(IN)TANGIBLE HERITAGE(S)

Abstract

The paper investigates the relationship between the city and commercial activities and craftsmanship, which bears witness to its historical and cultural evolution while portraying traditions and social habits that are reflected in the urban fronts and the streets. UNESCO-protected historic centers are subject to a loss of identity, which follows the decline of artisanship and tradition and leads to a jeopardization of the integrity and authenticity of the entire site. Historical and traditional shops have a fundamental value for the urban heritage. The streets, the main commercial ones in particular, are a necessary element for social sustainability and cultural exchange. The shops that form the streets are the main place of exchange of human relations and, when historical interest occurs, they also represent an important testament of their demo-ethno-anthropological heritage. The study highlighted the need to record the aspects related to intangible heritage in the documentation and survey phases; these aspects define the authenticity of a place and the features that risk to irreversibly change the environment itself in the event of their disappearance. The research aims at defining, in addition to the more homogeneous basic criteria, an operational protocol for the documentation of commercial activities which must take into account the material aspects of the architectural structure, of the furniture, the showcase, and also their relations with the urban environment in which they are located. Nonetheless, it must include the intangible aspects related to the product, the processing techniques, the economic culture, and tradition. Finally, but foremost, it must take into consideration the history and social identity of a city that exists as a synthesis of both these aspects. Keeping in mind that the conservation of this heritage is the finale scope, an issue linked to the economic dynamism of trade immediately emerges.