Context 152 - November 2017

C O N T E X T 1 5 2 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 7 29 MARC PIQUÉ i GASCÓN Gustavo Giovannoni on planning in historic towns The architect, planner and architectural historian Gustavo Giovannoni (1873–1947) played an important role in integrating modern planning requirements into historic town centres. Gustavo Giovannoni’s article ‘Vecchie città ed edilizia nuova’ (1913) is considered to be one of the first critical contributions on the relationship between historic buildings, town centres, urban expansion and functional reorganisation¹. Giovannoni’s scientific restoration theories influenced Italian and European legislation in conservation and planning, including the Carta del Restauro (Italian Charter of Conservation), published in 1932, that followed his contribution to the 1931 Athens Charter. Giovannoni was a Roman engineer, architect, planner and architectural historian. After graduating in civil engineering (1895) and in public hygiene (1896), he studied medieval and modern art history. His research studies focused on the architecture of Rome and traditional building techniques. In 1937 he founded Palladio , the first Italian journal of architectural history. In 1938 he founded the Centro di Studi per la Storia dell’Architettura (Research Centre on Architectural History) in Rome. As an architect-engineer he applied modern techniques to traditional design. He designed various buildings for the Birra Peroni company (1901–1909) using the new reinforced concrete technology and in the 1920s he designed several neo-baroque churches. He was a founder of the first school of architecture in Rome (1919), where he taught architecture and conservation. He insisted on the figure of the architetto integrale (complete architect),who would be able to understand and promote historic, artistic and social values, and understand traditional techniques and modern technology. From 1916 onwards he worked in the public institution of the Consiglio Superiore di Antichità e Belle Arti, where he was involved in historic conservation and urban development projects throughout Italy, including the centre of Rome. His theories and experiences were first published in his article ‘Vecchie città ed edilizia nuova’ in the magazine Nuova Antologia (1913), and in his 1931 book (published in French in 1998²) as L’Urbanisme Face AuxVilles Anciennes (unpublished in English).The book aims to give guidance on how to integrate contemporary social, cultural, transport and economical requirements into historic towns while improving heritage assets. The industrial revolution brought new uses and people to historic city centres in the second half of the 19th century. The increased pressure on existing buildings led to adaptations, top and rear extensions, and reduced numbers of dwelling units,worsening hygienic conditions in the old areas. New theories of planning, transport, beauty and hygiene aiming to resolve these conditions had been prompted by the demolition of city walls; the building of new infrastructure; stylistic unification; and the so-called sventramento ( éventrement in French, ‘gutting’ in English), with Haussmann’s plan of Paris as one of the most notable 19th-century examples. The sventramento consisted of demolishing large areas or complete housing blocks to open new roads and squares. These interventions were justified politi- cally as bringing hygiene, transport, infrastructure and enhanced economic value to historic buildings and References ¹ Giovannoni, G (1997) ‘Vecchie Città ed Edilizia Nuova’ (in Nuova Antologia , 1913), in F Gurrieri, ed Teoria e cultura del restauro dei monumenti e dei centri antichi , CLUSF, Florence 2 Giovannoni, G (1998) L’urbanisme Face AuxVilles Anciennes, Éditions du Seuil, Paris The PonteVecchio in Florence still has shops on it, as was once common. Butchers initially occupied the shops; the present tenants are jewellers, art dealers and souvenir sellers. By Martin Falbisoner – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons. wikimedia.org/w/index. php?curid=27120159