Scientific Journal on Architecture and Cultural Heritage "DISEGNARECON” is an international, on-line, diamond open access and blind peer reviewed scientific journal focused on researches and case studies in the different fields of cultural heritage, and in particular on built heritage study, representation, communication, and valorization, in relation to the multiple tangible and intangible dimensions. A particular interest is paid to the topics related to graphical and visual aspects. DISEGNARECON is a wording made by two different Italian polysemantic words: "disegnare" (means "drawing" but also "design") + "con" ("with" or "through"). The journal invites submissions aiming to favor the discussion and debate between scholars of different fields. The journal is published by the University of L’Aquila (Italy). Editor in Chief: Stefano Brusaporci. Deputy Editor: Pamela Maiezza. Journal Manager: Alessandra Tata. Editorial Board: Mirco Cannella, Giulia Flenghi, Alfonso Forgione, Alessia Garozzo, Romina Nespeca, Maria Laura Rossi, Andrea Ruggieri, Elena Simeoni, Francesco Stilo, Alessandra Tata, Luca Vespasiano. Scientific committee: [Italy] Giuseppe Amoruso, Marcello Balzani, Cristiana Bartolomei, Stefano Bertocci, Carlo Bianchini, Fabio Bianconi, Massimiliano Campi, Mario Centofanti, Enrico Cicalò, Paolo Clini, Simonetta Ciranna, Marco Antonio D'Arcangeli, Antonella Di Luggo, Francesca Fatta, Andrea Giordano, Maria Luisa Iavarone, Elena Ippoliti, Massimiliano Lo Turco, Alessandro Luigini, Michele Maccherini, Francesco Maggio, Silvia Mantini, Roberto Mingucci, Patrizia Montuori, Antonella Nuzzaci, Caterina Palestini, Chiara Panciroli, Luca Pezzuto, Adriana Rossi, Daniele Rossi, Michele Russo, Rossella Salerno, Roberta Spallone, Ilaria Trizio, Ornella Zerlenga, Franca Zuccoli; [Argentina] Mauro Chiarella; [Brazil] Altino Barbosa Caldeira, Ana Clara Mourão Moura, Simone Helena Tanoue Vizioli; [France] Livio De Luca; [Germany] Dominik Lengyel; [New Zealand] Renata Jadresin-Milic; [Poland] Tomasz Jelenski; [Spain] Pilar Chias Navarro, Pablo Rodriguez-Navarro, Pedro-Manuel Cabezos Bernal, Teresa Gil Piqueras; [UK-China] Eugene Ch'ng. Indexed in SCOPUS Indexed in WoS Emerging Sources Citation Index Indexed in DOAJ Indexed in SJR Indexed in ERIH PLUS Indexed in Sherpa Romeo Rated by ANVUR (Italian National agency for the evaluation of universities and research institutes) as “CLASS A” Journal for the following scientific Areas: 08/C1 Design and technological planning of architecture; 08/D1 Architectural design; 08/E1 Drawing; 08/E2 Architectural restoration and history. Rated by ANVUR as "Scientific Journal” for Italian Scientific Areas: Area 08 - Architecture; Area 10 - Ancient, philological-literary and historical-artistic sciences; Area 11 - Historical, philosophical, pedagogical and psychological sciences.
UNIVAQ - Università degli Studi dell'Aquila
The authors who choose to publish on this journal are agree to the following terms: The authors retain the rights on their work and leave to the journal the right of first publication of the work. The work is simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Licence 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).This license allows others to share the work indicating the authorship and the first publication of this journal. The authors can join to other non-exclusive licensing agreements for the distribution of the published version of the work (example: deposit it in an institutional repository or publish it in a monograph), as long as they indicate that the work was first published in this journal. The authors can disseminate their work online (example: in an institutional repositories or on their website) sooner or during the submission process, as this can lead to productive exchanges and increase the number of citations of the published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
The Values of Drawing in Architectural Archives: Between Enhancement and Innovation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.ed
The Graphic Legacy of Zvi Hecker: Towards an Archive of Intellectual Complexity
The cultural legacy of the architect and artist Zvi Hecker (Kraków, 1931 – Berlin, 2023) stands as a paradigmatic example of how diverse graphic modes can testify to the enduring dialogue between thought and drawing manifested in art, architecture, and daily life. But how can such a legacy be effectively communicated? How might we analyse and render accessible the extraordinary aesthetic and creative research on form as it evolves into a project? We pose these questions to two individuals who, in different ways, in the latest years have closely accompanied the work of this great architect, who passed away in 2023. Paolo Fontana collaborated with Hecker for over twenty years, serving as his right hand in the Berlin studio; while Paola Ardizzola is the scholar who, since 2019, has been dedicated to the academic study and dissemination of Hecker’s work, with whom she had established a profound intellectual affinity. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.1
The preserved drawing: a critical inquiry for the culture of architectural representation
Architectural archives are solidifying their identity as the custodians of architecture's ideational and realization processes and their transformations. The documentation they hold, while bearing witness to past processes, reveals values intrinsic to the source itself. This essay focuses on the role of preserved drawings, especially in the digital transition, where their static nature evolves into dynamic and interpretive use. Its classification and description within archives, although still lacking a specific form for architectural drawing, follows international and national standards (ISAD(G), ISAAR(CPF), ICCD), aiming for uniformity and interoperability. The contribution of architectural representation experts is clear. Through semantic graphic analysis and the implementation of digital transcriptions (such as vectorization and 3D modeling), they can enrich documentary units with unprecedented informational layers. These processes reveal intentions and solutions not immediately evident in the original, generating new informational content. The evolution towards integrated systems, such as SIA and I.PaC, in Italy promises to overcome existing fragmentations, making the vast national archival heritage more accessible and interpretable through cross-domain knowledge graphs and advanced AI-based services. The multidisciplinary synergy among drawing researchers and other professionals is indispensable to ensure that architectural drawing remains a living and dynamic source, fully valued for its scientific research and cultural representation. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.2
documentaBIM: a prototype for the valorization of the Archivio storico della Presidenza della Repubblica
The current digital ubiquity of archives imposes an increasingly sophisticated reading and use of archival tools. Simultaneously, it multiplies the possibilities and methods for supporting the public use of documentary memory, even though computable conceptual models of descriptions, and progressively transforms archival data usage into knowledge usage. In this research scenario, the present paper focuses on conception of an interface for the use of digital archives, shaped by the encounter of two distinct informational typologies: the architecture and the document. Specifically, the disciplinary tools of architectural representation, in their most current digital declinations, are here employed to develop the user experience of the new archives, adopting computable conceptual models (ontologies) adaptable to multiple informational models. The proposed method – that we called documentaBIM – adopts the current structure of Building Information Modelling (BIM), proposing a theoretical and methodological shift. The traditional workflow of Heritage BIM – in its most updated version substantiated by the application of ontologies – is, here, applied in reverse as a tool to access and enable the spatial and semantic interrogation of archival data, related to the three-dimensional representation of an architectural model. The first prototype of documentaBIM is developed for the Archivio storico della Presidenza della Repubblica (ASPR) and, once adequately implemented and tested, will be integrated into a specific Section of the Portale of the ASPR and populated through the digital objects preserved in the associated Digital Library. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.3
From archival research to the digitization of existing architectural heritage: methods and processes compared
The study presented aims to experiment with the various possible applications of 3D modeling, both parametric and non-parametric, using historical and project archives as the primary source for acquiring documentation. The initial questions posed were: What are the peculiarities of the different types of approach? What are the outcomes in terms of content and reliability? Indeed, the different types of modeling lead to different considerations and conclusions, along with methodological approaches that require unequal specific attention. The main objective is to explore the possibility of digitizing built heritage using 3D modeling, both parametric (according to the BIM process) and non-parametric, starting from the information, as mentioned, contained in the documents from historical archives, project documents, and all relevant archives. The research undertaken introduces some initial limitations, focusing particularly on the digitization of protected heritage and properties owned by public administrations. The case studies addressed for the development of the theme are identified in two buildings by Ignazio Gardella and the historic Palazzo del Governatore in Parma. The selected outcomes were subjected, respectively, to non-parametric 3D modeling and parametric BIM modeling, highlighting the differences in modeling management processes, which are highly correlated with archival research. The aim is to understand how to effectively use both techniques, both to digitize architectural heritage and to optimize the conservation and management of its information. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.4
Drawing as witness. The Betta-Bardelli Archive between historical memory and digital innovation
In recent years, architecture and project archives have gained growing significance in cultural and scientific spheres. Universities, originally focused on preserving their own institutional memory, are now increasingly acting as custodians of broader architectural heritage through legacies and donations. This is the case of the Betta-Bardelli archive, housed in the DISEG Department of the Politecnico di Torino. The archive documents the professional careers of architects Pietro Betta and Felice Bardelli from the post-war period to the 1980s, with a specific focus on the Turin area and northern Italy. The ongoing research and valorization project explores innovative digital tools for organizing, representing, and communicating the archive’s contents. Interactive maps and navigable virtual environments have been developed to allow users to access drawings and simplified 3D reconstructions, enriched with historical and technical data. The initiative highlights key themes such as social housing (especially INA-Casa projects), public service buildings, and religious architecture, analyzed at different design scales - from urban plans to construction details. One emblematic case study is the INA-Casa office building located at the corner of Via Giolitti and Via Lagrange in Turin. The project is documented through a wide range of materials, from photographs of wartime dam- age to structural calculations and detailed construction drawings. This archive thus becomes both a tool for re- search and a medium for narrating urban trans- formation processes through interactive maps and information models linked to and drawings of the historical Archive. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.5
Architectural archives in digital era: research and teaching strategies for the study of unknown heritage
Architectural drawing archives encompass a di-verse range of materials—technical, artistic, textual, and bureaucratic—that reflect the interdisciplinary nature of architectural practice. These heterogeneous yet interrelated documents play a crucial role in the conception, development, and realization of projects, and demand tailored strategies for description, preservation, and dissemination. This contribution presents the methodological framework developed for the census, cataloging, and digitization of the Drawings Ar-chive (AD) at the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture (DICAr), University of Pavia. Initiated in 2023, the project addresses both research and teaching objectives, focusing on the integration of analog and digital archival practices. The pilot phase centers on the archive of Architect and Professor Giuseppe Sebastiano Locati, the most extensive collection within AD. Each drawing is analyzed in terms of graphic, technical, and historical attributes, allowing for the reconstruction of archival relationships and thematic groupings inspired by Locati’s monographic logic (1936). This approach not only enables effective access to information but also redefines each drawing as a node within a dynamic system of knowledge. The project further investigates the role of digital tools in architectural historiography and heritage valorization. A case study on Locati’s temporary pavilions for the 1906 Milan International Exhibition exemplifies the potential of digital reconstruction. Through student-led initiatives and international workshops, historical drawings were transformed into 2D and 3D models, allowing for immersive and interactive explorations of lost architecture. These virtual simulations serve as critical tools for the reinterpretation and reactivation of ephemeral heritage through digital storytelling. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.6
Geo-visualisation applied to archival heritage: a transversal interpretation of historical architectural projects
The Historical Municipal Archive of Cadiz preserves a signiﬁcant collection of documents that has been created by the Town Hall since 1596, the year in which the city was sacked by Anglo-Dutch troops and all previous documents were lost. The collection includes a series of plans and façade elevations of the various architectural interventions carried out on the city’s buildings in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Currently, the archive lacks a ﬂexible and systema8sed digital tool that would enable swift access to this very interesting graphic documentation. Subsequent to having ﬁrst corrected the errors in the catalogue and having selected the relevant information to be highlighted, the research carried out focuses on the analysis of all the surviving graphic documents and the creation of a digital database. With the help of this new database, all the preserved plans are inserted into a digital urban cartography and georeferenced with the highlighted information in a GIS tool. In this way, accessibility to the informa8on and consultation of the collec8on has been improved. Lastly, the GIS tool has enabled us to carry out various quan8ta8ve analyses with spa8al georeferencing of the architectural projects received in several categories, including those of architects, periods of execu8on, type of architectural intervention, buildings with the highest number of in- terven8ons, and neighbourhoods with the most projects. These analyses shed light on the evolution and architectural development of the city in the period under study. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.7
The Gran Sasso imagined in archive documents, unrealized tourist and sports projects for the highest mountain of the Appennines
The State Archives of L’Aquila preserve within little-explored fonds projects, plans and programmes concerning mountain contexts of high naturalistic value, traces of which can be found in archive drawings, from which emerge the ambitions of a bygone, albeit close, time. Signif¬icant among many of these unrealised plans is the 1964 Gran Sasso d’Italia Tourist and Sports Enhancement Plan, a mountain that hosts the highest peak in the Apennines. As early as 1934, its tourist vocation was determined with the con¬struction of the first cableway in central-southern Italy on its southern side, rising up the valley of L’Aquila and culminating in a hotel at 2130 metres above sea level. However, it was not until the 1960s that the site was the subject of extensive tourism planning based on a project by architect Luigi Orestano, which spread over the 26 km of carriageable road connecting the cable car sta¬tions, providing accommodations up to 10.000 people, numerous sports facilities and the con¬struction of 35 ski lifts. Very few works were completed, some of which are now in a state of disrepair. The archive drawings reveal a territorial surreality that would have radically changed the way of living and inhabiting the territory. The wealth of content and graphic designs, identified and filed, has given rise to a database in which ‘digital objects’, endowed with attributes and geolocated, return a heritage that is often unrealised1, but essential for understanding territorial developments and the social dynamics of places. Of this ‘heritage’, the present study focuses exclu¬sively on unrealised works. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.8
Archival documentation and Informed Modeling. New opportunities for knowledge and enhancement of Architectural Archives
The history of the Universal Exposition in Rome, known as “E42,” is connected to a period of sig­nificant political, social, cultural, and economic transformations at both national and international levels. It also coincided with profound changes in architecture, urban planning, design, and the emerging construction industry. Like other major building projects of that era - such as the University City, the Foro Italico in Rome, and the new foundation cities at the national level - E42 represents a new way of understanding architecture, both from a design perspective and in terms of the entire construction process. The relevant historical documentation is now preserved at the Central State Archive, a building whose location is an integral part of the original E42 project. A substantial portion of this documentation relates to architectural plans and projects. The archive not only contains graphic documentation but also includes all the records that doc­ument the entire construction process - often complex, layered, and evolving over time. This documentation is essential for understanding a cultural heritage recognized as both material and immaterial. The study therefore focuses on representing architecture as a visual language and a synthetic expression of ideas related to space and aesthetics. It considers new forms of digital representation - such as informed, parametric, and virtual perceptive models - that are crucial for an innovative use of archival materials. These tools can enhance our knowledge and understanding of this important historical asset. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.9
Central Technical Archive of Construction in Tirana, between two totalitarian political systems
The Central Technical Construction Archive (AQTN) represents a key institution for the preservation of technical documentary heritage in Albania, safeguarding valuable materials that span a wide historical period, from the early years of the communist regime to the present day. This archival structure contains construction projects, technical documentation, urban plans, building standards, and graphic materials that reflect the country’s urban, architectural, and engineering development over the decades. This paper presents a chronological and thematic analysis of the organization of AQTN, including its division according to historical periods and the main categories of preserved documentation. Special attention is given to the archive’s importance for scientific research, urban planning, and the protection of technical heritage, as well as to the challenges related to digitization and public access to its collections. Through specific examples of preserved projects, the paper highlights the transformation of construction and planning concepts in Albania, revealing the intertwining of ideological, technical, and economic influences in the development of the built environment. This work aims to raise awareness of AQTN’s significance as a unique resource for interdisciplinary studies in the fields of architecture, engineering, urban history, and cultural heritage. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.10
The effects of the Peninsular War on the cartographic production of Zaragoza
TThis article documents and analyses the evo¬lution of historical cartographies of the city of Zaragoza and the effects that the French invasion (1808-1814) had on their production. The stra¬tegic enclave that the city constitutes in the na¬tional framework, as well as its special resistance to the subjugation of the invading army, repre¬sented by the two important Sieges of Zaragoza (1808 and 1809), led to the production of numer¬ous maps as graphic support by foreign agents. In particular, the French army initially made use of existing plans compiled before the outbreak of the invasion; however, these documents were notoriously deficient in accuracy and scale, which led to poor planning and ultimately to the failure of the first siege. After this, and with a view to a new attack, the French military engineering corps undertook intensive topographical survey work, both city and its immediate surroundings, the quality and detail of which proved decisive for military success in 1809. In this research we have documented this graphic material, mostly unpub¬lished, by consulting different European historical archives, allowing us to learn about the develop¬ment and scope of the prospective work carried out around the city of Zaragoza. These cartogra¬phies not only reflect the urban configuration, the defences and its territory, but also incorporate strategic information relating to the planning of the attacks, the position of the troops and the objectives of the attacks to achieve the surrender of the city; all of which allows us to understand the extent of these actions, the landscape transformations carried out and their consequences for the city and its architectural heritage. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.11
The archive of Fernando Higueras: Sketches and graphic process of the school building competition, 1967
The Madrid architect Fernando Higueras (1930 - 2008) and the value of drawing in his archives are the object of this research, aiming to light his work methodology, based on an enriching crea¬tive process between valorization and innovation of the architect’s projects. This research is based on the archives of the Fernando Higueras Foun¬dation and the Historical Service of the Official College of Architects of Madrid. The proposed objectives are to study the architect’s design processes through physical archives, focusing on unpublished drawings produced for the nation¬al competition for school buildings in 1967. A second objective is to confront invariants of his architecture in projects already developed or in simultaneous development with the case study. Finally, a third objective is to analyze the back¬ground of these projects, as well as their mate¬rialization in a work built after the competition, such as the Aljarafe School. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.12
VOICES FROM THE ARCHIVE. The archive as a testimony of the processes
The approach to the work of Finnish architects Raili and Reima Pietilä inevitably involves the analysis of the documentation preserved in their collection, housed in the archives of the Arkkitehtuurimuseo – the Museum of Finnish Architecture (MFA). Their process-driven design methodology is reflected in thousands of documents that trace the evolution of their innovative architectural and landscape concepts during the second half of the twentieth century. Donated by Raili Pietilä in 2004, the collection remains largely undigitised, with only a small portion catalogued within the MFA’s main archive; the remainder is held in the museum’s general repository. This article aims to recover and underscore the value of intermediate drawings in the for- mal development of architectural ideas, positioning them as key instruments for reconstructing the architects’ conceptual and design processes. It posits that the materials generated during project development are fundamental to understanding the logic and articulation of the final architectural proposals. To address the substantial volume of unpublished and non-digitised material, a specific research methodology has been developed. The study focuses on a single case: the Dipoli building (1961– 1966), with particular attention to the distinctive skylights of its organic roof structure. The findings are presented through graphic compositions that reveal the fluidity and iterative nature of the design process. The originality of the study lies in its visual interpretation of archival material, presenting a graphic narrative that enriches the understanding of the Pietiläs’ architectural practice. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.13
Between construction and drawing: the Archive of the Barbieri Company of Castel Maggiore (BO) and the evolution of architectural technique
The technical archive of the Barbieri company, based in Castel Maggiore, represents a documentary source of extraordinary relevance for the study of construction developments between the 19th and 20th centuries. It effectively testifies to the activity of an industrial enterprise that operated for over a century in the fields of metal construction, applied mechanics, and refrigeration systems. A preliminary analysis of the graphic materials preserved in the archive – the only surviving ev¬idence after the flooding of the Navile stream – has brought to light several noteworthy projects, including drawings related to structural consoli¬dation, iron roofing, and theatrical structures. Among these stand out the works carried out for the Mercato delle Erbe in Bologna, the Apollo Theatre in Lecce, the stage of the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, the iron centring for the Palazzo del Podestà, and the bracing system for the Torre degli Asinelli. These projects, pertaining to both design and restoration, highlight the eclecticism of the workshop and its central role throughout its operational history, allowing us to reconstruct not only the technical solutions adopted but also the cultural and operational contexts in which they developed. Due to the quality and variety of its documen¬tation, the Barbieri Archive stands as an exem¬plary case of how corporate graphic production can become a subject of study and valorisation. Its preservation – now more urgent than ever – must involve structured processes of digitisation and cataloguing, in accordance with national regulations and the ministerial platforms for cultural heritage management. This study therefore seeks to foster a reflection on the historical and technical value of these materials, encouraging broader collaboration between public institutions and private entities for their conservation and accessibility. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.14
Aschieri’s contribution to urban planning studies for the city of Rome in the ‘la Burbera’ group: ‘lesser’ drawings as a design path
This contribution address drawing as it pertains to the specific aspect of design in the ideation stage. The analysis focuses on the graphics, and even informal design sketches, produced by Pietro Aschieri in his studies to develop a hypothesis for a new Regulatory Plan for the capital. In 1929, a controversial, unofficial competition on the fate of urban planning in the capital was sparked be- tween two groups of designers: the Roman urban planning group and the ‘la Burbera’ group to which Aschieri pertained, coordinated by Marcello Piacentini and Gustavo Giovannoni, respectively. This contribution therefore aims to investigate the graphical ideation of the solutions that, while not being included - at least graphically - in the set of published drawings, not only document the author’s graphical/stylistic style, but also allow us to suppose/imagine some aspects relating to the working methods. This is true even in terms of combining the intents of the participants in the design group. The documents considered and presented here come from the set of graphics entitled ‘Studio urbanistico per la città di Roma’ [Urban planning study for the City of Rome] from the Fondo Pietro Aschieri housed at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.15
«Life and Forms» of Ancient Ostia in the line of an unbroken tradition. Vincenzo Fasolo’s archive and its contribution to history teaching at Rome’s Faculty of Architecture
Ostia, Rome’s ancient emporium and port, was only systematically excavated in the early 20th century under Guido Calza, who had served as its superintendent there since 1912. This delay in excavation, compared to other ancient cities, linked its rediscovery to debates on contemporary city construction. The excavations had an immediate impact on architectural publications and education, particularly at the Rome’s School of Architecture. Due to its proximity, the site fostered a shared commitment among faculty members to integrate ancient architectural knowledge into new urban forms. Vincenzo Fasolo, professor of History and Styles of Architecture since 1925, emphasized an interpretation of history as an “unbroken line” of “styles” and “forms” from antiquity to the present. Ostia became central to this vision, as it uniquely preserved an authentic “image” of Rome, a distinction already emphasized by Calza in 1912. Fasolo’s lectures featured detailed studies of Ostia’s buildings and urban environment, as documented in his own drawings, those pro­duced by his students, and a collection of publications (1911-1941) preserved in his personal archive at the Archivio Storico Capitolino in Rome. This research examines unpublished materials from Fasolo’s archive, which reveal his method of using drawing as a tool to synthesize and reinterpret Ostia’s architectural and urban values. His approach mirrored the perspectives of Calza and Gustavo Giovannoni, forming a “History” of “Life and Forms” that bridged architecture and archaeology. Fasolo’s work demonstrates how Ostia influenced architectural education in the 1920s-1930s, during the years when his course was attended by notable students, such as Adalberto Libera, Mario Ridolfi, Luigi Moretti, and Ludovico Quaroni. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.16
Archive Drawings of the Monastic Complex of Santa Maria della Vita in Naples. Reflections and Visualizations of the Original Plan Layout
Through the critical analysis and investigation of archive drawings of the Church of Santa Maria della Vita in Naples, and by adopting a multi-scalar approach that integrates data of different nature (cartographic, textual, and graphic), this study aims to reconstruct the original plan layout of the Carmelite monastic complex up to its late 17th-century expansion. Furthermore, the research seeks to provide an initial form of cultural accessibility (information and content) to an architectural complex that remains largely unknown to the local community, as its church is part of Naples’ religious heritage but is currently closed for worship. The objective is to represent the intrinsic values of this religious site and its contextualization within a hillside urban block characterized by different altitude levels. This approach aims to achieve a refined and scholarly survey operation, where the informed and mature management of graphic representation goes beyond mere data accuracy, allowing for hypotheses on the original spatial configuration. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.17
Unveiling Italian Architectural Heritage in Brazil through traditional and digital archives
The architectural heritage of a city reflects the culture that shaped it. In Brazil, between 1870 and 1920, European migrants, including many Italians, left a lasting mark on urban landscapes. Italians contributed as builders, engineers, and architects, introducing styles and techniques that shaped emerging cities. This influence is evident in Jaú and São Carlos (São Paulo), where Italian-inspired eclectic architecture remains visible. This research, part of “KNOW.it – Transition in Digital Age: KNOWing our background to refine our future” PRIN 2022 PNRR project, explores and digitizes this heritage, focusing on formal and technical aspects. It highlights the importance of architectural drawings and aims to increase recognition of these cultural landmarks, emphasizing Italy’s deep impact on Brazil’s urban fabric. Despite their history, Jaú and São Carlos’s architectural heritage remains largely unknown. Archives holding original designs help uncover works by lesser-known architects, shedding light on their stylistic traits. The study examines graphic documentation, project records, and supply chains to trace architectural vocabulary and construction methods. However, Brazil’s documentary heritage is fragmented, with many records scattered or incomplete. KNOW.it project began by cataloging archival documents. This paper focuses on these phases, followed by graphical analysis to define architectural language and styles linked to Italian workers. Digital models compare original designs with existing structures, deepening the study of Brazilian eclecticism. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.18
Historical Images of the Pinelo Palace in Seville
One of the wealthiest merchants in Seville at the end of the 15th century, the Genoese Francisco Pinelo, funder of the second voyage to America by Christopher Columbus, commissioned a Renaissance palace which in subsequent years would have different uses and transformations, reflected in images found in public and private archives. This research gathers and analyzes for the first time said graphic legacy, in relation with other documentary sources and the current architectural reality. The revision of data on its origins reveals an outstanding text from 1542 describing the palace when it belonged to the Cathedral of Seville. The first identified plan, a work by José Álvarez in 1790, shows only the plot drawn. Towards 1830, Richard and Harriet Ford illustrated the main courtyard, and in 1869, the architect Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt published two drawings of said patio, which hosted a children school after its disentailment. Between 1885 and 1964, the palace was transformed into the Pensión Don Marcos, as shown in different postcards and photographs. In 1954, the palace was declared a national monument, then expropriated in 1964. The architect Jesús Gómez Millán draw the first distribution plan and directed the consolidation works between 1967 and 1971. Professor Rafael Manzano restored the palace between 1969 and 1981 for its current use as venue of the Reales Academias de Buenas Letras y de Bellas Artes. In the 21st century, other drawings were accomplished using both traditional and digital techniques. This selection of images is essential to understand the transformations and disseminate the architectural legacy of the Pinelo Palace as a true symbol of its identity. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.19
Plans and drawings by Leopoldo Torres Balbás in archival holdings: analysis and interpretation
The important legacy of the architect Leopoldo Torres Balbás (Madrid, 1888-1960) has been extensively studied in all the fields in which he excelled. However, according to his own words, expressed in an article signed under a pseudonym in 1920, he lacked skills as a draftsman. Whether this claim is true or not, understanding how Torres Balbás approached drawing, identifying his assistants and collaborators, and examining what distinguishes the plans created under his guidance and what he drew, are the key objectives of this article. These will help us explore his role as a draftsman through an analysis of the archival materials that have been preserved. They are distributed among various Spanish archives, which hold original documents by or belonging to Torres Balbás. However, their authorship is not always clearly indicated, as with some of the graphic materials accompanying his publications, which make up a bibliography of over 300 scientific works. Therefore, methodologically, after searching for documentary sources, selecting the principal graphic documents, and comparing them with the drawings illustrating his articles, it has been possible to determine their author¬ship and subsequently analyse and systematise the vast graphic material preserved by the architect. Finally, the research carried out has been possible, first, to gain a deeper understanding of Torres Balbás’s figure and his real skills in graphic matters; second, to identify the key figures that helped and collaborated with him: draftsmen, architects, students, etc.; and third, to uncover his actual relationship with drawing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.20
The unpublished archive of architect Matías Fernández-Fígares: reconstructing Granada in the 1920’s
The architect Matías Fernández-Fígares carried out his prolific professional career in Granada (Spain) during one of the most fascinating periods in the urban and architectural development of this city, being the author of several iconic buildings in Granada from the 1920s and 1930s. In 2004, part of his personal archive was donated to the School of Architecture of Granada. The documentation contained therein, comprising over one hundred and forty projects executed between 1914 and 1935, began to be digitized and thoroughly analysed many years later, in 2024, thanks to the involvement of several researchers as an initial outcome of this research, the present article focuses on the rental housing projects developed by this architect, a typology of European origin that was introduced in Granada at the end of the 19th century. Thirty-one files corresponding to this typology have been identified, encompassing both renovations and new construction projects. Unpublished plans and drawings of the original proposals of some buildings that are still standing have been discovered, revealing that they were not built as originally conceived. The analysed documentation also provides interesting insights into the material supports, graphic language, and working methods used by Matías Fernández-Fígares. Furthermore, it sheds light on the remarkable evolution of his architectural style in just fifteen years, moving from historicism to regionalism and culminating in rationalism. Finally, the projects contained in this personal archive also offer a gaze into Granada society at the beginning of the 20th century, dominated by a flourishing bourgeois elite that sought large-scale transformations of the city’s historical and architectural heritage. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.21
Drawing as a tool of thought and construction: architecture through the archive of Paride Pozzi
This study highlights the importance of research on architectural archives and, in particular, on those relating to lesser-known provincial designers. One such archive is that of Paride Pozzi, which testifies to the central role of drawing in the design and construction process. Encompassing an extensive collection of sketches, technical drawings, notes, and correspondence, the as-yet unpublished corpus—declared of historical interest in 2001—remains to be classified and reveals that drawing for this designer served as more than merely a representational medium, functioning instead as a true instrument of thought, analysis, and communication. The proposed research, based on the analysis of archival materials through graphic representation, aims to integrate both a graphic and a historical-critical analysis of the drawings with three-dimensional reconstruction techniques, in order to document the design phases and preserve the cultural identity. The Architect Paride Pozzi (1895-1981) was born in Rivarolo Mantovano, from 1919 to 1922, he studied at the Regio Istituto di Belle Arti di Parma, where he graduated from the Special Architecture Course and became a professor of Architectural Drawing. In 1937 he settled in Pescara, in the Abruzzo region, where in the post-war period he made a significant contribution to the local architectural scene. The drawings in the archive range from pencil sketches to detailed ink plates on tracing paper, reflecting a sustained and in-depth practice of drawing as a means of exploring architectural ideas. Pozzi used multiple hypotheses and explored formal possibilities on paper to bring his ideas into focus. This approach embodies a compositional methodology typical of twentieth-century professionals, in which the selective process of multiple variations becomes fundamental in deciding which design hypothesis to develop. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.22
In November 2015, the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca acquired, through a donation, the Marescotti Fund and in 2019 completed its inventory. The Accademia’s website, in the Archives section, contains the registry of the documents acquired and catalogued from FFM 01 to FFM 219, as well as three sections called FFM/Various, FFM/Personal and FFM/Didactics, respectively. The documents catalogued as FFM 41 and FFM 38 most likely represent the contents of the plates of the famous “manual” in fascicles by Irenio Diotallevi and Franco Marescotti whose publishing project, with respect to the planned schedule, was not completed. The work contains a panel on the single-family house presented in 1945 in Catania at the “Prima Mostra del problema nazionale della casa”, so there is presumably a “graphic” point of contact between the two files in the archive. The design of the house is well known, as it has been published in the manual as well as in other texts; this may lead one to think that, once made public, the archive document loses some of its value, as it is removed from oblivion. The role of the archive, on the other hand, is not only to preserve a given original document, which in any case remains a unique entity, a direct witness to the genesis of the project, but also to nurture its memory. The pretext of the study of Diotallevi and Marescotti’s plates, and in particular the patio house of the “Città del Sole”, conducted also through the results of an “analogue” didactic experience, goes along this path with the intention of nourishing the archive itself with new graphic content. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.23
Preserving the modern architectural heritage in São Paulo. The case of the Decio Tozzi collection
The article discusses the preservation and digitalization process of the Decio Tozzi architectural collection at the State University of Campinas. The collection, donated in 2018, includes drawings, photos, models, and other documents from Tozzi’s 50-year career. The preservation process involves cleaning, cataloging, digitalizing, and creating 2D and 3D models of the projects. The digital preservation efforts aim to safeguard the collection and make it accessible for researches and public dissemination. Challenges include handling fragile materials, ensuring ethical use, and maintaining digital files. We digitalized 32 projects and produced 10 complete redrawings, both 2D and 3D. These results demonstrated that identifying details in each drawing, while redrawing, contributed to clarifying implicit intentions in documents. Redrawing contributes to preserving archives by producing new artifacts, including physical and digital three-dimensional models. We highlight the importance of preserving architectural heritage and the role of digital tools in enhancing spatial understanding. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.24
Forgotten images. The “Luigi Morosini-Giuseppe Sacconi” archive between conservation of drawings and recovery of a lost memory
Our contribution makes known archival fonds of considerable interest for the history of architecture and representation between the 19th and 20th century, but hitherto little explored. Pre- served in Ferentino, it contains a series of drawings by Giuseppe Sacconi relating to the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II in Rome, but above all a considerable number of drawings by Luigi Morosini where no studies exist despite the fact that the collection documents his intense activity as an architect in Rome and Latium. This article will illustrate the recent initiatives undertaken in 2019-24 for the recovery and valorisation of the archive and the prospects for research. The collection, previously inaccessible due to its precarious state of preservation, has been analysed, catalogued and digitised; an inventory was then drawn up and published in 2024. The fonds provides an insight into Morosini’s professional life – from his early training to the works of his maturity – and, to a lesser extent, into Sacconi’s much better-known life. Representations of all kinds – perspectives, elevations, plans, sections – appear in the collection, but it is worth emphasising the particular skill and graphic precision that the plates document. Although it refers to the production of two different architects, the “Luigi Morosini-Giuseppe Sacconi” archive presents it- self as an organic collection, circumscribed within a defined chronological span and referring to a restricted geographical area, which allows us outline a coherent graphic and design culture. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.25
Rereading the past to interpret the present. A chance for the Straits Region conserved at the IUAV project archive
This article explores the role of the architectural archive as a repository of design memory and a tool for critical analysis, reinterpretation, and preservation of architectural and urban thought. By collecting drawings, photographs, models, and written documents, the archive reveals not only the technical and visual aspects of projects but also the underlying design process, highlighting the deep connection between representation, project development, and the transformation of urban and natural landscapes. Drawing, understood as a key form of architectural knowledge and communication, plays a central role in interpreting the relationship between vision and design. Supported by digital technologies, which overcome the limits of traditional analog techniques and enabling two and three dimensional modelling the representation of architecture becomes a tool for exploring the design process in greater depth. This theoretical framework is tested through the case study of the projects for the Strait of Messina, developed between 1960 and 1969 by Giuseppe and Alberto Samonà and the Sicilian Urbanists Group (GUS). Preserved at the IUAV Project Archive, these drawings represent one of the first examples in Italy of a territorial-scale design vision. Rather than offering a purely technical solution to connecting Sicily to the mainland, they imagine a “future metropolis” where the city becomes an archipelago of interconnected settlements integrated with the geography of the Strait. Through digital drawing and reinterpretation, these projects are revisited not only to retrace their original principles but also to demonstrate the potential of the archive to inform contemporary design thinking and address current urban and environmental challenges. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.26
Nuovo Mercato Marina in Messina: for a valorization of the design thinking through the analysis and the digital representation
Full of history and identity, the architectural archives define themselves as privileged narrators of a construction process that exists or never existed, invaluable testimonies of the interactions and mixtures that have taken place between architecture, culture and society. The project for the Nuovo Mercato Marina in Messina, probably dating back to 1919, is part of the highly valuable archival collections, described in the cartouches by plans and perspective views, capable of celebrating the new Messina waterfront signed by Luigi Borzì, Santi Buscema and Rutilio Ceccolini. The project is part of a post-earthquake revitalization program, consisting of new key relationships, through which hierarchies and shared architectural languages are established, through the creation of spaces for social interaction and cultural value. Despite the importance of the discovery, it is not possible to fully understand the design intent, as the documentation received today lacks elevations and sections useful for slavishly reconstructing the two-dimensional and three-dimensional drawings. For the design and digital reconstruction, reference was made not only to the documentation in possession, but also to the tastes, symmetries and modules of the architecture designed in the area of the Messina port curtain wall. The analysis to understand the volumes, heights, and modules involved, more specifically, the analysis of the Palazzata building, the Banca d’Italia and the Piano Regolatore Generale designed by Luigi Borzì. These analyses provided a precise spatial image of the urban context in which the project was to be built. The product is a digital model susceptible to formal interpretations, in any case useful for communicating the project of the Nuovo Mercato Marina in a more accessible way. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.27
Leveraging Historical Archives with Artificial Intelligence algorithms for the Digital Reconstruction of Architectural Heritage
The preservation and digital reconstruction of architectural heritage remain a significant challenge, particularly when historical records are limited to single images or incomplete datasets. This study explores the potential of AI-driven methodologies for 3D reconstruction capable of generating detailed 3D meshes from a single image. Applying this approach to historical archives data, the model was tested on a selection of case studies in South Tyrol. The results highlight the crucial role of image resolution, detail clarity, and architectural symmetry in determining the accuracy of the reconstruction. Nevertheless, the ability to generate new views from a single image serves as a promising starting point for further model refinement. While challenges remain, particularly with irregular structures and low-quality historical images, this research demonstrates how AI can enhance the study, preservation, and public engagement of architectural heritage. The findings contribute to the ongoing discourse on digital heritage, suggesting avenues for improving AI-driven reconstructions through more diverse training datasets and hybrid methodologies. These technologies provide a framework for transforming static archival records into dynamic, interactive 3D models, offering new opportunities for research, preservation, and public engagement of cultural heritage. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.28
The Archive as a Dynamic Entity: an Interactive Concept Map for Architectural Projects
The concept of an archive has undergone considerable evolution over time, transforming itself from a simple repository of memory into a dynamic and versatile tool capable of actively interacting with society. From a place for storing information organized chronologically or by type, the archive has become an essential cultural, political, and social resource for research and knowledge. This transformation reflects a profound change in the archive, which is now conceived not only as a means of recovering historical memory, but also as an operational basis for contemporary design. In this context, the proposal for a dynamic and interactive archive enhanced by artificial intelligence offers an innovative perspective. Designed as an online portal, these archives offer a fluid and multifaceted exploration experience, accessible through two-dimensional and three-dimensional modes. Users can dynamically navigate within a 3D virtual space, interacting with 20th-century architectural content, presented both in high-resolution digital form (2D) and as three-dimensional models, accessible via virtual reality or desktop. The archive uses complex algorithms and artificial intelligence to adjust the layout of the works within the 3D environment, creating variable configurations based on specific parameters, such as keywords or search areas. With the help of a simple activator, it is possible to switch between 2D and 3D views, revealing further aesthetic and exploratory possibilities. This methodological approach, based on 2.0 interactions, also offers the possibility of integrating new technologies, such as augmented reality or crowdsourcing mechanisms, in the future. In this way, the archive could evolve autonomously, fueled by collective participation and artificial intelligence management, giving rise to a constantly expanding and self-organizing organism. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.29
From training to teaching. Drawing in the archive of Giuseppe Zander
The paper is focused on drawing as Giuseppe Zander’s preferred tool constantly present in his youth training, in his activity as a scholar and teacher, as well as in his diuturnal work as architect. Based on the knowledge of his papers acquired during the activity of reordering Giuseppe Zander archive, an attempt is made to outline a picture of the varied ways used by Zander to observe, analyze and translate reality through the tool of drawing. By reconstructing the biographical events and relating them to the graphic documentation produced during his life, the extensive use of drawing as the main tool for collecting and synthesizing information and sometimes suggestion emerges, which is declined in different ways depending on the purposes for which this was used. From the analysis of the preserved materials, a spontaneous tendency to experiment different graphic techniques and signs is evident from the earliest stages of his formation. An essential accompanying element within Zander’s graphic elaborations are the handwritten notes that begin to appear as early as the youthful period, becoming increasingly important until they acquire complementary value to the drawing in the mature phase, both in his professional activity as an architect and in his study and teaching of the history of architecture. The aptitude for tidy and classification also emerges from the filing system used by himself collecting the materials in thematic albums that were used as iconographic sources for the elaboration of projects and for the preparation of lectures, teaching materials and scientific publications. The drawings reveal the architect’s distinctive character in the meticulousness of production aimed at effectiveness and immediacy of reading, while outlining his personality and the historical and cultural context in which he worked. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.30
Reviving Drawing Education: Training Modules from the Historical Archive of the DSDRA, Sapienza University
This paper presents a case study within a wider research project on the drawing archive of the Department of History, Drawing and Restoration of Architecture (DSDRA) at Sapienza University of Rome, which preserves student works from the 1930s to today. The focus is on drawings from the course of Professor Angelo Marinucci, who taught architectural drawing between 1948 and 1959. Produced mainly in pencil and depicting Roman architecture—porticoes, fountains, façades—these perspective sketches combine individual skill with Marinucci’s pedagogical rigor. Their tonal shading, calligraphic precision, and attention to the conservation of monuments reflect his dual role as both researcher and teacher, emphasizing descriptive geometry and the theory of shadows. The works reveal not only aesthetic beauty but also structural clarity, material qualities, and cultural values tied to Rome’s identity. Marinucci’s method privileged direct, intuitive engagement with the city through drawing. The research aims to valorize this didactic heritage by critically analyzing archival materials and developing modular training tools. Historic courses have been virtually reconstructed by reassembling student exercises, theses, exam records, and models into narrative frameworks enriched with syllabi, writings, and additional content. These resources are integrated into a digital platform featuring interactive modules, videos, and links, allowing exploration of the archive and recovery of pedagogical memory. The case study illustrates how historical archives can serve as dynamic educational laboratories, merging memory and innovation. It proposes a replicable model for other institutions, showing how pedagogical heritage can inspire both academic research and contemporary teaching. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.31
A Fragmented Archive: Reconstruction of the Creative Process of the Spanish Architect Antonio Fernández Alba
Antonio Fernández Alba (Salamanca 1927-Ma- drid 2024) is one of the main Spanish architects of the 20th century. The archive created by this architect reveals the diverse dimensions of his professional career as an architect, artist, intel- lectual and professor at the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Madrid. To delve deeper into his graphic and documen- tary legacy is is a huge and complex task due to the extensive architectural output projected over more than sixty years. During the last years of his professional career, Antonio Fernández Alba made successive donations of the graphic materi- al from his studio to different institutions follow- ing a criterion of trust, but without carrying out a prior planning to guarantee the documentary unity of each project. Nowadays, his archive is dispersed through the Spanish architectural col- lections of the Museum of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, the National Library of Spain, the Association of Architects of Madrid, the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Madrid, and the architectural collection of the Centre Pompidou in Paris. The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the cre¬ative itinerary of three projects through the dif¬ferent collections where his legacy is currently deposited. For this purpose, three representative projects of his creative stages have been select¬ed: the Amsterdam City Hall Competition (1967), the Restoration of the Astronomical Observatory of Madrid (1975) and the Faculty of Law of the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid (1987). Tracing the graphic material donated by the ar¬chitect to different archives will allow us to iden¬tify the drawings that belong to each of these projects, document them, and reconstruct their creative process also relying on the texts that are also part of his legacy. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.32