Gli interventi ad Ostia Antica e il dibattito sul restauro nella prima metà del Novecento

As recounted by Gustavo Giovannoni in the pages of Bollettino d’Arte in 1932, the record of the international conference in Athens also cites the results achieved in the archaeological area of Ostia as one of the interventions considered to be the finest expression of Italian actions “for the study, valorization, and reintegration” of monuments. This recognition (encountered at least until the 1930s) is the result of the informed work done in that area by the excavation leaders succeeding one another starting from the first decade of the twentieth century, who discussed issues only partially dealt with until that time: extending the concept of protection from the individual monument to the setting; the importance of introducing plant life as a binding structure; and paying heed to aspects of material and colour when juxtaposing the ancient and the new. These solutions, pointing to a certain uniqueness on the cultural landscape of the time, have yet to be fully dealt with by the literature. Lastly, the interdisciplinary orientation urged by Giovannoni was to be expressed in Ostia by the fruitful understanding between the archaeologist Guido Calza and the architect Italo Gismondi; this collaboration was to yield operative results for comprehending not only the volumetric systems of the architectural remains re-emerging from the excavation, but also their transformation process and (another aspect of importance, especially when compared with the activity of this cultural period’s leading interpreters) their relationship with the environmental setting.