Military Barracks as Cultural Heritage in Italy: A Comparison between before-1900- and 1900-to-1950-Built Barracks

Abstract

Este artículo aborda el papel fundamental que puede desempeñar el patrimonio cultural en los procesos de desarrollo local para garantizar el bienestar de la comunidad, la calidad de vida y de la sociedad. La puesta en valor de los valores materiales e inmateriales del patrimonio cultural puede dar lugar a un territorio sostenible y resiliente, pero surgen una serie de problemas cuando se trata de reutilizar determinados bienes heredados, como los antiguos cuarteles militares. El presente trabajo realiza un análisis de los antiguos cuarteles militares italianos construidos antes de 1900 y entre 1900 a 1950, para comprender cómo se lleva a cabo su reutilización y cómo se abordan los enfoques conservadores y lucrativos para lograr la sostenibilidad cultural, económica, medioambiental y social. Además, se compara el caso italiano con buenas prácticas internacionales similares para descubrir tendencias comunes/diferentes y soluciones innovadoras que puedan aplicarse en Italia.

This paper addresses the fundamental role that cultural heritage can play in local development processes to guarantee community wellbeing, quality of life, and quality of society. The enhancement of cultural heritage’s tangible and intangible values may result in sustainable and resilient territory, but a number of issues emerge when dealing with the reuse of specific inherited assets, such as former military barracks. This paper conducts an in-depth analysis of these assets, especially those released from the military after the end of the Cold War. We thus explore the Italian case through the comparison of before-1900 and 1900-to-1950 former military barracks. The objectives are the following. First, to discover how these two types of military sites are approached (or no) as proper heritage. Second, to understand how the reuse management is carrying out and how it deals with conservative and profit-driven approaches towards the achievement of cultural, economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Third, to compare the Italian case with similar international good practices to discover common/different trends and innovative solutions to be applied in Italy.