Traces of the Great War. Architecture and restoration a century on

Abstract

One hundred years after the First World War, the essay intends to review the systems adopted for protection of historic buil- dings, along with the damage suffered, and reconstruction after the war. The two wars which, in the 20th century, involved Italy, and severely damaged its historical patrimony, had different outcomes and gave rise to very different memories. Damage caused by the Second World War (1939-45) was much more serious, and the memories which historians of art, architects and restorers produced, in the form of documents and popular essays, are vast.

However, the Great War, especially in the North-East of Italy, produced profound changes, not only due to the complete ruin of entire villages (Asiago, Conegliano and others), but, as it is known, also due to the serious damage which Venice, Verona, Treviso suffered through bombings. Unlike the Second World War, which was in every way destructive, the Great War, also because of specific strategies and military techniques, was in some way a “constructive” war: it led to the construction of huge military buildings (barracks, fortress, infrastructures, etc.). For this reason, the Great War was probably the last conflictin human history which, paradoxically, produced new buildings and new landscapes. These inheritances, which very often show high technical and aesthetic qualities, have had little recogni- tion, and even less investment for conservation and re-use.