SHARCH. Second Hand Architecture. A New Life for Confiscated Property

In recent years the idea of heritage has radically changed; if for long periods this definition was limited to the idea of the monument, with the changing approach to space, the concept of "asset to be preserved" was extended to "the set of riches, material and non-material values that belong , by inheritance, tradition and the like, to a community or even to a single individual” (TRECCANI, 2023). In consideration of these changes, the research focused on new ways of approaching the system of goods to be preserved but, above all, to valorise. In this ever-expanding panorama, we can recognize in confiscated assets a resource that belongs even more incisively to a community. Paradoxically, the confiscated assets themselves can be a heritage manifesto to be reinterpreted through actions aimed at enhancing the asset within the community. This work, starting from the research project "Second-hand architecture: a new life for confiscated property", stands as a further point of view on the theme of contemporary heritage, the truest and most sincere one that really needs a second chance. Besides, in a context in which the climate emergency increasingly directs the construction sector towards a transition from linear to circular systems, minimising both resources and waste, the reuse of confiscated assets can take on a particularly topical and relevant light.