The Life of Things：Conservation and the Investigation of Architectural Palimpsests

Abstract：If one is to ‘read’ the material history of built environments，one must draw upon ever more advanced forms of interdisciplinary research in order to chart their existence over time. Such tracing of the ‘life of things’ is what this paper aims to examine. The discussion falls into two parts. The first is an outline of the Italian approach to ‘the archaeology of architecture’；it shows how， in the last 30-40 years，research in the field has brought together experts in post-classical archaeology and architects who specialise in the conservation of the built environment. The second part discusses two case studies that reveal how the methods and instruments of architectural archaeology enable one to establish time sequences in the construction and modification of buildings， thence make decisions regarding their conservation. The first case study concerns an actual project for conservation and re-use. The second case study is a research project by a group from the Politecnico di Milano，which focuses on a structure whose multi-layered history had yet to be examined.