Documenting the Architecture of Modernism in European Seaside Centers. Case Study in Italy and Bulgaria

This paper is inspired by the Erasmus Intensive Program “Architecture of Modernism in the Seaside Resorts of Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and Italy” that will involve the authors’ Faculties, and other European Universities, in the organization of plein-air workshops and student competitions concerning cultural heritage and the architecture of the coastal areas, starting at Varna Free University in 2014. The program sets a task to rediscover any lost examples of modern architecture, and preserved ones too, which are to be documented and mapped, as well as to propose measures for exhibiting them in various forms of architectural-and-artistic lighting, revealing the specific characteristics and qualities of the sites. The aim of this paper is to provide a preliminary documentation about examples of modern architecture in costal areas of Italy and Bulgary, that will successively be integrated with examples from the other involved Countries. The documentation has the objective of verifying the presence of a common language in the different European coasts, both regarding the architectural language and the relation between architecture and landscape. The documentation includes the conservation conditions of the architectures of major interest, in order to propose common solutions for the knowledge, preservation and touristic valorization of an important cultural heritage. It is also analyzed the representation at the time of such architectures, and the new communication language generated by the will to promote coastal resorts.