Conservare e ‘rivelare’ Ostia: per una rilettura dei restauri della prima metà del Novecento

Abstract

Restoration work carried out at Ostia in the past century, often the subject of negative appreciation, deserves a thorough critical review. Keeping in mind the ideological constraints of the time, the issue of reconstruction can be followed through the close bond then existing between the historical value of architecture and the culture of project. A methodological procedure by which the transmission of the monuments’ identity also meant a ‘revealing’ interpretation, and not merely conservation as such or contemplation of the archaeological ruins.