Restoration/Reconstruction. Small Historic Centres. Conservation in the Midst of Change

The theme is that of ‘reconstruction’, thinking about the necessity of finding a strict relation between this topic and restoration/conservation in an historic center that has been partly abandoned and subjected to a natural or man-made disaster. In the case of this workshop study area, the disaster has been a recent earthquake, but the issues raised apply more widely. While reconstruction is understood to relate to elements of historical buildings that have been destroyed (walls, roofs, interiors etc), to structural issues, and to architectural integration, it also relates in a profound way to the problems of reconstructing or regenerating the human presence and activities. In that sense, the deep knowledge of the site gives perhaps the tools for making the best choices for intervention.