Ancient Materials and Steel: Project Strategies on Contents and Containers of Museums in Post-war Italian Period

The post-war reconstruction is an opportunity for Italy to establish the characters of its identity and opening debates on the conservation of existing architectural assets. The recovery of the old buildings finds in the museum function the opportunity to re-establish a connection with history both in content (such as memory place) and in the container (as an object to be transmitted to the future). The evolution of use of steel in the museums of the post-war period is in line with this double interpretation, acting first only on the artworks supports, and later on the same construction. In contents or containers steel is expressed by different formal and linguistic values, giving to the context a specific semantic sense. Acting on the contents, it becomes functional to the creation of a space architected according to the tones of harmony (as in Palazzo Bianco museum) or contrast respect to the existing (see Castello Sforzesco). Acting, instead, on the container, the metal material takes part of the architectural object, both if it operates according to the logic of fragmentation (Castelvecchio museum is an example) or according to the addition of new volumes (as in Convento di Sant’Agostino in Genoa). This paper, which is a part of a broader research, aims to analyze different project strategies using steel in the Italian museums of the post-war reconstruction, in order to provide a tool for the interpretation of the contemporary language in the revitalization processes of the built heritage.