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Il MEIS e la preesistenza
Fra le varie ipotesi di conservazione
della struttura esistente, il progetto
opta per quella più drastica che pre-
vede la sola conservazione dell’edi-
ficio C delle celle carcerarie e della
cinta muraria che comprende quel-
lo che era l’accesso al complesso pe-
nitenziario.
L’atteggiamento perseguito implica
una rigida selezione dell’esistente in
funzione della qualità dei manufatti
e non contempla la conservazione
come atteggiamento di non-scelta.
Coerentemente con questa scelta,
l’innesto di architettura contem-
poranea rifiuta ogni atteggiamen-
to mimetico: è invece occasione per
ricostruire gli equilibri spaziali ne-
cessari ai fini della rifunzionalizza-
zione del complesso. Il restauro si
configura quindi come un inter-
vento sostanzialmente semplice,
volto a tramandare al futuro la
vita fisica della fabbrica attraverso
la conservazione delle sue tracce
storico artistiche.
Cenni sull’allestimento
Come si è ormai affermato ovunque
nel mondo, un museo non è più sol-
tanto una raccolta di oggetti, anche
bellissimi, ma strumento e luogo per
comunicare significati, idee, me-
morie, cultura. Pochi importanti
oggetti significativi, opere d’arte, og-
getti d’uso fungono da potenti ri-
chiami alla storia e al tema del-
l’ebraismo, ma anche tabelle, dia-
grammi e immagini. Ecco, immagi-
ni, da aggiornare e adattare conti-
nuamente alla sensibilità del visita-
tore dell’epoca.
Fare un progetto multimediale per
un museo ricco di memoria storica
e di riferimenti iconografici come il
MEIS and the pre-existing
structure
Of the various options regarding
the existing structure, the project
selected the design which
conserves only block C with the jail
cells and the walls surrounding the
penitentiary complex.
This plan requires a rigid
examination of the existing
building for structural integrity and
discarding the attitude that
undertaking conservation work
means having no choice.
Consistent with this decision, the
use of contemporary architecture
refutes all mimetic approaches; but
is rather an occasion to recreate the
equilibrium necessary to make the
complex fully functional. The
restoration must be seen as an
essentially simple plan, in which the
physical life of the structure is
handed over to the future while still
conserving traces of its past.
Notes on the permanent
collection
As is generally agreed, a museum
is not only a collection of objects,
even beautiful ones, but an
instrument
and
place
to
communicate ideas, memories,
culture. While a collection of
important objects, works of art,
ordinary items, may serve as
powerful reminders of the
narratives and history of Judaism,
so do charts, diagrams and images.
Here, images are used to educate
and instruct the visitors.
Creating a multimedia design for a
museum rich with historical
memories and iconographic
references such as the MEIS
requires taking advantage of the
wide range of possibilities that
video affords.
On one hand there is the need to
organize and make accessible
historical materials such as film
footage, photographs, drawings,
papers of all kinds in the most
effective way possible. On the
other, there is the need to make
use of high impact large scale
moving images and scenes to aid
the spectator in quickly identifying
the main areas within the
architectural space and to allow
visitors to immerse themselves in
the atmosphere that these create.
These are two actions with
differing dynamic projections
which must be holistically
integrated.
The historical material, which may
be organized according archival
practice, also is capable, through
video, of offering the public a new,
more direct, means of involvement,
more immediate, in depth and
spectacular, without losing the
gravity of its informational value.
To achieve this, we can use “natural
interface,” which is at the forefront
of interactivity design. These are
interfaces that use natural means
(gestures, voice, touch, position) to
put the visitor in direct contact with
archival material. In practice,
interfacing a computer with digital
archival materials using video
support means that we can expand
and humanize the enormous
organizational ability offered by the
database. We can leaf through
digital books, call up photographs
of people or events with the sound
of our voices, touch photographs
to animate them and even hear
their stories. We may even take
away on our personal iPads copies
of the documents and photos that
interest us, by purchasing them as
downloads.
The architectural spaces may be
thematic, scenographic, of large
video images created appositely for
the space. We can bring to fruition
the enormous expressive means
that the last twenty years have
made available to us through
experimenting
with
video
environments and assembling
theatrical and musical works.
