UNESCO Chair PhD research

War damages in Peace time

Identification of the parameters used over time in the field of tangible Cultural Heritage conservation and re-construction in war-stricken contexts. In this precise historical moment, the importance of the theme of tangible Cultural Heritage (hereafter CH) conservation, destruction and re-construction in war contexts is clearly visible to the entire world population. We are confronted with the topic of war, which, observing the events that are unfolding in all the countries of the world, where ideological, religious or ethnic conflicts are taking place, is forcing populations to open their eyes to a narrative that is unfortunately still contemporary. In this research, the topic of tangible CH takes into consideration monuments in terms of historic buildings, and historic tangible context that are a collection of architectural heritage. In the aftermath of a catastrophic event, the city (or even the entire Country) and the government must face a considerable problem: what re-build and how to re-build. Those questions lie at the roots of each intervention in post-disaster event, both natural and anthropogenic, relying the choices on historical, socio-economic and political factors of the moment. To answer those problems, it is taken into a deep account the literature already studied about this theme, through a bibliographical research (books, journals) and review of national and international regulations regarding the topic. The methodology develops around the search for parameters and strategies with respect to which the re-construction and/or conservation actions can proceed. To do this, it is useful to analyse what has been done so far, examining emblematic cases and comparing them with each other, finding connections and differences needed to understand what do these interventions look like today, and especially what is their effectiveness. At first, an historical excursus is made in order to understand in general way, both historical and geographical frame, what has happened to date, through an overview of the most emblematic destructions by human hands. Afterwards, the Second World War post quem period is chosen, being the most recent and appropriate to the current situation, during which normative (national and international), technological and methodological basis were formed through which I can interface and conduct research. In order to analyse these parameters within the emblematic cases, it must be firstly understood: when and how do I identify them? What do I want to read through them? Europe (differently from the geographical areas that were under the URSS control, like West Germany) is assumed as example on how it approached the situation, focusing on Italy, France, England and West Germany, which had been the country which benefited the most from the Marshall Plan (1948-1951) set by the Unites States, also known as ERP (European Recovery Program). In this matter, following the already-made researches and studies carried out on the topic by many scholars and architects, the outcomes (and strategies) obtained during the second half of the last century will be critically defined thanks to the definition of parameters with respect to which the re-construction and/or conservation actions has been activated. The parameters are divided by sources (i.e. the socio-economic parameter, which is quantitative, will be different by source by the other parameters, more qualitative). This should also show the capacity of the candidate to manage different kinds of datas, from different origins. The parameters used to proceed with this analysis are:

• Socio-economic and political context of the Country.

• Damage on the asset: was it contained within the asset or extended to its context?

• Conservation: according to the extension of the damage, was/were the remained part/s conserved? On what principles?

• Re-construction: according to the extension of the damage, was/were the remained part/s re-constructed? On what principles?

• Layout: does the final outcome take into consideration the previous layout? How is this accomplished?

• Use destination (function): is the destination the same of the previous one, or has it changed? If no, who decided the new function?

In parallel, pursuing the research started in the first half of the first year, the critical analysis of the international Organisation goes on, to understand what are the strategic lines adopted in case of conflict and how the people and the theme of identity is taken into consideration in the effectiveness of the projects. The data collected from the organisations were then analysed according to two parameters, i.e. prevention and reconstruction, which fall respectively in the pre- and during conflict, and in the post-conflict phases. Once these two criteria were identified, the traced projects were divided according to three macro areas of action:

• Humanitarian aid work.

• Security enhancement efforts.

• Reconstruction interventions.

The final considerations will merge both the identification of the parameters used for conservation and/or re-construction strategies in Europe and the parameters set for the analysis of the main line actions of the international Organisations in conflict situations, to gain the most complete view, trying to understand the criteria of intervention and what they prioritise the most.