The preservation of ruins. The topicality of Cesare Brandi’s Theory

The subject of ruins, with their complex connotations, is a nodal point within a more general consideration of restoration theory and practice, raising extremely delicate questions from both an aesthetic and a preservation standpoint. Theirs is a dynamic condition which, far from being the result of a simple subtraction of matter, introduces a series of totally new forms. In them it is possible to perceive a new completeness, free from references to their primogenial state, but containing allusions to a multiplicity of past elements. The ruins reveal an inseparable tie with both the site and the vegetation, which cannot be disregarded; having lost their historic connotation, this symbiosis of matter and nature strengthens their aesthetic identity. On the other hand, in the vast category of ruins, there are not only remains of structures from the Classical Age, but also those of buildings dating from medieval and modern times. Faced with this range of opportunities and the need for protection, it remains to be decided what “formativity” is to be acknowledged and adopted each time. In light of these and other, very recent, reflections (C. Woodward, In Ruins, Chatto & Windus, London 2001; M. Augé, Le temps en ruines, Galilée, Paris 2003; R. Ginsberg, The Aesthetics of Ruins, Rodopi, New York 2004; M. Makarius, Ruines, Flammarion, Paris 2004 ), the intention is to repropose a rereading of Brandi’s thoughts on the topic, encoded in his “Teoria”, but present, with complex arguments, in many of his writings over the years. They are texts that help to understand how, over and above a so-called love for “ruinism”, Brandi accompanies any reflection on the topic with considerations based on data of a historical and technical, as well as aesthetic, nature.