Speaker
Description
The proposed restoration concept applicable to the pavement of the Central Market of Siena, Italy, starts from the theoretical research of restoration concepts as well as the particular historical witness on some elements of aesthetic importance and visual identity of the considered pavement. These have led to decisions to treat the surfaces by analyzing several pre-sustainable restoration concepts, with the aim that the restoration process should be in line with the principles of conservative restoration and contemporary restoration, using sustainable, tradition-based materials, and also that it should comply with the application of the regulations for the protection of monuments. The proposed restoration model is characterized by durability, creativity and efficiency. The creative nature of the restoration process is based on the idea of not creating a fake by proposing for restoration elements that have no historical and visual support. This example of the proposed intervention on the pavement of the Piazza in Siena demarcates the old from the new, it is reversible, it is creative and at the same time, applying the concept of continuity proposed by Carlo Scarpa, it offers the public the possibility to look inside the architecture and the restoration by visualizing the elements and the materials. The considered materials for the proposed restauration concept involve a consistent sustainable character, involving the use of <earth> as a raw material in construction, namely on earth floorings by the rammed earth technique. The development of sustainable pavement elements through the innovative optimization of traditional earth construction techniques is in agreement with the objectives of the project PN 23 35 04 01, conducted within NIRD URBAN-INCERC Timișoara Branch, Romania, and conceptual directions specified in the PhD thesis "Pavement from utility to meaning, a determining factor in defining the aesthetic qualities of architectural spaces”: the prospects of sustainable earth-based pavements, assimilated to "terazzo" techniques for instance, can be built for specific structural and aesthetic evaluation, in order to increase the overall product performance and its viability in the proposed restoration concept. The current multidisciplinary study presented by the paper is focused on preparing the historical monument for future survival in the problematic, dynamic and contrasting context of contemporary developments, also considering the sustainable feature of the materials and techniques, their structural performance and potential viability within the proposed concept.
