Heritage values and urban conservation in Italy: the legacy of Gustavo Giovannoni

Gustavo Giovannoni is one of the major figures of Italian 20th century architectural and planning scene. He promoted the foundation of the first School of Architecture in Rome in 1920, and through his teachings, writings and professional practice he profoundly influenced the birth and development of architectural and planning disciplines up to 1960s. In fact the debate of the first half of last century was heavily indebted on Giovannoni's concept of "integral architect": that is of a professional figure able to tackle questions of architectural history and restoration, together with issues of urban design and conservation. Although since 1950s his role has been eluded, due to the general ideological bias of those years to the pre-war fascist period, in recent decades his figure has been revaluated. The paper aims to address the emergence of heritage values in Italy through the urban "conservation-transformation" issue introducing a historical perspective and a conceptual genealogy. In this context Giovannoni's theory and practice of "diradamento" and his "thinning" approach, as well as his concept of "ambiente" will be discussed in relation to the work of other important Italian architects-plannners (such as Ludovico Quaroni) aiming to bring new light in Italian heritage planning history.