Shaped by encrusted layers of development spanning millennia; the southern Italian city of Matera is the ultimate palimpsest. Known as the Sassi; the majority of the ancient city is composed of thousands of structures carved into a limestone cliff and clinging to its walls. The resultant menagerie of forms possesses a surprising visual uniformity and an ineffable allure. Conversely; in the 1950s Matera also served as a crucible for Italian postwar urban and architectural theory; witnessed by the Neorealist; modernist expansion of the city that developed in aversion to the Sassi. In another about-face; the previously disparaged cave city has now been recast as a major tourist destination; UNESCO World Heritage Monument; and test subject for ideas and methods of preservation. Set within a sociopolitical and architectural history of Matera from 1950 to the present; this book analyses the contemporary effects of preservation on the city and surrounding province. More broadly; it examines the relationship between and interdependence of preservation and modernism within architectural thought. To understand inconsistencies inherent to preservation; in particular its effect of catalyzing change; the study lays bare planners and developers use of preservation; especially for economic goals and political will. The work asserts that preservation is not a passive; curatorial pursuit: it is a cloaked manifestation of modernism and a powerful tool often used to control economies. The study demonstrates that preservation also serves to influence societies through the shaping of memory and circulation of narratives.
#2597279 in eBooks 2016-05-05 2016-05-05File Name: B01F8X9HB6
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