La conservazione delle superfici ceramiche nell’ architettura residenziale del secondo Novecento. Materiali e tecniche nel cantiere di restauro del condominio di via Crivelli a Milano / The Conservation of Ceramic Surfaces in Post-War Residential Architecture. Materials and Techniques in the restauration site of the Apartment Building of Via Crivelli in Milan

Abstract

This contribution explores the techniques and materials used in the conservation of ceramic surfaces in residential buildings built in Italy during the second half of the twentieth century – structures that are rarely subject to protection measures, yet represent significant examples of expressive experimentation and technical innovation. These reflections developed within the context of an internship experience at the restoration company ‘Belluschi s.r.l.’, undertaken as part of the doctoral program to which the author belonged. Regular site visits to the restoration works of an apartment building constructed in Milan between 1965 and 1967 – completing the block between Via Carlo Crivelli and Via Quadronno – made it possible to monitor the solutions, techniques, and materials employed in the conservation of the ceramic surfaces of the façades and private terraces. The cream-caramel colored tile cladding on the curvilinear façades exhibited, prior to the start of the restoration, various forms of degradation due to exposure to weathering, as well as localized, unsympathetic replacements that failed to respect the qualities of the original materials. The ceramic elements underwent a range of conservation treatments, from mechanical and chemical cleaning to material and pictorial reintegration. The cement tiles of the terraces, distinguished by a raised white and pink pattern, also showed various forms of deterioration. In addition to mechanical and chemical cleaning, localized reintegration was carried out, along with the installation of a new water drainage system – an intervention that preserved the existing slopes and avoided more invasive work that would have compromised the conservation of the ceramic cladding.