Vol. 33 No. 1 Special Issue, vol. II (2025): Oltre il Novecento. Teoria e prassi per il "Restauro del Moderno"
Il cantiere / Conservation/restoration site

West Star

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  • Michelangelo Pivetta,
  • Giovanni Minutoli
Michelangelo Pivetta
Dipartimento di Architettura, Università degli Studi di Firenze
Giovanni Minutoli
Dipartimento di Architettura, Università degli Studi di Firenze
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/rar-19079

Published 2025-12-12

Keywords

  • Bunker,
  • Cold War,
  • Nato,
  • Atomic,
  • Refuge

How to Cite

Pivetta, M., & Minutoli, G. (2025). West Star. Restauro Archeologico, 33(1 Special Issue, vol. II), 308–313. https://doi.org/10.36253/rar-19079

Copyright (c) 2025 Michelangelo Pivetta, Giovanni Minutoli

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

SITE B is the anti-nuclear bunker now known as West Star, located in the municipality of Affi, in the province of Verona. Due to its size and state of preservation, it represents a historical and engineering heritage of extraordinary significance – not only for Italy, but for Europe as a whole. Excavated into Monte Moscal, which overlooks the town of Affi, the bunker extends over approximately 13,000 square meters and includes more than one hundred rooms within concrete-lined tunnels, more than 200 meters underground. Built between 1960 and 1966, it stands as a silent witness to its era and is one of the largest protected military-origin sites in Italy. The project for its conservation and enhancement stems from research conducted by the Department of Architecture of the University of Florence, funded by the Municipality of Affi. The multidisciplinary team worked with the aim of developing three main lines of action: recovering and reorganizing documentary materials, outlining an initial plan for conservative restoration, and proposing a musealization project.

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