Modern coastal heritage as urban identity: Modern coastal heritage as urban identity.New scenarios for the conservation andenhancement of palazzata a mare in Messina, Italy

• Autores: Sara Iaccarino, Mariarosaria Villani
• Localización: La modernidad marítima: arquitecturas e infraestructuras del paisaje litoral, 1925-1975 : Actas XIII Congreso Docomomo Ibérico ,A Coruña, 22-26 de octubre de 2025 / coord. por Fundación Docomomo ibérico, 2025, ISBN 978-84-09-77104-2, págs. 112-123
• Idioma: inglés
• Títulos paralelos:
  • Herencia costera moderna como identidad urbana: Nuevos escenarios para la conservación y valorización de palazzata a mare en messina, Italia
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• Resumen

  • The paper investigates the conservation of maritime modern architecture through the case-study of Palazzataa Mare in Messina, in south Italy. Designed in 1929 by Samonà, Leone, Viola and Autore, the buildingrepresents a radical rearrangement of the city waterfront, devastated by the catastrophic earthquake of1908. This event led to the collapse of the incomplete 19th century Palazzata, which had taken the place ofthe earlier Teatro Marittimo, heavily damaged by previous earthquake in 1783.The project recalled the previous profile of the waterfront while emerging, at the same time, as theproduct of innovative construction techniques of the early 20th century. Adopting a new volumetric andtechnological approach, the architects segmented the old waterfront into thirteen volumes. All the buildingsdesigned stands as a significant example of Modern Heritage, showcasing experimentation with materialsconsidered as cutting-edge at the time and displaying new construction techniques of the period as stonecladding façades. All structures built along the Messina waterfront starting from the 1930s exemplifyadvancements in structural design in compliance with new seismic regulations introduced after the 1908earthquake. Starting by the case-study, the paper highlights the role of city waterfront redesign during the firsthalf of the 20th century, analysing, in the first part, the contemporary conservative issues of the Palazzatain its relationship with the city’s coastline: which are the specific forms of degradation that affect thesearchitectures nowadays? Which are the specific ones caused by the environmental factors?The second part of the paper is focused on one of these buildings, the INAIL, located in the eighthlot of the extended Palazzata. Completed after the end of World War II, the need to limit the use of iron inthe construction of this building led the architects to design a structure composed entirely of load-bearingmasonry, clad in thin travertine slabs, thereby maintaining coherence with the architectural style of its era.The building will be especially examined in relation to conservation challenges typical of early 20th centuryconstructions, leading on conservative scenarios and methodological practices for the intervention on thecoastal modern architecture.