MUSAC. Museo di Storia dell’Architettura e della Costruzione nel Mediterraneo. Palazzo La Rocca

The renewed interest in the history of construction that has pervaded European studies in recent decades has contributed to shaking the insecure edifice of the history of architecture. The increasingly widespread intolerance for stylistic labels, whether based on inclusion or exclusion or on interpretations that are either too broad or too circumscribed, has led many scholars to rid themselves of, or at least shy away from, certain burdensome legacies. Looking at Sicily’s monuments from a different perspective— not radically new or isolated, yet minoritarian and often set aside to adapt to more familiar historiographic processes—and investigating structures and construction methods is not only a contribution to the more general process of knowledge. This different point of view, at times similar to literary processes of “straniamento”, reveals another Sicily, helps to understand the links between architecture and science, and traces a network of relations at European and Mediterranean levels that consolidates a sense of belonging. The Cosmed (From stereotomy to antiseismic criteria: crossroads of experimental design. Sicily and the Mediterranean, XII-XVIII century - Seventh Framework Programme “Ideas” Specific programme European Research Council - Grant agreement for Advanced Grant) research project has studied the multiple links that the history of architecture and construction in Sicily cherishes. The position at the center of the Mediterranean, and historical, political, social and physical phenomena (suffice it to mention earthquakes) have shaped a “plural” entity that allows Sicily and historical architecture in Sicily to afford fields of inquiry that are surprising for its many twists and turns and for the ramification of the models. Rather than the unfolding of an orderly sequence of ‘styles’ or of a national and regional narrative, steeped in rhetorical identities, the island (like other parts of Southern Italy) reveals processes of reception and integration that trace out other types of development and belonging. Cosmed has made it possible to broaden our view toward a vast horizon that embraces different parts and shores of the Mare Nostrum. The groundwork started with the Lithos project (Project for the creation of an international research centre for stereotomy and for the study, conservation and experimentation of sustainable building techniques. Cross-Border Cooperation Programme. Italia-Malta 2007-2013. European Regional Development Fund) was therefore consolidated and now allows, with a larger body of models and documents and with more exhibition space at Palazzo La Rocca in Ragusa Ibla, to lay the foundations for the birth of a museum complex dedicated to the history of architecture and construction. Named with the acronym MUSAC (History of Architecture and Construction in the Mediterranean Museum), it aims to be a place of visits, research, and study that will allow building broader and stronger ties between specialist research, dissemination, academia, public cultural curators, and Sicily.

Il rinnovato interesse per la storia della costruzio- ne che ha pervaso gli studi europei negli ultimi decenni ha contribuito a incrinare l’edi cio insicuro della storia dell’architettura. L’insofferenza sempre più diffusa per il gioco delle etichette stilistiche, basato su meccanismi di inclusione o di esclusione, e su interpretazioni troppo generi- che o troppo circoscritte, ha determinato in molti studiosi la necessità di liberarsi o almeno di aggi- rare alcune gravose eredità. Uno sguardo diverso ai monumenti di Sicilia (non radicalmente nuovo, isolato, ma minoritario e spesso accantonato per adeguarsi ai processi storiogra ci più consueti), indagando strutture e modalità costruttive, non è solo un contributo al più generale processo di conoscenza. Questo differente punto di vista, talora analogo ai processi letterari di “straniamen- to”, rivela un’altra Sicilia, aiuta a comprendere i nessi che legano architettura e scienza, disegna una rete di relazioni europee e mediterranee che rinsaldano un’appartenenza.