For the Protection of Cultural and Landscape Heritage: Architect Role and Skills

Abstract

There are many skills required to an architect who intends to practice in cultural and landscape heritage protection, even within the public administration. The presence of the architect is an indispensable condition in the field of cultural heritage; however, the season of the self-sufficient architect seems to be over. There are so many disciplines that make up the restoration project which require the presence of more specialists. If the awareness to reduce land consumption seems to constitute a new paradigm in land use planning, the margins for action on existing heritage are considerably broadened. In the view of the need to reuse very heterogeneous spaces, their conservation requires first a careful and accurate project of the designated uses, based on a thorough historical knowledge of the building. The intended utilization of functions has therefore various implications in terms of plant installation and structural consolidation. Aspects that should constitute the architect's cultural background, together with the knowledge of the legislation. There is however another strategic challenge for the protection of heritage. It concerns the landscape and its transformations, often the prerogative of other specialists, in most cases implemented with the introduction of mitigation elements, far removed from the principle of correct landscape integration. A challenge the architect cannot escape from.