Veronica Balboni
Veronica Balboni (Bologna, 1980) is an Associate Professor in the disciplinary sector CEAR-11/B "Architectural Conservation" as of November 1, 2024, at the Department of Architecture of the University of Ferrara. She holds a degree with honors in Architecture (Ferrara, 2005), a specialization with honors in History of Art and Modern Architecture (Bologna, 2010), and a PhD in Architecture with distinction (Ferrara, 2013).
She teaches "Theories and History of Restoration" (50 hours, third year of the Architecture program), "Stylistic and Construction Features of Historic Architecture" (20 hours, fifth year of the Architecture program), "Methods of Historical-Critical Analysis for Restoration" (20 hours, fifth year of the Architecture program), "Architectural Heritage: Methods and Experiences for Conservation" (20 hours, fifth year of the Architecture program, in English Language), and "Methodology of Historical Research" (12 hours, first year, School of Specialization in Architectural and Landscape Heritage at the University of Ferrara). She has given invited lectures and seminars on restoration, historical research methodology, and the stylistic and construction features of historic architecture at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, Polis University Tirana, UTEF – University for Continuing Education, ADSI – Italian Association of Historic Houses, ITS Foundation – Higher Technical Institute for Territory, Energy, and Construction, and the Provincial Training Consortium C.P.F. Ferrara.
As of November 21, 2024, she serves as Deputy Coordinator for the Department of Architecture in the international PhD program IDAUP "International Doctorate in Architecture and Urban Planning", a joint program between the University of Ferrara and Polis University in Tirana, where she has been a member of the Academic Board since the XXXVIII cycle. Since the A.A. 2020/2021, she has been a member of the Teaching Council, and since the A.A. 2023/2024, she has been a member of the Scientific Committee of the School of Specialization in Architectural and Landscape Heritage at the University of Ferrara, where she was responsible for the Academic Secretariat from the A.A. 2019/2020 to the A.A. 2023/2024.
Her primary research focuses on construction practices in the early modern period, with particular attention to interdisciplinary themes between architectural history and restoration, such as the functioning of pre-industrial construction sites and the transformation of pre-existing architectural structures before the 19th century. She is the principal investigator of the projects "Cantherius – The Building Site in the Early Modern Period: Digital, Humanities, Historical, and Technological Research" and "TecHistory – Technologies of Historical Construction Sites and Storytelling", funded by the University of Ferrara and centered on the application of digital technologies for studying and disseminating archival sources related to early modern construction practices.
She is the author of over 90 publications on topics related to restoration and architectural history. Her monograph "In faciem loci. La chiesa dei Gesuiti a Ferrara tra storia e realtà costruttiva" (Campisano, 2020) received a literary award and was reviewed in the journals “Bollettino d’Arte” and “Palladio”. Starting November 1, 2024, she will also be a member of the editorial board of the ANVUR Class A journal “Abitare la Terra”.
She teaches "Theories and History of Restoration" (50 hours, third year of the Architecture program), "Stylistic and Construction Features of Historic Architecture" (20 hours, fifth year of the Architecture program), "Methods of Historical-Critical Analysis for Restoration" (20 hours, fifth year of the Architecture program), "Architectural Heritage: Methods and Experiences for Conservation" (20 hours, fifth year of the Architecture program, in English Language), and "Methodology of Historical Research" (12 hours, first year, School of Specialization in Architectural and Landscape Heritage at the University of Ferrara). She has given invited lectures and seminars on restoration, historical research methodology, and the stylistic and construction features of historic architecture at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, Polis University Tirana, UTEF – University for Continuing Education, ADSI – Italian Association of Historic Houses, ITS Foundation – Higher Technical Institute for Territory, Energy, and Construction, and the Provincial Training Consortium C.P.F. Ferrara.
As of November 21, 2024, she serves as Deputy Coordinator for the Department of Architecture in the international PhD program IDAUP "International Doctorate in Architecture and Urban Planning", a joint program between the University of Ferrara and Polis University in Tirana, where she has been a member of the Academic Board since the XXXVIII cycle. Since the A.A. 2020/2021, she has been a member of the Teaching Council, and since the A.A. 2023/2024, she has been a member of the Scientific Committee of the School of Specialization in Architectural and Landscape Heritage at the University of Ferrara, where she was responsible for the Academic Secretariat from the A.A. 2019/2020 to the A.A. 2023/2024.
Her primary research focuses on construction practices in the early modern period, with particular attention to interdisciplinary themes between architectural history and restoration, such as the functioning of pre-industrial construction sites and the transformation of pre-existing architectural structures before the 19th century. She is the principal investigator of the projects "Cantherius – The Building Site in the Early Modern Period: Digital, Humanities, Historical, and Technological Research" and "TecHistory – Technologies of Historical Construction Sites and Storytelling", funded by the University of Ferrara and centered on the application of digital technologies for studying and disseminating archival sources related to early modern construction practices.
She is the author of over 90 publications on topics related to restoration and architectural history. Her monograph "In faciem loci. La chiesa dei Gesuiti a Ferrara tra storia e realtà costruttiva" (Campisano, 2020) received a literary award and was reviewed in the journals “Bollettino d’Arte” and “Palladio”. Starting November 1, 2024, she will also be a member of the editorial board of the ANVUR Class A journal “Abitare la Terra”.
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Books by Veronica Balboni
Fin dai primi decenni del XVII secolo, pochi anni dopo la sua
consacrazione avvenuta nel 1599, le cronache storiche ci hanno
offerto molte descrizioni della fabbrica, tuttavia frammentarie
e di difficile interpretazione, anche in ragione delle continue
trasformazioni succedutesi fino al XIX secolo. Nel Novecento,
la pur ampia critica sull’architettura gesuitica ha dimostrato scarso
interesse verso il caso ferrarese fino al contributo redatto da James
Ackerman nel 1992 che, nel definire la chiesa cupa come la penitenza
stessa, ha di fatto consegnato l’edificio all’oblio. Il tentativo di
sovvertire questo destino passa dall’indagine sistematica sulle
fonti edite ed inedite e nella lettura incrociata tra questi dati
e la principale fonte diretta, la fabbrica, con l’obiettivo di
ricostruirne filologicamente e interpretarne criticamente il processo
storico, secondo i tradizionali temi della lettura storico-critica.
L’indifferibile esigenza di indagare ad una distanza ravvicinata
il fenomeno architettonico e la concretezza della sua materia
trova una significativa corrispondenza in un adagio ricorrente
nei carteggi dei padri gesuiti, impiegato per esprimere la richiesta
o l’ordine, a seconda di chi scrive, di effettuare un sopralluogo
sul sito, di lavorare in faccia al luogo in cui si sta compiendo
un fatto edilizio, per porre la necessaria attenzione alle
problematiche concrete della costruzione: in faciem loci.
Papers by Veronica Balboni
Ferrara during the Este period (in particular XVth and XVIth centuries) as an expression of a building
tradition in which wood and stone are rare and expensive building materials. Technological
innovations developed are attested not only by architectural heritage that has been preserved until
today, but above all by archival sources produced by Este court.
- human behaviour: the relationship between patron and architect, between architect and craftsmen;
- economic aspects: purchase, provision and management of construction materials and manpower;
- construction processes: application, transformation and innovation of building technique and its relation with practical treatises of the time.
practice, from preliminary investigations to executive project
backyard is a matter for ongoing widespread debate. This
controversial topic has been developed inside and outside
institution context and it has become a media battle. The
Department of Architecture of University of Ferrara has
organized this debate to bring the discussion into a fully
cultural and academic level.
Guglielmo De Angelis d’Ossat in 1978 is the essential methodological reference that the theme of the contribution faced: the concept of architettura sulle preeistenze in the XVIII century Bolognese ambit, through the scholars’ and architects’ theoretical and practical production, like those of Marcello Oretti (1714-1787) and Giuseppe Antonio Ambrosi (1700-1764). Close examination of some archival sources, manuscripts and unpublished project drawings, has allowed to detect signals of a particular sensitivity with regards to the existing architecture, carried out not only theoretically but also applied practically. There comes to light therefore a cultural context which although still in incubation and far from the goal of modern concepts of tutelage and restoration, is quite articulated, forerunner of new critical interpretations and however significant when put in comparison with the coeval Roman situation.
le scelte progettuali nell’intervento di restauro.
When the critical-historical research directs executive choices in restoration project.
al catalogo dell’architettura piemontese tardobarocca.
A project that returns a significant architecture
to late Baroque architecture catalog in Piedmont
innovation develops and circulates as well as the use of models which popular construction refers to in order to update its language. In vernacular architecture, this language is an expression of a community and it is an integral part of the
process that in the past set the building transformations. This
goal can be reached through a critical reading and analysis of the formal results which are still visible in architectural structures – in particular on the façades - that are common to a wide variety
of solutions and that, as such, are representative of the “way of building” and “building attitude” of a community. I’m going to illustrate part of the results of the first part of this research applied to a very specific context such as the Italian Po valley, one of the three fundamental physical features that characterize the geographical aspect of the Italian peninsula, and in particular the historical city of Ferrara.
Serlio and posthumously published in 1575 in Vienna, correspond to the
postseismic period of reconstruction in Ferrara. Pirro Ligorio directly investigates
the damages caused by the earthquake of 1570, describing a city
destroyed by collapsing, badly built, old medieval constructions, weakly put
together and with no substance. Sebastiano Serlio’s technical solutions and
practical rules – illustrated in the Seventh Book with examples where the
language of medieval architecture is updated with ‘modern’ solutions – perhaps
find in Ferrara one of their first cases of practical application, thanks
to the presence of architects like Aleotti, a faithful connoisseur of Serlio’s
writings (as well as Vignola’s), and to the treaty’s recognised value as an
operational tool. It was a treaty that ‘ha restituito l’Architettura, e fattala
facile ad ogniuno,’ as Jacopo Strada would later introduce it to readers in
editio princeps. The aim of this contribution is to investigate the relations
between Serlio’s theoretical and practical postulations and the reconstruction
and restoration that began in Ferrara in the 1570s, both in the field of
architectural heritage, and the field of basic building. The latter is a specific
object of study for the author, who devotes an important part of Book VII to
it. The contribution will develop various topics, in order: The city of Ferrara
before the earthquake of 1570: a typical medieval city; Exempla of modern
architecture in Ferrara: the sixteenth century palaces of the Herculean Addition;
Serlio’s Regola and architectural language in Ferrara: churches and
palaces at the end of the sixteenth century; Serlio’s Regola and construction
language in Ferrara: basic building at the end of the sixteenth century; Conclusions:
the importance of Serlio’s treaty in the reconstruction of Ferrara.
Fin dai primi decenni del XVII secolo, pochi anni dopo la sua
consacrazione avvenuta nel 1599, le cronache storiche ci hanno
offerto molte descrizioni della fabbrica, tuttavia frammentarie
e di difficile interpretazione, anche in ragione delle continue
trasformazioni succedutesi fino al XIX secolo. Nel Novecento,
la pur ampia critica sull’architettura gesuitica ha dimostrato scarso
interesse verso il caso ferrarese fino al contributo redatto da James
Ackerman nel 1992 che, nel definire la chiesa cupa come la penitenza
stessa, ha di fatto consegnato l’edificio all’oblio. Il tentativo di
sovvertire questo destino passa dall’indagine sistematica sulle
fonti edite ed inedite e nella lettura incrociata tra questi dati
e la principale fonte diretta, la fabbrica, con l’obiettivo di
ricostruirne filologicamente e interpretarne criticamente il processo
storico, secondo i tradizionali temi della lettura storico-critica.
L’indifferibile esigenza di indagare ad una distanza ravvicinata
il fenomeno architettonico e la concretezza della sua materia
trova una significativa corrispondenza in un adagio ricorrente
nei carteggi dei padri gesuiti, impiegato per esprimere la richiesta
o l’ordine, a seconda di chi scrive, di effettuare un sopralluogo
sul sito, di lavorare in faccia al luogo in cui si sta compiendo
un fatto edilizio, per porre la necessaria attenzione alle
problematiche concrete della costruzione: in faciem loci.
Ferrara during the Este period (in particular XVth and XVIth centuries) as an expression of a building
tradition in which wood and stone are rare and expensive building materials. Technological
innovations developed are attested not only by architectural heritage that has been preserved until
today, but above all by archival sources produced by Este court.
- human behaviour: the relationship between patron and architect, between architect and craftsmen;
- economic aspects: purchase, provision and management of construction materials and manpower;
- construction processes: application, transformation and innovation of building technique and its relation with practical treatises of the time.
practice, from preliminary investigations to executive project
backyard is a matter for ongoing widespread debate. This
controversial topic has been developed inside and outside
institution context and it has become a media battle. The
Department of Architecture of University of Ferrara has
organized this debate to bring the discussion into a fully
cultural and academic level.
Guglielmo De Angelis d’Ossat in 1978 is the essential methodological reference that the theme of the contribution faced: the concept of architettura sulle preeistenze in the XVIII century Bolognese ambit, through the scholars’ and architects’ theoretical and practical production, like those of Marcello Oretti (1714-1787) and Giuseppe Antonio Ambrosi (1700-1764). Close examination of some archival sources, manuscripts and unpublished project drawings, has allowed to detect signals of a particular sensitivity with regards to the existing architecture, carried out not only theoretically but also applied practically. There comes to light therefore a cultural context which although still in incubation and far from the goal of modern concepts of tutelage and restoration, is quite articulated, forerunner of new critical interpretations and however significant when put in comparison with the coeval Roman situation.
le scelte progettuali nell’intervento di restauro.
When the critical-historical research directs executive choices in restoration project.
al catalogo dell’architettura piemontese tardobarocca.
A project that returns a significant architecture
to late Baroque architecture catalog in Piedmont
innovation develops and circulates as well as the use of models which popular construction refers to in order to update its language. In vernacular architecture, this language is an expression of a community and it is an integral part of the
process that in the past set the building transformations. This
goal can be reached through a critical reading and analysis of the formal results which are still visible in architectural structures – in particular on the façades - that are common to a wide variety
of solutions and that, as such, are representative of the “way of building” and “building attitude” of a community. I’m going to illustrate part of the results of the first part of this research applied to a very specific context such as the Italian Po valley, one of the three fundamental physical features that characterize the geographical aspect of the Italian peninsula, and in particular the historical city of Ferrara.
Serlio and posthumously published in 1575 in Vienna, correspond to the
postseismic period of reconstruction in Ferrara. Pirro Ligorio directly investigates
the damages caused by the earthquake of 1570, describing a city
destroyed by collapsing, badly built, old medieval constructions, weakly put
together and with no substance. Sebastiano Serlio’s technical solutions and
practical rules – illustrated in the Seventh Book with examples where the
language of medieval architecture is updated with ‘modern’ solutions – perhaps
find in Ferrara one of their first cases of practical application, thanks
to the presence of architects like Aleotti, a faithful connoisseur of Serlio’s
writings (as well as Vignola’s), and to the treaty’s recognised value as an
operational tool. It was a treaty that ‘ha restituito l’Architettura, e fattala
facile ad ogniuno,’ as Jacopo Strada would later introduce it to readers in
editio princeps. The aim of this contribution is to investigate the relations
between Serlio’s theoretical and practical postulations and the reconstruction
and restoration that began in Ferrara in the 1570s, both in the field of
architectural heritage, and the field of basic building. The latter is a specific
object of study for the author, who devotes an important part of Book VII to
it. The contribution will develop various topics, in order: The city of Ferrara
before the earthquake of 1570: a typical medieval city; Exempla of modern
architecture in Ferrara: the sixteenth century palaces of the Herculean Addition;
Serlio’s Regola and architectural language in Ferrara: churches and
palaces at the end of the sixteenth century; Serlio’s Regola and construction
language in Ferrara: basic building at the end of the sixteenth century; Conclusions:
the importance of Serlio’s treaty in the reconstruction of Ferrara.