Toward a holistic heritage conservation

Many scholars have already underlined the importance and the complexity of the different components of the historic urban landscape. The UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape – adopted at the General Conference on November 2011 – went beyond the notion of ‘historic centre’ and extended its application to the broader urban context and the geographical setting. Presenting the case of Caserma “Cascino” in Cagliari, the paper outlines a methodology for heritage conservation in urban contexts. The project offers a holistic approach to the conservation process. Through two main phases, it describes the employed innovative features in terms of strategies and technologies adopted for each one. The first phase focused on the understanding of the existing building complex, consisted of: a.) the historical analysis of the building, its urban context and the connection with the geographic landscape, in order to understand the cultural and social significance of the site, and b.) the documentation project to define geometry, structure, color and spatial configuration of the building, in order to determine the character defining elements and the current condition of the structure. The second phase focused on the conservation of the site, including condition repair, structural reinforcement and consolidation, and adaptive-reuse. Knowledge gained from the previous phase, in combination with issues of authenticity and reversibility, laid the groundwork for the development of the appropriate intervention strategies.