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This study, starting from the representations of a number of projects kept in Palermo in public and private archives, seeks to highlight their role not only in the knowledge of little-known architecture, but above all their value as custodians of memory and bearers of knowledge. “The architecture in the drawer”, that which remains on paper and not debased by compromises, not only takes on a “material” value but above all an ethical value because making visible the thought and operative practice of an architectural scholar is a moral act.Analytical and critical redesign, in this sense, contributes with its natural slowness, which is synonymous with reflection, to nourishing knowledge of the project, of making architecture, of compositional and figurative processes and, last but not least, of the constituent principles of an architectural thought.Through the analysis of a number of drawings preserved in two archives containing projects by Salvatore Caronia Roberti and Salvatore Cardella, the aim is to show part of the points of a timeline, in this case coinciding, describing themes and modes of architecture making in Palermo, with the awareness that many significant passages are left out.Thus a drawing of a timeline, open and welcoming, which however identifies two substantial points in its development; two graphical stages that may constitute further reflections that assist architectural historiography and above all the knowledge of what has often been relegated to an unknown fate.DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.31.2023.9

This study, conducted on the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Adrano (CT), is part of a wider research aimed at the knowledge, valorization, and fruition of the theatrical and cinematographic heritage of Catania and its municipalities, through digital surveying techniques. This architectural heritage represents a powerful bond to the past for the city and its inhabitants. However, its typological connotations are often neglected or changed. Therefore, understanding these architectures is an essential step in their protection.The Teatro Massimo Bellini is located within a historicized urban space near the historic municipal garden, behind the ancient axis of Garibaldi Street, where the Mother Church and the Norman castle stand.Previous investigations conducted on the theater are purely historical-literary. No archival documents have currently been found to testify about its original stylistic formal and geometric characteristics, especially of the spaces that have been rearranged over time.Due to its typological and geometrical characteristics, we decided to proceed through an integrated survey, which could provide the necessary data for the graphic reconstruction of the building, ranging from an urban scale to a detailed scale.The presented study aims to experiment and integrate LIDAR (TLS) and SfM techniques (UAS) to obtain a three-dimensional data model useful to document the entire spatiality of the opera and its urban context. Indeed, the integration between terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) digital photogrammetry techniques is tested and verified.DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.29.2022.6

This paper addresses the challenge of digitally reconstructing ruined architectural sites and retracing their history, in order to virtually recompose their geometrical, stylistic and material integrity. To this end, the research team analyzed the ruins of the church of Santa Maria de Monasterio Albo, located in the ancient village of Misterbianco (Sicily) and destroyed (together with the entire hamlet) by the 1669 eruption of Mount Etna. In the last years, some excavation campaigns brought the church to the light, unveiling the remains of the main portal and six altars, which are one of the most remarkable examples of Mannerist art in eastern Sicily. This research aimed to three-dimensional (3D) reconstruct both the altars and the portal, ideally reviving their original 17th century configuration. This goal was achieved through an in-depth archival research (documents dating back to the years between 1300 and 1666 were consulted), an analysis of Classic and Renaissance treatises, and two integrated digital survey campaigns (laser scans and photogrammetry). The outcome is represented by the 3D models of the seven artifacts, which include surviving parts reconstructed as photogrammetric meshes, several fragments were placed in their likely early location through a virtual anastylosis, and NURBS (Non Uniform Rational Basis-Splines) surfaces (recreating the no longer existing elements). The latter were 3D modelled based on the treatises (which provided information on the correct proportioning) or in analogy with other coeval similar artifacts. Overall, the digital reconstruction was based on the ethical principles of transparency of the intervention, recognition of non-original additions and distinction between evidence and hypothesis, according to the London Charter and the Seville Principles. The experimentation provides a valid support for possible interventions in the real world and is the starting point to develop a digital archive of the site, which would make the different accuracy levels the reconstruction explicit. Highlights: • 3D virtual reconstruction is effective to visualize and bring back to life ruined architectural artefacts. • Information about the artefacts original appearance was harvested through digital survey campaigns, archival documents, and comparisons with iconographic sources and coeval buildings. • The 3D reconstruction follows ethical principles of transparency and combines photogrammetric meshes (partly relocated through a virtual anastylosis) and NURBS surfaces.

The paper illustrates the strategies set up for the communication of the documentary heritage of the Museum of Representation (Mu.Ra.), Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania. Mu.Ra. houses and exhibits the collections of architectural projects (Francesco Fichera Archive) and chalcographies (including the collection of G.B. Piranesi). The mission of the museum is to preserve, protect and make available to the scientific as well as to a wider community, the results of the Department research, education and dissemination activities.This has inspired a new way of thinking, valuing and using the heritage possessed. Focusing on the enhancement of the collections and merging research and educational purposes, an innovative participatory approach has been investigated and experimented.Indeed the students of the drawing courses and interns at the museum have been involved in their dual role of future designers and potential visitors of the museum developing strategies for new target users. Specifically, the experimentation was carried out on the projects by Francesco Fichera and was focused on the development of a communication strategy addressed to the reading and understanding of the architectural project. The aim was to actively involve the visitor in the learning process, making the visit a cognitive and emotional experience through new forms of representation. To achieve this goal the students worked both on architectures existing in Catania and on the unrealized projects, with the aim of recreating, using 3D modeling, virtual environments and reality, the visual and perceptive sensations of the unfinished architectural space.DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.23.2019.8