At the Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture, Land and Environment, and of Mathematicesearch is active in the following disciplinary areas:
CEAR-10/A – Drawing
Sereno Innocenti
Ivana Passamani
Massimo De Paoli
Paolo Borin
Alessandro Vitale
Sissi Cesira Roselli
Virginia Sgobba
CEAR-11/A – History of Architecture
Irene Giustina
Elisa Sala
Rocìo Gómez Llopis
Clara Pilar Jaume Santero
Marco Comunian
Letizia Barozzi
Marco Comunian
Francesco Sfratato
Lia Signorini
CEAR-11/B – Restoration
Carlotta Coccoli
Barbara Scala
Stefano Barbò
Lia Signorini
Dario Gallina
Paolo Schirolli
ERC SECTORS
The scientific activity of the research groups belonging to the above-mentioned scientific disciplinary sectors falls primarily within the following ERC sectors: (European Research Council):
- SH5_6 History of art and architecture, arts-based research
- SH5_7 Museums, exhibitions, conservation and restoration
- SH5_8 Cultural studies, cultural identities and memories, cultural heritage
- SH8_5 History of art and of architecture
- SH8_3 Cultural studies and theory, cultural identities and memories, cultural heritage
- SH8_4 Museums, exhibitions, conservation and restoration
- SH8_9 Digital approaches to anthropology, cultural studies and art
- PE1_6 Geometria - Geometry and Global Analysis
- PE6_8 Computer graphics, computer vision, multimedia, computer games
- PE8_3 Civil engineering, architecture, maritime/hydraulic engineering, geotechnics, waste treatment
MEMBERSHIP OF DOCTORATE PROGRAMS
Some of the tenured faculty members of the above-mentioned research groups are members of the Doctorate Program in Civil, Environmental, International Cooperation, and Mathematics Engineering at DICATAM - University of Brescia, curriculum "Restoration of Historic and Contemporary Buildings." Specifically:
Irene Giustina:
- Doctorate Program in Civil, Environmental, International Cooperation, and Mathematics Engineering (DICACIM) at DICATAM - University of Brescia, curriculum "Restoration of Historic and Contemporary Buildings."
- National Doctorate Program in Heritage Science (PhD-HS.it) - Human Sciences and STEM for Heritage, administrative headquarters at Sapienza University of Rome, curriculum "Sciences and Technologies for Architectural Heritage," ABC Department, Polytechnic University of Milan.
International PhD program in Cultural Heritage Outreach in Romance Languages (CHORAL) PhD Programme - Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie, co-funded and coordinated by the University of Pau and the Adour Region (UPPA -FR).
Elisa Sala:
PhD program in Musical Heritage and Soundscapes: Sources, Spaces, Instruments, Pedagogical and Performative Practices, Administrative Office: Luca Marenzio Conservatory of Music, Brescia
RESEARCH TOPICS
SSD CEAR-10/A – Drawing
Research group coordinated by Prof. Sereno Innocenti
1. Drawing as a profession
The drawing traced by the hand, the de signum, is the global language, the eternal Esperanto, that the pencil leaves on the paper; and it is on this concept that the research program of the Drawing area is structured, always aimed at the freehand representation of landscape and architecture, of objects and projects. The introduction of digital technology has not radically altered the design process, but it has added potential to a method that, from the initial conceptual sketch to the finished object, can be structured through three key stages: drawing, modeling, and computer-aided design.
2. Drawing to Know and Recognize
Research focuses on drawing and surveying, as essential tools for communicating design ideas and understanding built environments.
The main fields of investigation include project design, as developed by architects of the past; land and environmental surveying, aimed at identifying the characteristics and uniqueness of places; surveying historic centers and building fabrics, aimed both at historical-critical analysis and at defining the characteristics and qualities of places; and architectural surveying, with particular attention to identifying the most significant elements, in relation to the need to identify the typological identities of a community.
3. Drawing, History, and New Technologies
Drawing and History
Research into historical architecture, divided into various phases of documentation, surveying, and formalization—freehand, with technical drawing, and through two-dimensional and three-dimensional computer representation—is conducted with the clear aim of identifying, in architectural works characterized by the presence of architectural orders, relevant dialogic relationships with classical treatises, in order to facilitate dating and attribution.
The study of modern architecture, on the other hand, requires a different approach, characterized by the analysis and solid modeling of significant architecture from the Modern Movement.
The analysis is structured on the relationship between the principles underlying each author/work and three major references: nature, history, and technology.
Drawing and New Technologies
The framework is BIM and the associated scripting. The research activity aims to manage the relationships between the parametric model of the analyzed architectures and the related set of information, and to use IT tools to represent the architecture in its constituent parts (morphological, typological, functional, and constructional components). This facilitates the choice of the most suitable IT tool for the object and the type of representation to be provided.
The tools employed in the research, chosen from the ever-expanding and evolving landscape of current IT production, cover both the two-dimensional representation of architecture and three-dimensional representation and rendering.
SSD CEAR-11/A – History of Architecture
Research group coordinated by Professor Irene Giustina
1. History and Critical Analysis of Modern and Contemporary Architecture
This aspect of the group's research is characterized by a predominant interest in issues related to Lombardy, particularly Milan and Brescia, and its relations with the broader national and international context. The main areas of study include:
- architecture between the late 16th, 17th, and early 18th centuries, with detailed studies on: civil and religious architecture through key figures of early 17th-century Lombardy and Italy, including Francesco Maria Ricchino, Lorenzo Binago, and Giovanni Ambrogio Mazenta; 17th- and 18th-century architecture in Brescia and Bergamo; 17th- and 18th-century religious architecture in Umbria and Foligno, in collaboration with the Italian Baroque Atlas; and the historiography of Baroque and late Baroque architecture. In relation to the late 16th century, specifically in the Brescia and Veneto areas: Benedictine-Cassinese monastic architecture; Military architecture and the case of Brescia Castle; patrician residential architecture in Brescia and the surrounding area.
- Neoclassical architecture, with a focus on Giacomo Quarenghi, a key figure in European neoclassicism, and his work in St. Petersburg and Russia; neoclassical architecture in Milan and the work of Luigi Canonica; neoclassical architecture in Brescia and the work of Rodolfo Vantini.
- Eclectic-historicist architecture, with a specific focus on Antonio Tagliaferri's Milanese and Brescian production, as part of the scientific collaboration with the Ugo Da Como Foundation in Lonato del Garda (BS), aimed at studying the Tagliaferri archive and library housed there.
- Early twentieth-century architecture, with a particular focus on Giancarlo Maroni's work in the Vittoriale degli Italiani in Gardone Riviera (BS), as part of the scientific collaboration with the Vittoriale Foundation aimed at inventorying and studying the Maroni archive housed there.
- libraries and architectural books, use of printed sources in architectural design in the modern and contemporary era, with specific explorations of the architectural context of Brescia between the 16th and late 19th centuries (collaboration with PRIN 2005-07; local research unit PRIN 2008-12)
2. History of architectural and construction techniques
This aspect of the group's scientific activity—distinguished by a unique interdisciplinary approach aimed at exploring the complexity of historical buildings and increasing awareness of their preservation and enhancement, especially in connection with structural engineering, restoration, and applied geology—is aimed at exploring the technical-architectural culture and construction practices of the pre-industrial era, particularly in the Lombardy, Milan, and Brescia areas. The main research areas include:
- technical vocabulary and construction site organization, the procurement and processing of building materials, and construction practices and techniques, with detailed studies conducted in Lombardy between the late 16th and early 19th centuries, with a specific focus on vaulted and domed masonry structures and iron and glass roofs.
- building materials in historic buildings, with consolidated research on: the use of stone materials in historic buildings in Lombardy and the Po Valley, especially in relation to the water supply basin of the Italian Alpine and Subalpine regions, in collaboration with the Applied Geology Department; the binders used in historic buildings, particularly lime mortars mixed with natural hydraulic additives, with experimental studies exploring their mechanical strength, in collaboration with the Structural Rehabilitation Department and the Applied Geology Department.
SSD CEAR-11/B - Restoration
Research group coordinated by Professor Carlotta Coccoli
1. Restoration in Brescia and its Province in the 20th Century
The study begins with a review of local newspapers and magazines of the time, which shed light on the heated debate surrounding the major restoration projects carried out on monuments in Brescia and its province between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries.
The research aims to explore some emblematic cases and the key figures in restoration in Brescia. To date, the investigation has focused on the Broletto and Palazzo della Loggia in Brescia. In the province, the consequences of the seismic events that affected the Garda area over the last century (Salò, 1901 and 2004) have been studied in depth, analyzing post-earthquake repair methods (historical and modern), also in light of the unique construction characteristics of the damaged buildings. The study covered the entire historic urban fabric, including the main architectural features and small buildings, reconstructing the city's transformations through the construction and repair practices preserved in local archives (1901-1970), which were then reconstructed cartographically using GIS.
A study is currently underway on the Brescian activities of Superintendent Ettore Modigliani.
2. Italian Monuments Through Twentieth-Century Conflicts
Continuing a long-standing tradition that has seen the Architectural Restoration group at the University of Brescia engaged in this field of study, this research investigates preventive protection methods, war damage, and repair and reconstruction interventions of architectural heritage in the event of war, with particular reference to the two World Wars. The main focus is on the organization of the "Subcommission on Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives" (MFAA) in Italy during World War II, the roles of its members, and the monument safety projects undertaken during the Allied presence in Italy (1943–1945). The research then explores the main reconstruction projects, examining the main intervention methods and the role played by Italian superintendents.
A more recent strand of research focuses on the Great War, with particular attention to the reconstruction of smaller towns, exploring the example of Ponte di Legno, the only Lombard municipality devastated by Austrian artillery in September 1917 and rebuilt by 1921 through the Ministry for Lands Liberated from the Enemy.
3. HBIM and the Architectural Heritage Conservation Process
This research explores—through HBIM (Historical Building Information Modeling) tools—the study of new management and management processes for historic architecture conservation and restoration projects. Specifically, the study addresses the phase following survey data acquisition (laser scanning and photogrammetry) to develop a model that supports future conservation and restoration efforts, both during the design and construction phases.
The HBIM approach in the field of historic architecture is proposed as a tool that can help manage the complexity of conservation projects, reducing the risk of losing existing data and data in the process of being acquired.
The proposed experiments are conducted in collaboration with other research sectors to enable methodological interoperability of HBIM, proposing new strategies for using the tool. The experiments are conducted on real-world cases through collaboration with local and national public bodies, also in light of Ministerial Decree 560 of 1/12/2017.