Constructing / Conserving / Destroying

It may seem a paradox, but it is perhaps necessary to rethink “destruction” as a constitutive element of constructing and, in some way, also of conserving / restoring our architectural and urban heritage. It is almost unavoidable, if only to go beyond that widespread common sense of “useless and definitive annihilation”, that the term seems to arouse. Reconsidering it, of course, does not certainly mean to encourage the diffusion of destructions, but it responds to the need for understanding the mul-tiple and contradictory – or conflicting – meanings of the word, thus revealing some less negative aspects and consequences of it. On the other hand, destruction can really take on extremely variable connotations and meanings and we should always take into account a fundamental difference between an imposed destruction and a thoughtful and intentionally guided one