Palermo gap: lacune belliche, vuoti urbani e la ‘mancanza’ dell'architettura contemporanea. Le ripercussioni dell’art. 6 della Carta di Venezia nel rapporto tra antico e nuovo

The contribution addresses the reconstruction of post-war gaps, a topic which is unfortunately still current for Pa-lermo, in light of the cultural impact of the Charter of Venice, and in particular the recommendations of article 6. Af-ter having placed attention on the expansion of the notion of historical monument which includes both the architec-tural work itself and the urban and natural landscape, we encounter great ambiguity. We read that the completion of partially collapsed buildings and the reconstruction of the urban gap, when necessary and indispensable, must be carried out not "in style" but without altering the volume ratios and colors of the historical context. We inevitably enter a vicious circle of doing and not doing which in practice has led the historic center of Palermo to reject moder-nity and its contrasts, and to the paradox of an urban planning instrument such as the PPE (Detailed Executive Plan, 1993), based on the philological and typological restoration which, for example, condemns the headquarters of the BBPR's Giornale di Sicilia (1969) to demolition and typological restoration of the pre-existence. This tool, no longer fully operational, is currently being revised, therefore a reflection on the theoretical assumptions that animated it appears more necessary and urgent than ever.