In the article we discussed the approaches to restoration, which are most widely used in the restoration practice in Italy. A comparative analysis of the creative concepts of the authors – theorists and practitioners of the profession – was carried out regarding restoration additions, the relationship of restoration, conservation and reconstructive actions on the heritage site, general provisions of the restoration theory. The recognized leader of the Italian restoration school is Giovanni Carbonara, a proponent of the “critical-conservative” approach. Marco Dezzi Bardeschi, an architect-practitioner, offers a “clean conservation” approach, contrasting the “old” and “new” in architecture. Architect Paolo Marconi develops a pragmatic line of “repair and maintenance” approach. Despite the significant differences in theoretical concepts, they are very noticeably softened in restoration practice. And architects with diametrically opposed views often join forces to work on a common project.

This paper tells us a complex story on the historic evolution of preventive conservation of architectural heritage in Italy. Firstly, it introduces Cesare Brandi's Theory of Restoration , pointing out the peculiar sense of the word Restoration in Brandi's system other than the common sense in the international discourse, the limits of Brandi's theory to architectural conservation and his prophecy on preventive restoration. Then it talks about the different framework and practices of preventive conservation in the field of built heritage compared to the museum sector, the milestone of Giovanni Urbani's pilot project on programmed conservation and the leading role of the Risk Map of Cultural Heritage. Finally, based on the discussions of the durable change in the architectural conservation field after the Venice Charter, including the teaching in Milan School, the debate and re-definition of architectural conservation and the advance definitions of conservation, prevention, maintenance and restoration in the 2004 National Code of Cultural Heritage and Landscape, it gives us an agenda for future trends of planned conservation with aims to conserve the material authenticity and promote the co-evolutional strategy.

The first part of the study involved an investigation into the architect's training system. The specialist's education system has been analysed in "heritage protection and revitalisation of the cities". Another section of the research was conducted by analysing the requirements needed to prepare the different interventions on the existing one. At the same time, what are the rules of protection and the application of the doctrinal statements of national and international documents. The essay highlights how in some ancient Italian university sites, studies, research, the same training in the field of conservation/restoration of architectural, archaeological and historical-artistic assets are fundamental to the formation of architects, both in the traditional five-year and short-term, more master's degree. It is hoped that the final proposal for a revision of the Bologna process will be reached, and therefore to make conservation and restoration examinations mandatory at European level for a degree in architecture.

The paper describes a proposal for restoration and reuse of the Praci neighborhood in Motta San Giovanni, an inland town of the Reggio Calabria Province, aimed to accommodate and facilitate the integration of its migrant Romanian community. The project proposes a plan of self-constructive restoration, to be used as the residence of Romanian migrants, that for the Municipality could be a tool to make the whole community responsible for management and conservation of now abandoned a vernacular building heritage and for the migrant community could constitute not only an opportunity for improving its living, as well as social, condition, but also for taking advantage of a educative experience, considering that a significant part of Romanian migrants in Motta San Giovanni is employed in construction.

The Santarelli Kindergarten in Forlì and the Casa del Fascio in Predappio, both significant examples of Fascist regime architectures of the 1930s, are comparable for their times of realisation and the year of their inauguration. Beyond their chronology they are inherently linked by many reasons, including their experimental technologies. Indeed the two buildings can be compared both for a common design tension between tradition and innovation and for their construction frailties, deficiencies and failures. On the one hand, the kindergarten in Forlì, a measured building for the “city of the Duce”, employed traditional technologies to resolve its construction failures; it continued to be used for its original function until 2012. On the other hand, the Casa del Fascio constitutes an iconic and monumental building of the Fascist regime era, built for a town which, from periphery status, aimed at becoming a centre. The Casa pursued technological innovation with more perseverance than the Forlì kindergarten but, in the post-war era, fell victim to ideological rejection and a state of physical abandonment. By comparing these two architectures, the paper intends to analyse their affinities and contrasts as well as their shared construction deficiencies and failures. Since both buildings present problems caused by constructive experimentation, the results of the interventions attempting to address these will also be illustrated. The paper intends to delineate an investigation in fieri of this heritage of undeniable patrimonial value while touching on some characterising aspects (including experimental technologies and the theoretical and operational problems of preservation). The objective is, on the one hand, to diffuse a better knowledge of these buildings and, on the other hand, to provide professionals with better restoration tools, capable of guaranteeing the preservation of these frail Modern architectures.