Summary of the Proceedings and Papers Presented at - World ...

tectus both come from tegere = protect). The roof is also one
of the salient features of a house or a temple, much in the
same way that the forehead is for the human face. Re-creating
the original shape of a building is a sign of respect for the
architecture from the point of view of its appearance and
significance, just as it would be to reposition the columns in a
peristyle, if they were lying on the ground in pieces nearby.
Drawings representing the original roof construction technique
First and foremost, a roof prevents what lies beneath
it from deteriorating. Thus, the lack of a roof leads to the
deterioration of materials and structures below. One of the
main tasks of those responsible for protecting architecture
and its remains should therefore be that of reconstructing
roofs, and consequently protecting the architectural spaces
beneath them.
The core of the problem of conservation at Pompeii is the
fact that, following the taste of tourists to the site, the city is
forced to remain in an equilibrium between monument and
ruin. This equilibrium cannot endure earthquakes, weather,
pollution, and the increasing pressure from growing numbers
of tourists. The few roofs that have been replaced up to
now were poorly constructed at a time when the use of concrete
for such purposes was little understood. Such roofs
are in very poor condition, as in the case of the House of the
Vettii. These once-new materials and techniques combined
to make things worse in terms of preserving the buildings.
Moreover, they have now reached the end of their useful
lives—the concrete is crumbling and the steel reinforcement
is beginning to show (leading to corrosion). Furthermore,
such roofs weigh four or five times more than the traditional
wooden ones, overloading the walls beneath them which are
often in a bad state and certainly were never designed to
support these much heavier weights. All this combines to
create a much higher risk of earthquake damage.
The House of the Silver Wedding Anniversary provides an
excellent case for reconstructing roof and floors, particularly
as its walls are still in fairly good condition. Furthermore, the
House of the Silver Wedding Anniversary was built according
to the ideal proportions described by Vitruvius, as it seems
the owners were more drawn to the Roman style than to the
local tradition of Samnitic building. This fact helps with the
calculation of the height of the walls, as may be seen from
the drawings, eliminating any doubt that the project we are
presenting has failed to respect the proportions of the original
rooms. These are still fairly clear in the most important
parts of the house, from the proportions that are well documented
and still exist in the tetrastyle atrium and the layout
of the peristyle and the tetrastyle oecus. These proportions
can only be obtained by reconstructing the roof and floors,
after having rebuilt the load-bearing walls to their original
height (they were truncated at a height of three or four meters
during the eruption).
Active conservation of the Pompeian architecture.
Drawing from the site (Author A.Pugliano)