IL MAUSOLEO FRACCHIA A BARGONE. CONOSCENZA PER LA CONSERVAZIONE DI UN RIVESTIMENTO IN LASTRE DI ALLUMINIO.

Marta Biasio1, Lorenza Comino2, Margherita Pedroni3

1 Architetto, Specialista in Beni Architettonici e del Paesaggio, Genova, biasio.m@virgilio.it

2 Soprintendenza Belle Arti e Paesaggio della Liguria, Genova, lorenza.comino@beniculturali.it

3 Architetto, Specialista in Beni Architettonici e del Paesaggio, Cremona, margherita.pedroni@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a funeral monument investigation strategy and its material and decay analysis. Located in the small village of Bargone (Genoa), the building was designed in the 1930s by Enrico del Debbio and completed in 1953 in memory of the writer Umberto Fracchia. Placed on a stone base and standing solitary in the country landscape, it is now neglected and subject to severe decay.

The mausoleum is a small but monumental parallelepiped chest of masonry cladded with once shining aluminium sheets. Aluminium was strongly promoted by the autarchic policy of the Italian regime in the 1930s and its architectural use was deeply experimental at the time. The analysis of this material is part of a wider research on the composition and use of aluminium in the 1930s and 1940s. The research is also interesting from an historical perspective as this period was characterised by an innovative approach to the design process and new material experimentation.

The paper assesses the monument's current state of conservation, as well as the decay processes that have affected it. It focuses on material characterisation and the interaction between different materials and the environment.

The aim of the paper is to demonstrate that conservation projects on an unusual material, such as aluminium, need an interdisciplinary approach and detailed investigation methodology. However, the paper notes that at the same time it is necessary to look at the building as a whole and as a unique piece that interacts with the environment. 

Key-words: Aluminium, Conservation, Del Debbio, Modern, XX century