Assessment of modern heritage in Italy: the example of the "Colonia Elioterapica" by BBPR in Legnano, Lombardia

The paradigms of heritage have changed a lot after the II WW, according to several reasons which are, in summary, the adoption and sharing of architectural styles, that were recognized as “international”, and, consequently, the new “international” dimension and role of the Italian architecture and architects. These are a few topics which could “identify” modern architecture as modern heritage, supporting the safeguard policy uneasy to come by these days. The development of the paper is based on the analysis of an example of Italian modern architecture, connected with the Fascist policy, which is not well known yet. The “Colonia Elioterapica” was built in 1938 by BBPR group, in a wooded hill near the city of Legnano and /it was published in the most well-known architecture journals. In 1955, a Rehabilitation Centre was opened and the Colonia was deeply transformed with the addition of a new building. In 1982, the building of the Colonia was closed. In the book “Città, museo, architettura”, the most complete work dedicated to the BBPR group, it is considered as destroyed. The aim of the paper is to identify and to underline the parameters used today to support the recognition and the enhancement of this architecture as modern heritage.