Paradigmi e pratiche del restauro in Nuova Zelanda, appunti da una ricerca in corso

This paper "Restoration practices and paradigms in New Zealand: notes from current research" examines a ‘geography of restoration’ derived from a research project currently underway that analyses New Zealand’s preservation instruments and restoration practices, particularly as regards nineteenth- and twentieth-century architectural heritage viewed from the point of view of the cultural landscape. The study originated through a partnership with the Auckland University School of Architecture and Planning and the Auckland-based practice Salmond Reed Architects. The way town councils manage heritage protection and conservation parameters on a territorial level and Heritage New Zealand’s role as the leading cultural advisor are both direct descendants of British culture, whilst the roles of ICOMOS New Zealand and DOCOMOMO New Zealand are more internationally oriented. The ICOMOS New Zealand Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Heritage Value (established in 1993 and revised in 2010) merges approaches and concepts of European origin with the theme of New Zealand’s own tangible and intangible cultural heritage, to which the country has assigned primary significance within the scope of national identity. At an architectural level, besides well-understood assets that date back to colonial and post-colonial times, the heritage community is now discussing the preservation, maintenance and active use and reuse of ‘New Zealand’s Modern Architecture’, with its unique vulnerabilities and risks. This paper presents a reflection of up-to-date interpretational settings and scenarios, which are very different from those that characterise European culture, with which however there are several points of contact. These similarities include the important role of international charters in New Zealand-based conservation, which have been applied to recent methods of investigation for restoration projects, and the direct, tangible knowledge of diagnostics, which has in certain cases developed from Western principles and standards. Il saggio è inserito nella sezione 1C “Questioni teoriche: storia e geografia del restauro”, a cura di Donatella Fiorani, dell’opera “RICerca/REStauro”, coordinamento di Donatella Fiorani, composta da 11 sezioni.