The research originates from the questions concerning the famous Sant'Elia Kindergarten, designed and built in the 1930s by Giuseppe Terragni, internationally recognised as icon of modern architecture, listed since 1991. In recent years, doubts about its maintenance of function and the latest proposals for intervention (the restauration site started in 2019 is currently suspended) have puts its future at risk. This architecture has come down to the present day maintaining the function for which it was conceived, after multiple interventions over time that have changed its material and, in part, formal components. This research examines a panorama of constructions built as kindergartens in the historical period between 1923, when the Gentile Reform recognised them as part of the "preparatory grade" in the "elementary education" of the Italian school, and 1939, when the regime's policies led to the enactment of the School Charter by Giuseppe Bottai. The cultural, regulatory and pedagogical related to school building from its origins provides a better understanding of the recurring themes characterising these architectures in the national context, the innovative aspects, the rootedness of model examples and consolidated references for their design. The slow transition in the conception of the purpose of the kindergarten, from the original welfare nature to recognition as part of school education, is decisive. The kindergarten takes on and changes characteristics, depending on the architectural language chosen, the evolution of hygiene issues, educational principles and methods. The relationship between architecture and pedagogy is fundamental to built a 'child-friendly home'. The comparison with European architectural culture in the field of kindergartens shows the relationships and recurrences between the different expressions. This is particularly significant for the realisations taken as reference by the authors of the projects, whose research also looks beyond national boundaries, as in the case of Terragni and, more generally, the exponents of Rationalism. Manuals, architectural magazines and exhibitions attest to a wide diffusion of the typological theme in the international territory. The 1932 exhibition entitled ‘Der Neue Schulbau’ focused entirely on the evolution of school construction and its optimal characteristics, with a continuous contrast between ‘old’ and ‘new’. In the same years, the Italian situation is determined by the ongoing policy that influences publications. The growing number of structures used as kindergartens is emphasised from a quantitative point of view as a measure of the effectiveness of the regime's action, and realisations considered ‘exemplary’ for propaganda purposes are publicised. The research field is focused on the geo-cultural context of the province of Como in order to be able to closely analyze a significant panorama of realizations: both in terms of the number of cases examined (29 buildings), the heterogeneity of the architectural characteristics, and because it reflects the prevailing condition in many areas of the national context. This is the area geographically closest to the Sant'Elia kindergarten. At the same time, for the most cases, it is the territory conceptually furthest from the rational architecture of the designers (and artists) close to Giuseppe Terragni. The research is based on consultation of numerous municipal, parish, kindergarten, association, professional, university and local authority archives, as well as the superintendencies. The archival documents are mostly ‘first-hand’ and have made it possible to learn and analyze the unpublished history of the design and construction of each of these architectures. The capillary survey is elaborated by considering the question of authorship - expressions of Larian Rationalism and kindergartens by 20th-century Milanese architects, permanence of the historicist tradition and architectures "without architects" -, building and formal characteristics, and design references. In this network of buildings with very different characters, most of the realizations are still based on traditional building references and typological models already widely used in the first decades of the 20th century. The innovative examples, which are much uncommon, are in line with the authors' design research, combining the architectural vocabulary with the specific typological requirements. This is the context for the Sant'Elia kindergarten: the design and construction history has been extensively researched and has been the subject of a vast international literature. However, a re-reading of the archival documents, extending beyond the design phases, to the construction site and the subsequent decades of the building's life, right up to the present day, has made it possible to highlight the extent to which the complex construction phases constitute the premise for the problems of the building and its fate. The parallel between the evolution of the critical fortune and the vicissitudes of the successive restoration campaigns - works of different conception, methodology and results - in relation to the cultural references, disciplinary evolution, and the protective action exercised since 1991, allows us to understand the repercussions on this architecture and the possibilities for its use. The open questions concerning the architectural heritage of the kindergartens built in the 1920s and 1930s are confronted today with the current conditions of the buildings and their use. The research on the building practices following construction is related to the results of the inspections carried out to verify the actual state of the external and internal spaces of the buildings under study. This made it possible to identify, understand and draw a picture of permanence and mutations, highlighting recurring problems. What all these buildings have in common, regardless of their current use, is that they have undergone small and/or extensive modifications, additions and replacements. These works have transformed them over time, the traces of which are more or less easily identifiable today. The survey has shown that even the permanence of the same function has involved numerous building interventions over time, implemented because of changed pedagogical, regulatory, comfort and capacity requirements. In this territorial network of buildings, many are still active today as pre-schools, even among those built and/or transformed with projects of a modest scale and character from an architectural point of view and less up to date with respect to the needs of the typology. The future use perspective of the Sant'Elia kindergarten takes on a particular significance if considering its special architectural characteristics, which in the field of children's realizations have always distinguished it as an extraordinary innovative example, and which are still relevant with respect to the most up-to-date guidelines for the ‘School of the Future’ drawn up for the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. If today the continuity of use of many kindergartens in the area encourages the same outlook for the Sant'Elia kindergarten, in the future the destiny of this architecture and the methods of intervention may be a useful example for the other buildings. It is specifically from the indications of the PNRR guidelines that an interesting perspective can be identified for this architecture: integrating the cultural dimension into the day-to-day activity of the kindergarten. The preservation of the function for which this architecture was originally conceived and which has characterized it in the almost ninety years since its construction is further strengthened by the guarantee that this cultural asset is also enjoyed by the community that recognizes its value.
La ricerca ha origine dai quesiti posti dal celebre caso dell’Asilo Sant’Elia, progettato e costruito negli anni ’30 da Giuseppe Terragni, sottoposto a tutela dal 1991, e negli ultimi anni a rischio sia per il mantenimento della sua funzione, sia per le proposte d’intervento avanzate (il cantiere avviato nel 2019 è attualmente sospeso). Tra le icone dell’architettura moderna riconosciute a livello internazionale, l’asilo Sant’Elia è giunto fino all’attualità mantenendo la funzione per cui fu concepito, dopo molteplici interventi che nel tempo ne hanno mutato le componenti materiche e, in parte, formali. La presente ricerca prende in esame un panorama di edifici che sono stati costruiti per ospitare scuole per l’infanzia nel periodo storico compreso tra il 1923, quando la Riforma Gentile riconosce l’asilo infantile come parte del “grado preparatorio” nell’”istruzione elementare” della scuola italiana, e il 1939, quando le politiche di regime conducono all’emanazione della Carta della Scuola, promossa ed elaborata da Giuseppe Bottai. Il contesto culturale, normativo e pedagogico, sin dalle origini, in relazione all’edilizia scolastica, consente di comprendere meglio le tematiche ricorrenti caratterizzanti i luoghi adibiti o costruiti come asili infantili in ambito nazionale, quelle oggetto di grande evoluzione, il radicamento di esempi-tipo e riferimenti consolidati per la loro progettazione. Determinante è innanzitutto il lento passaggio di concezione della finalità dell’asilo infantile, dalla originaria natura assistenziale, all’essere riconosciuto parte dell’istruzione scolastica. L’asilo infantile assume e muta forma, a seconda del linguaggio architettonico adottato e sviluppato, parallelamente all’evoluzione delle questioni igieniste e ad un dinamico dibattito sui principi educativi e sulle forme di insegnamento: il rapporto tra architettura e pedagogia risulta fondamentale per la costituzione di una “casa a misura del bambino”. Il confronto con la cultura architettonica europea nell’ambito degli asili infantili traccia le relazioni e le ricorrenze tra le diverse espressioni, in particolare per le realizzazioni che vengono assunte come riferimento dagli autori dei progetti, la cui ricerca guarda anche oltre al confine nazionale, come avviene per Terragni e, più in generale, agli esponenti del Razionalismo. In ambito internazionale manuali, riviste d’architettura ed esposizioni testimoniano un’ampia divulgazione del tema tipologico. La mostra del 1932 intitolata “Der Neue Schulbau”, interamente incentrata sull’evoluzione dell’edilizia scolastica e sui suoi caratteri ottimali, pone una continua contrapposizione tra “vecchio” e “nuovo”. Negli stessi anni, la situazione sul territorio nazionale è determinata dalla politica in atto che influisce sulle pubblicazioni, andando ad enfatizzare da un punto di vista quantitativo il crescere del numero di strutture in uso come asili infantili, come misura dell’efficacia dell’azione di regime, e i casi considerati ‘esemplari’, ai fini della propaganda. L’ambito della ricerca è circoscritto al contesto geo-culturale della provincia di Como per poter analizzare in modo ravvicinato un panorama di realizzazioni significativo, sia per il numero di casi presi in esame (29 edifici), sia per l’eterogeneità delle caratteristiche architettoniche, sia perché rispecchia la condizione diffusa in molte aree dell’ambito nazionale. È il territorio geograficamente immediato dell’asilo Sant’Elia, e ad un tempo, per gran parte, quello concettualmente più distante rispetto all’architettura razionale dei progettisti (e artisti) vicini a Giuseppe Terragni. La ricerca, svolta in numerosi archivi comunali, parrocchiali, delle scuole dell’infanzia, di associazioni, di professionisti, di università, di enti territoriali, della soprintendenza competente, è stata condotta consultando in gran parte materiali di prima mano, consentendo di conoscere ed analizzare per lo più le inedite vicende di progetti e costruzioni di ciascuna di queste architetture, ponendo in primo piano la loro materialità e le dinamiche complesse che le hanno generate. L’indagine capillare è elaborata considerando come chiave di lettura la questione dell’autorialità – espressioni del Razionalismo lariano ed asili degli architetti del Novecento milanese, permanenze della tradizione storicista e architetture “senza architetti” –, le caratteristiche edilizie e formali, e i riferimenti progettuali. In questa rete di costruzioni dai caratteri anche molto diversi, la maggior parte delle realizzazioni sono ancora radicate a riferimenti edilizi e modelli tipologici tradizionali già ampiamente utilizzati nei primi decenni del XX secolo; gli esempi innovativi, molto più rari, sono in linea con le ricerche progettuali degli autori, coniugando il lessico architettonico con le peculiari esigenze tipologiche. È in questo contesto che si inserisce l’asilo Sant’Elia, le cui vicende di progetto e costruzione, ampiamente indagate, sono state oggetto di una vasta letteratura di carattere internazionale. Tuttavia, la rilettura delle fonti archivistiche, estesa oltre le fasi di progetto, ai lavori di cantiere e ai successivi decenni di vita dell’edificio, fino all’attualità, ha consentito di evidenziare quanto le complesse fasi della costruzione costituiscano la premessa ai problemi della fabbrica e alle sorti dell’edificio. Il parallelo tra l’evoluzione della fortuna critica e le vicende delle ripetute campagne di restauro susseguitesi - opere di diversa concezione, metodologia e risultati -, in relazione ai riferimenti culturali, all’evoluzione disciplinare, all’azione di tutela esercitata dal 1991, consente di comprendere le ripercussioni su questa architettura e sulle possibilità di fruizione. Ad oggi, gli interrogativi aperti rispetto all’eredità architettonica degli asili infantili costruiti negli anni ’20 e ’30 sono posti a confronto con le condizioni attuali degli edifici e il loro uso. La ricerca relativa alle pratiche edilizie successive alla costruzione, posta in relazione agli esiti dei sopralluoghi eseguiti per verificare lo stato di fatto di spazi esterni ed interni degli edifici oggetto di studio, ha consentito di individuare, comprendere e tracciare il quadro delle permanenze e delle mutazioni, ponendo in risalto le questioni ricorrenti. Ciò che accomuna tutti questi edifici, a prescindere dall’uso attuale, è che sono stati oggetto di minori e/o ampie modifiche, addizioni, sostituzioni che li hanno trasformati nel tempo, le cui tracce sono ad oggi più o meno facilmente identificabili. L’indagine ha evidenziato che anche dalla permanenza della medesima funzione sono conseguiti numerosi interventi edilizi nel tempo, attuati in seguito all’evoluzione delle esigenze pedagogiche, normative, di comfort, di capienza delle strutture. Nella rete territoriale di edifici ricostruita, molti sono i casi ad oggi ancora attivi come scuole dell’infanzia, anche tra quelli realizzati e/o trasformati con progetti di entità e caratteri modesti da un punto di vista architettonico e meno aggiornati rispetto alle esigenze della tipologia. La prospettiva d’uso per l’asilo Sant’Elia assume particolare significato se si considerano i suoi peculiari caratteri architettonici che nel contesto delle realizzazioni per l’infanzia lo hanno da sempre contraddistinto come straordinario esempio innovativo, e che risultano ancora attuali rispetto alle più aggiornate linee guida per la “Scuola futura” stilate nell’ambito del Piano Nazionale Ripresa Resilienza. Se ad oggi la permanenza d’uso di molte scuole dell’infanzia del territorio incoraggia la medesima prospettiva per l’asilo sant’Elia, in futuro le sorti di questa architettura e le modalità d’intervento potranno essere d’esempio per le altre sedi. Proprio dalle indicazioni delle linee guida per il PNRR si può individuare una prospettiva d’interesse per questo manufatto architettonico: integrando all’attività quotidiana di scuola dell’infanzia la dimensione culturale. Il mantenimento della funzione per cui questa architettura fu concepita in origine e che l’ha caratterizzata nei quasi novant’anni intercorsi dalla sua realizzazione, viene ancor più valorizzato assicurando anche la fruizione di questo bene culturale alla collettività che ne riconosce tale valore.
L'architettura degli asili infantili negli anni '20 e '30 in provincia di Como e il caso dell'Asilo Terragni, tra istanze di tutela e prospettive d'uso
Greppi, Anna
2023/2024
Abstract
The research originates from the questions concerning the famous Sant'Elia Kindergarten, designed and built in the 1930s by Giuseppe Terragni, internationally recognised as icon of modern architecture, listed since 1991. In recent years, doubts about its maintenance of function and the latest proposals for intervention (the restauration site started in 2019 is currently suspended) have puts its future at risk. This architecture has come down to the present day maintaining the function for which it was conceived, after multiple interventions over time that have changed its material and, in part, formal components. This research examines a panorama of constructions built as kindergartens in the historical period between 1923, when the Gentile Reform recognised them as part of the "preparatory grade" in the "elementary education" of the Italian school, and 1939, when the regime's policies led to the enactment of the School Charter by Giuseppe Bottai. The cultural, regulatory and pedagogical related to school building from its origins provides a better understanding of the recurring themes characterising these architectures in the national context, the innovative aspects, the rootedness of model examples and consolidated references for their design. The slow transition in the conception of the purpose of the kindergarten, from the original welfare nature to recognition as part of school education, is decisive. The kindergarten takes on and changes characteristics, depending on the architectural language chosen, the evolution of hygiene issues, educational principles and methods. The relationship between architecture and pedagogy is fundamental to built a 'child-friendly home'. The comparison with European architectural culture in the field of kindergartens shows the relationships and recurrences between the different expressions. This is particularly significant for the realisations taken as reference by the authors of the projects, whose research also looks beyond national boundaries, as in the case of Terragni and, more generally, the exponents of Rationalism. Manuals, architectural magazines and exhibitions attest to a wide diffusion of the typological theme in the international territory. The 1932 exhibition entitled ‘Der Neue Schulbau’ focused entirely on the evolution of school construction and its optimal characteristics, with a continuous contrast between ‘old’ and ‘new’. In the same years, the Italian situation is determined by the ongoing policy that influences publications. The growing number of structures used as kindergartens is emphasised from a quantitative point of view as a measure of the effectiveness of the regime's action, and realisations considered ‘exemplary’ for propaganda purposes are publicised. The research field is focused on the geo-cultural context of the province of Como in order to be able to closely analyze a significant panorama of realizations: both in terms of the number of cases examined (29 buildings), the heterogeneity of the architectural characteristics, and because it reflects the prevailing condition in many areas of the national context. This is the area geographically closest to the Sant'Elia kindergarten. At the same time, for the most cases, it is the territory conceptually furthest from the rational architecture of the designers (and artists) close to Giuseppe Terragni. The research is based on consultation of numerous municipal, parish, kindergarten, association, professional, university and local authority archives, as well as the superintendencies. The archival documents are mostly ‘first-hand’ and have made it possible to learn and analyze the unpublished history of the design and construction of each of these architectures. The capillary survey is elaborated by considering the question of authorship - expressions of Larian Rationalism and kindergartens by 20th-century Milanese architects, permanence of the historicist tradition and architectures "without architects" -, building and formal characteristics, and design references. In this network of buildings with very different characters, most of the realizations are still based on traditional building references and typological models already widely used in the first decades of the 20th century. The innovative examples, which are much uncommon, are in line with the authors' design research, combining the architectural vocabulary with the specific typological requirements. This is the context for the Sant'Elia kindergarten: the design and construction history has been extensively researched and has been the subject of a vast international literature. However, a re-reading of the archival documents, extending beyond the design phases, to the construction site and the subsequent decades of the building's life, right up to the present day, has made it possible to highlight the extent to which the complex construction phases constitute the premise for the problems of the building and its fate. The parallel between the evolution of the critical fortune and the vicissitudes of the successive restoration campaigns - works of different conception, methodology and results - in relation to the cultural references, disciplinary evolution, and the protective action exercised since 1991, allows us to understand the repercussions on this architecture and the possibilities for its use. The open questions concerning the architectural heritage of the kindergartens built in the 1920s and 1930s are confronted today with the current conditions of the buildings and their use. The research on the building practices following construction is related to the results of the inspections carried out to verify the actual state of the external and internal spaces of the buildings under study. This made it possible to identify, understand and draw a picture of permanence and mutations, highlighting recurring problems. What all these buildings have in common, regardless of their current use, is that they have undergone small and/or extensive modifications, additions and replacements. These works have transformed them over time, the traces of which are more or less easily identifiable today. The survey has shown that even the permanence of the same function has involved numerous building interventions over time, implemented because of changed pedagogical, regulatory, comfort and capacity requirements. In this territorial network of buildings, many are still active today as pre-schools, even among those built and/or transformed with projects of a modest scale and character from an architectural point of view and less up to date with respect to the needs of the typology. The future use perspective of the Sant'Elia kindergarten takes on a particular significance if considering its special architectural characteristics, which in the field of children's realizations have always distinguished it as an extraordinary innovative example, and which are still relevant with respect to the most up-to-date guidelines for the ‘School of the Future’ drawn up for the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. If today the continuity of use of many kindergartens in the area encourages the same outlook for the Sant'Elia kindergarten, in the future the destiny of this architecture and the methods of intervention may be a useful example for the other buildings. It is specifically from the indications of the PNRR guidelines that an interesting perspective can be identified for this architecture: integrating the cultural dimension into the day-to-day activity of the kindergarten. The preservation of the function for which this architecture was originally conceived and which has characterized it in the almost ninety years since its construction is further strengthened by the guarantee that this cultural asset is also enjoyed by the community that recognizes its value.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/224672