Restauro, ricerca, didattica. Una sperimentazione metodologica per l’intervento sui tessuti storici

This paper illustrates the method and the results of several years of pedagogical experimentation that we carried out at the School of Architecture in Syracuse, in order to investigate the possibility of a fruitful interface between research and teaching. Training students in the field of historical heritage conservation by means of a direct experience creates an opportunity to offer local communities the benefits of academic knowledge and skills and gets students involved in real-life issues. Based on the above considerations, we organised an initial seminar in the historic town centre of Motta Camastra in 2007, attended by students from the Restoration Laboratory. In the years that followed, we repeated the experiment, with increasing awareness, in seminars at Tussillo and Villa Sant’Angelo (L’Aquila), following the 2009 earthquake, and at Marignane in France. The methodological approach we present attempts to generate a critical mass of proposals and points of view. The continuous feedback that is generated by combining research and teaching becomes an effective way of bringing students closer to research methodology and encourages teamwork. It also allows universities to tackle the challenge of engaging with the demands of society and to develop ‘third mission’ activities.