The Contribution of “Local” Registers to the Census of the Modern Movement. A GIS Solution Being Created for the Palazzata of Messina

Abstract

There is a widespread fear that evidence of stylistic and technological innovations of 1930s–1960s buildings may be lost. Reasons lie both in a not yet matured awareness toward this lexicon and in the temporal closeness that does not allow to perceive modern constructions as cultural heritage. However, there is a need of protection that requires solutions. In the last decades, with the establishment of DOCOMOMO (DOcumentation and COnservation of buildings, sites and neighbourhoods of the MOdern MOvement), an international commitment has been assumed to catalogue the most significant architectures of the twentieth century, proposing analogical consultations of descriptions, increasingly supported by digital alternatives. What is the adequate degree of census to know Modern Movement? What is (or will be) the contribution of digital solutions? How can this work support conservation? The research, undertaken between Italy and Spain, firstly considers the international state of the art in documentation activities carried out by associations/institutions and in the conception of digital solutions. Then, we propose to experimentally define the characteristics that a “local” register, based on GIS (Geographic Information System) methodology, should have to integrate the national catalogues, to also consider buildings peculiar for local culture. The experimentation concerns the “Palazzata”, a set of buildings built from 1930s to 60s as independent units that allow us to retrace all the facets of the Modern Movement in Messina. In the digital age, innovative solutions have to be undertaken to more efficiently protect cultural heritage.