Sicurezza e Conservazione nella Carta di Venezia. Riflessioni sugli interventi per il patrimonio architettonico in situazioni di emergenza

The Venice Charter was a response to a complex historical and cultural period marked by a war that caused considerable devastation to the architectural heritage. Similarly, natural disasters cause sudden collapses and widespread structural damage. In both contexts, reconstruction has led to several inappropriate and sometimes harmful strengthening interventions. The resulting cultural reflection has led to consolidation being considered as part of conservation. However, this recognition is weaker in the case of urgent safety interventions. According to international conservation charters, the heritage protection should be a progressive and continuous activity. This approach is not suited to the response to sudden events, where the search for a balance between safety and conservation is confronted with tight timeframes and large areas of intervention. The paper proposes good practice in emergency response to enhance the design of emergency interventions as a part of the heritage conservation process.