RICERCA ITALIANA     

The architect and the engineer. Profession, vocational training, building sites in the military architecture from the italian '500 through the european context

Politecnico di Torino

Abstract

In the last years the research concerning this scientific field has increased much more than ever. Starting from a meritorious cognitive investigation by institutions (like "Istituto Italiano dei Castelli") about identification, catalogation and analytical information about defensive sistems, the studies have evolved into a scientific investigation centralized in individuating main cultural themes and specifical documentation in archives (particular in comparison with traditional philology). The appeard facts are concerning the connection with the cartographical representation, the executive building technics, the difficults to define the autography of designs, the strong international relationships, and finally the problem of the hard reconversion of a built heritage, often abandoned, but with right potentialities for a reutilization and a wide diffusion allover Europe. Spain and France have joined the most recent revised facts.
Proponent groups, scientifically related with international experiences, are going to prosecute this field of studies and to extend it (to continue the acquired recognition about fortified heritage in the regional context) to professional main figures of architect and engineer, searching for affinities and differences, developed through '500, and consolidated in the '800.
The main target is to arrange a unitary summary of various fundamental themes: technical nature and formal contents of fortresses of the XVI century in the italian "states" also in comparison with their political defensive lines, development of different knowledges of the professional figures involved (military engineers, architects, builders) relations between technique and aesthetics of architecture. All those questions will be veryfied by a meaningful set of samples from each research unit showing technical aspects related to the building art, for finally recompsing a national summary, today not available. An important result will be the analysis of the "disfar le mura" (fortified walls demolition) during XIX century that reproposes the comparison with disciplinar and professional rules between engineers and architects. <<<

Principal Investigator

Micaela VIGLINO Politecnico di TORINO

Research Objectives

First target of the research programme is to compose a unitary summary about the technical nature of fortified structures "alla moderna" in the italian states of the ancient reign and about the formation of a disciplinar scientific knowledge of military engineers alternative to the architects one, in the same european scenery.
The investigation intents, as main and really actual target, to analyize affinities and differences of the two figures. The actuality of this argument originates from the debate and confrontation about the vocational training profile of both figures, at the moment that universitary curricula are rexaminated and it is close to define a integrated role of an architect-engineer with a recognition of the title for all the european territory.
So it's useful to connect all the debate lines, finding the operativity bases of architects and engineers, to avoid that the institutional alchemies of disciplines will direct all changes, and it's also useful to interact the richness of both cultures, saved by these figures.
That means to connect all the reciprocal influences that engineers and architects cultures have brought to the new way of consider building, profession and the idea of town and design itself. <<<

First Results

Collection, sistematization and first critical interpretation of bibliographic, archivistic and iconographical documents concerning the four principal points, previously indicated, in a unitary summary involving all research units.Investigation (with the direct analysis on buildings) on the samples defined by each unit in territorial or problematical chosen ambit , investigated by the common guide lines presented in the description of this second phase. Production of first final results, ready to a confrontation among all units of the group.In this phase the definitive results of the research will be compared in seminars e/o a congress with international experts, and will be publicized by a CD-Rom and an eventual volume that will collect all the scientific contributions of the involved various research units. <<<

Timescale

24 months

National and international background

Through the several proposes brought on by the research group, the main goal is to be related with the past work developed during numerous manifestations in Spain for Charles V's centenary celebrations (results have created the Centre of Studies of Spanish History), the congress that has made possible the project of restauration and exploitation of the italian walls of Ibiza in the Balearic islands, the new preparation and relative research, as the congress on the European Military Atlas, of the Musée des plans reliefs (Hotel des invalides, Paris), the activities for fronteer fortresses between France and Belgium, the european programme for a cultural touristic itinerary, the researches of the University of Louvain, the congress "Europen fortresses" in L'Aquila, the studies of the department Casa-città of the Politecnico di Torino in collaboration with the State archive and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage. <<<