‘Beyond the restoration’. New uses and reuses in the convents and monasteries of the historic center of Turin (Italy)

The transformation processes of the city of Turin that began in the first quarter of the 20th century have roots that can in part be attributed to settlement policies influenced, as early as the beginning of the 19th century, by the phenomenon of Napoleonic suppressions. The consistency of the monastic and convent complexes found in the city walls at the beginning of the 19th century describes a geography of settlements that, by type and number, meets the demand for spaces and volumes to be dedicated to new functions identified by the city of Turin as necessary for its organizational development. The architectural complexes affected by the transformations are essential and diverse: significant palimpsests in the transformation processes of the city, evidence of Renaissance remains, Baroque transformations, medieval rediscoveries, and new settlement needs to be linked to the public administration. The proposed contribution intends to underline the passages that have allowed these city transformation processes, according to an absolutely recurring operating mode, which can be found on the national territory and beyond. The debate that accompanies the rereading of such a complex heritage of traces and testimonies of material culture constitutes a field of interest along a path that reaches up to the most recent transformations, involving public bodies and administrations, the main stakeholders in the area, in the search for new functions, often connected to the social use of religious architectural heritage. Beyond the restoration with the aim of investigating recent phenomena of reuse of this historical architectural and religious heritage, sustainable and compatible with the asset’s identity.