NUOVE PROGETTUALITÀ PER UN USO CONTEMPORANEO DEL RUDERE DI STRUTTURE FORTIFICATE

The census study started in Piedmont on the occasion of the national research "Atlante Castellano di Italia" (2004), promoted by the Italian Institute of Castles, and developed in the regional territory by the research group of the Polytechnic of Turin, in addition to the known results connected with basic research has allowed us to identify different areas of work that have been addressed over time. In particular, this contribution aims to present the objectives and outcomes of the project Instead of restoration: culture and practice of maintenance as a preventive tool or as an accompaniment to the interventions already carried out, developed by the Department of Architecture and Design of the Polytechnic of Turin, with specific reference to the structures fortified of the Province of Novara. This research project had the objective of reaching new funding programs instead of exclusively supporting restoration work. Promote - with the help of an important financier - alternative actions to the logic of major restoration sites, other than projects aimed at the most attractive monuments, to spread a culture of prevention and / or maintenance of the state of efficiency of the territory architectural heritage. This is also in consideration of the current difficult economic situation, with respect to which it is necessary to stimulate alternative practices and to increasingly orient civil society towards the best practices that prevent rather than remedy them. In this direction, moreover, it is foreseeable that the future criteria for funding to support a truly sustainable conservation of cultural heritage can also be oriented. In particular, the results of the research activity formed the basis for the preparation of tenders promoted by the Compagnia di San Paolo of Turin, aimed at promoting integrated projects for the restoration and maintenance of cultural assets and actions (activities) to enhance and revitalize the territorial context on which they themselves insist.