyed. This heritage was promoted by a number of institutions and associations with the purpose of developing specific and continuously evolving programmes and activities; however, nowadays most of these institutions and associations have disappeared leaving little or no trace of the history of this heritage. At continental level numerous moments and experiences on the one hand reflect the different local situations that make up the European mosaic and on the other hand underline the unity of Europe as manifold cultural community nevertheless rooted in a common history to which the “colonie di vacanza” have contributed. This publication testifies the comparative aspects that this research experience has brought to light and today’s prospects for the preservation of this heritage for future generations. This book clearly place the “Europe of the Colonie di Vacanza” within the European context; however it also highlights a "weakness" in terms of knowledge which has not yet been overcome.