The Recognition of Cultural Value as an Element for the Preservation of the 20th-Century Heritage: Application of the ICOMOS Multidisciplinary Approach to the ex S.M.O.M. of Pozzuoli

Abstract

The actions for the preservation of cultural heritage must work on the identity and specificity of the places, paying the utmost attention to the context relationships. The analysis of these elements is fundamental to the recognition of the intrinsic “value” of the building, of the cultural, architectural, and landscape type and of the “value relations” that the building holds with the surrounding context of the social and economic but, above all, cultural and identity type. The methodological approaches defined by the ICOMOS Document of Madrid–New Delhi recognize the identification of the cultural value as a fundamental passage for the promotion of the 20th-century heritage. The contribution analyzes the design process developed by applying the ICOMOS methodology for the preservation of the cultural value of a building complex in Pozzuoli dating back to the early 1900s. The evolutionary history of the different volumes and the configuration of the “modern ruins” give rise to prospective relationships with the local reality that today assume a stronger identity value than that connected to the original project. The different construction techniques used and the state of conservation of the buildings lead to the identifying of different elements of value and, consequently, to the elaborating different design choices.