Resumen de Cesare Brandi (1906 to 1988): his concept of restoration and the dilemma of architecture

Fidel Meraz, Valerie Magar Meurs

• This article offers a theoretical review of the origin of the concept of restoration in Brandi’s view, proposing a critique centered on architectural restoration. Brandi’s theoretical trajectory is outlined in his approach to the discernment of art in general and architecture in particular, centered around his Teoria del restauro (1963b). Through phenomenology, Brandi deduced the essence of the artistic phenomenon without including in restoration other human realities that are integrated into the architecture´s existence. His approach was phenomenological in method and ontological in its objectives. The fact that architecture constitutes an important part of human place and its artistic condition, nevertheless broadens the question of what constitutes this human habitable space and which constructions should be conserved.