La ricerca nel restauro dell’architettura fortificata italiana. Piero Gazzola: ruolo-significato-attualità

Reflecting on the restoration of fortified buildings in Italy would not be possible without analysing the work carried out by Piero Gazzola, who ended up writing an essential chapter in its history. The issue of castle preservation took on a new meaning and approach from the second half of the last century. Within an intense historical context, Gazzola drew the attention of the cultural milieu back to the very delicate matter of defence buildings, which sank into oblivion long ago: he cast light on the conditions of the remains of fortifications, began to raise awareness as regards castles, and initiated a systematic and scientifically sound approach towards conservation-related issues. Through the critical reading of the author’s writings and of the existing literature, the study focuses on the impact that the development of a new sectoral approach in the second half of the twentieth century – in which Gazzola played a key role – had on this particular category of ancient buildings. What comes out is a new scenario in the field of castle protection. The paper explores the role, the significance and, last but not least, the topicality of Piero Gazzola’s contribution to the protection of the fortified heritage, and provides the first results of a wider-ranging ongoing study that is being carried out within the PhD in Architecture at the University of Bologna, whose aim is to verify their validity and vitality in relation to the main theoretical and operational issues dealing with the interventions on former defence buildings.