Gli interventi sull'esistente in occasione delle Olimpiadi di Torino 2006: il restauro come "riscrittura" dell'architettura

The Olympic Winter Games to be held in Turin, in February 2006, have provided an opportunity to create new structures and improve existing ones. The latter interventions, in particular, are designed to restore functionality to a number of significant buildings of 20th century architecture. An examination of the projects to be realised and the interventions already underway prompts some considerations on the relative objectives and execution modalities. In particular, the works under-way on Palazzo a Vela, the building designed by Annibale and Giorgio Rigotti, though their primary purpose is the restoration of the Palazzo, reflect a lack of attention to conservation-related issues. Similar considerations apply to the pavilions of the Mostra delle Regioni, which are also part of the “Italia ‘61” complex: in this case too, the proposed intervention does not seem to be perfectly in keeping with the conservation intentions expressed. The analysis of the interventions on 20th century structures, whether planned or to be completed, for the Olympic Games, therefore reveals how in actual fact the reinterpretation of intervention choices and criteria does not correspond to the conservation goals dictated by the specific connota-tions of this architecture.