Un restauro post-sisma : la chiesa di S. Maria del Carmelo e S. Emidio a Pennisi ad Acireale tra esigenze della sicurezza e finalità della conservazione

The issue of reintegrating the architectural gap is one of the most complex issues that restoration professionals are called upon to face. A peculiar case which is very complex to understand, and resolve, is represented by the condition determined by seismic events, often of such intensity as to generate the physical loss of the building, immediately posing both the problem of the conservation of the surviving structures and that of the re-proposal of the collapsed portions. In this problematic circumstance, the need to reintegrate the gaps in historic buildings requires the architect to devise procedures and solutions capable of reconciling the needs of conservation with those of adaptation to legislation and the achievement of safety conditions, such as to avoid the recurrence of the conditions that generated the loss. This contribution aims to expose the operational and methodological principles that led to the definition of the restoration project of the church of S. Maria del Carmelo and S. Emidio in Pennisi – a fraction of Acireale, in Sicily – seriously damaged by an earthquake on 26th december 2018; a project to guarantee the structural improvement of the building, the reintegration of the extensive gaps, and the conservation of all the components remaining on site, in addition to the adaptation of the systems. The reconstruction intervention was intended as a ‘critical reintegration’ of the gap, as to contemplate both the need for the distinguishability of the additions to the historic building and the desire to guarantee a unified perception of the architectural asset. In the text, the main aspects relating to methodological choices, preliminary study phases, detection tools, diagnostic investigations and understanding of damage mechanisms are recalled, leading up to the identification of restoration techniques.