The Real Albergo dei Poveri between critical restoration and philological interpretation
In 1749, called in Naples by Charles I of Bourbon, Ferdinando Fuga designed a building “for all the poor of the
Kingdom”, translating social and hygienic rules into a typological organization of a “machine à habiter”. The
immense unfinished container, modified and divided over time, reduced to overlapping phases, contaminations,
destinations, partially collapsed after the earthquake of 1980. The knowledge, acquired through historical-archival research, analysis and direct observations, surveys, non-destructive investigations and analyzes on the
nature and degradation of materials, led to the conservation and reuse solutions.
The project is philological, in
the respect of history and pre-existing structures, critical, with case-by-case evaluations, and compatible, for
integrated technologies and forms. Based on the principle of “alliance between generations”, past contributions
are recognized, current methods of intervention on heritage are defended, without compromising their
transmission to future generations. The role of history and cognitive tools, in a “circular” relationship with
the restoration, allows a “philological” recovery of knowledge, even when the non-unitary text cannot return
definitive and conclusive definitions. Today this utopian machine still awaits further urgent interventions and
immediate reuse, based on integration and opportunities of being a
civitas.
