ABSTRACT

The orthodoxy of the standard and commonly accepted criteria in the disciplinary practice of restoration design must include and lead a plurality of possible cases. Each project always tends to produce a heresy (from the Latin haerĕsis, "choice"), that is an innovative choise of an appropriate response to a particular question, in order to solve, case by case, a specific problem. In theoretical and applied terms, this paper proposes an open reflection, through the just completed re-use project of the underground spaces of the former Santa Teresa convent in Piano di Sorrento (Naples), as youth center. These underground spaces have been created in the 80's by digging below the main cloister of the monumental complex and emptying the space between the foundation structures. But then they were left disused for about thirty years. The project follows two different approaches because two are the specific characters of the spaces on which it worked: in both cases it wanted to adhere to the palimpsest, in an "orthodox" way in the case of vaulted spaces, in a "heretical" one in the case of the large central space. Moving between standard and derogation and through an examination on building site, the design thinking allows a disciplinary advancement, given by the rejection of standard solutions. The research of techniques that meet several criteria simultaneously, generates an innovation and shows unexpected effects in the application of the standard itself.

Key-words: Disused buildings, Restoration design, Pertinence between orthodoxy and heresy, New architecture in old structures