The concept of heritage and its possible operational nature. Notes on the Italian case

This contribution is based on a careful consideration of the profound difference between landscape and environment in recent processes of modernization. The term landscape is somehow related to the “anthropisation index” of a given territory, as shown by qualitative data and scenarios: form, figure, territorial structure, sedimentation, diachrony. Conversely, the term environment is based on the exasperation of a specialised point of view, emphasising the “index of naturalness”. In the case of Italy, the relationship between architecture and landscape has acquired over time an exceptional quality, so much so that it could be termed an historical construction par excellence. This condition has created "such a beautiful countryside to resemble a city" shaping a wide range of unique local identities, while modernisation has mainly been interpreted as an alteration of spatial relations (atopy, placelessness). At the same time, the aggressiveness of environmental disciplines (and environmental impact assessments), when dealing with architecture and town planning, has significantly overlooked the idea of environment, placing it outside any historical perspective. The result is the exasperation of an abstract conflict between ecology and ecology of human settlement. The case of Italy, and of Central Italy in particular (e.g. Tuscany and Marche regions) may provide good examples to approach such current problems. Our paper shall investigate a series of case studies bringing to the fore the existence of regional network structures, restoring landscape to the realm of modernization. If landscape can be considered an eminently cultural outcome gained over the long period of time (heritage, as a fundamental feature of a given society), then a non-destructive modernization should face heritage with an operational, not merely conservative, approach. A key question should be posed: for whom was landscape designed and is now to be protected?