Tradition and innovation: the construction site as knowledge tool of the cultural heritage

The city is in constant evolution, catalyst of creativity and innovation, but it is also the place of social identity and historical memory. Our cities are soaked in culturally significant realities, which continually need of restoration and maintenance. Therefore, the city is cyclically affected by the presence of construction sites that hinder the usual physical and perceptive fruition. If it is true that the Code of Cultural Heritage and Landscape clarifies that the concept of cultural heritage development mainly concerns the promotion of public knowledge and fruition, "the existent historicity preservation must not deny the continuity of the transformation process" (Torsello, 2005). Then, using the places of transformation such as places of experimentation and spread of knowledge, we produce a new contemporary image of the city, territory and monument, in order to allow transmission in the future of the meaning and value of the existing physical space. The research work focuses on these issues and here we present some critical insights. Traditionally conceived as transitory and temporary element and as an evident perceptive degradation, the construction site can be interpreted as an opportunity to test useful intervention strategies in the management of public space. Above all, consideration has been given to the meaning of public space in terms of "occasion-sharing" to be used with the aim of a joint growth in the sense of citizenship, through which virtuous creative pushes can be trigged. To achieve these objectives, it is necessary to operate at different levels and for different types of users (workers, tourists, occasional users), ensuring the continuity of the works and the direct or indirect fruition of the heritage. The construction site out of necessity prevents the monument fruition, but the fence, protective element that usually "hides", can become "a knowledge instrument". Assuming that the limitations of the construction site, are the translation in terms of physical constraints of the direct fruition of the heritage, the question that is the backdrop to research is “in which way is it possible to make these devices elements of the urban landscape and elements capable of giving an additional value to the hidden good”. The answers are translated as part of valorization plans, in feasibility solutions and design guidelines, which aim to promote a transformation process, which can really be defined "sustainable" by exploiting communication strategies, contributing to transform a traditional construction site in a "construction site of knowledge".