Glazing Façades in the 1930s: Preservation or Rehabilitation?

The current problems entailed by energy savings raise the question of what attitude to adopt towards a number of buildings erected between the wars in which glass surfaces play a key role. There is no standard "recipe" valid for all cases. The problem of restoring glass façades should not be interpreted only in the light of legislation on energy conservation: it has also to be seen in terms of the more general problem of conservation and reuse of the architectural heritage, without isolating the subject from the use of the spaces that the façade itself helps to define. In Europe the balance between conservation/reuse of these buildings and compliance with energy standards is very delicate. Finding ways to cope with the problems of degradation, the need for regulatory compliance and new requirements for re-use is the challenge that today confronts an approach to design which is sensitive to the materiality of architecture. In this vast and varied panorama, this paper offers reflections which range from the methodological approach to restoration projects for these buildings.