Architectural History and Contemporary Preservation Trends
Available now through Columbia University Press
Editor
Barbara Faedda
Publisher
The Italian Academy; distributed by Columbia University Press
Year
2025
This collection presents eight compelling studies of pivotal cases in architectural history, illuminating the multifaceted challenges facing the field today. The essays highlight both the invaluable nature of our global architectural heritage and the urgent threats it confronts, while proposing innovative approaches to preservation, conservation, reconstruction, and use.
All contributors were in residence at Columbia University’s Italian Academy, with fellowships generously supported by the Sidney J. Weinberg Jr. Foundation, an independent institution in New York that supports health, science, the arts, and educational institutions.
The Weinberg Fellowships and this book have been developed in conjunction with the International Observatory for Cultural Heritage at the Italian Academy, which sponsors and encourages research on monuments, artifacts, and traditions. For a list of all past and current Weinberg Fellows, see here.
Contents
Introduction
Barbara Faedda
DIALOGUES CARVED IN STONE: Freedom in Fifteenth-Century Roman Art Workshops and Building Sites
Sara Bova, University of Rome Tor Vergata
THE OBLIVION OF A RENAISSANCE MONUMENT: Antonello Gagini’s Tribuna in Palermo’s Cathedral
Alessandra Buccheri, Academy of Fine Arts of Palermo
RAPHAELESQUE INFLUENCE ON NEW YORK NEO-RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
Francesco Benelli, University of Bologna
BOWNE STREET, QUEENS, NEW YORK: The Most Diverse Street in the World?
Matilde Cassani, Free University of Bozen–Bolzano
THE MEDIA IMAGE: Destruction as a Tool of Public Relations
Mirjam S. Brusius, German Historical Institute London
HERITAGE DESTRUCTION IN POSTWAR IRAQ: From Iconoclasm to Architectural Gentrification
Venus Suleiman Akef, University of Technology, Iraq
MADRID’S CIUDAD LINEAL: The City That (Almost) Disappeared
Alice Pozzati, Polytechnic University of Turin
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM: The Palazzo del Lavoro by Pier Luigi Nervi in the Work of Marzia Migliora
Gabriele Neri, Polytechnic University of Turin
About the Editor
Barbara Faedda serves at Columbia University as the executive director of the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies—where she conceived the International Observatory for Cultural Heritage—and as an adjunct professor in the Italian Department. She received her Ph.D. in Legal Anthropology and Social Science from the Università Suor Orsola Benincasa di Napoli after studying at Sapienza Università di Roma. In 2019, she was appointed ambassador, permanent observer for the European Public Law Organization to the United Nations. In 2022, the President of the Italian Republic named Barbara Faedda a “Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica” (Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic).
Her books include From Da Ponte to the Casa Italiana: A Brief History of Italian Studies at Columbia University (Columbia University Press, 2017), Élite: Cultura italiana e statunitense tra Settecento e Novecento (Ronzani, 2020), A Lost Mediterranean Culture: The Giant Statues of Sardinia’s Mont’e Prama (co-editor, with Paolo Carta; Columbia University Press, 2023), A Shared Global Heritage: Architectural History, Conservation, and Preservation (editor; Italian Academy Publications, Columbia University, 2023), and Tharros: A Sardinian Treasure in the Ancient Mediterranean (co-editor, with P. Carta; Columbia University Press, 2025).
This is the second in a series, after 2023’s A Shared Global Heritage: Architectural History, Conservation, and Preservation (also available now through Columbia University Press).